Although Britain emerged victorious from the Seven Years’ War, in the years following, they suffered an imperial crisis. The imperial crisis was a political and intellectual conflict over the constitutional conflict between the thirteen American colonies and Great Britain. Britain was in debt from the war and wanted to use the colonies to help pay down that debt by enforcing various taxes and laws on the colonies. This paper will focus on the stamp act and the tea act which lead to resistance in the American colonies and resistance to the British Empire. This then led to the War for American Independence in 1775.
The Seven Years’ War was fought between 1756 and 1763. It was the first real global war and it involved a great majority of the …show more content…
George Grenville who was Prime Minister in 1763, calculated that the National debt in 1763 was over 122 million pounds. Greenville turned to the colonies in order to find a new source of revenue to help reduce the debt. The stamp act was enacted in 1765 by Greenville. Paul Monod stated “The stamp act was an attempt, made in the aftermath of Pontiac’s rebellion, to compel American colonists to pay for their own frontier defense, by extending to them a duty on paper that already existed in Britain. Every piece of printed paper, from legal documents to playing cards, would be taxed and stamped by the British Government…the colonists were furious at what they saw as an illegal effort to tax them without the consent of their legislature.” This extensive taxation on the colonists was adopted by parliament, and nearly anything that was written or printed had to be on specialized stamped paper. Newspapers, deeds, pamphlets and and any business transactions were now taxed for all Americans. The purpose of the stamp act was not only to raise revenue for Britain, but was also intended to show the American colonists that through parliament Britain was sovereign over them. Americans response to the stamp act was negative because they had already contributed to their own defense in the war. They also paid local taxes and did not want to pay taxes imposed by parliament if they were not represented. In March 1776 Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but kept its rights to govern over the
The Seven Years’ War was fought between 1756 and 1763. It was the first real global war and it involved a great majority of the …show more content…
George Grenville who was Prime Minister in 1763, calculated that the National debt in 1763 was over 122 million pounds. Greenville turned to the colonies in order to find a new source of revenue to help reduce the debt. The stamp act was enacted in 1765 by Greenville. Paul Monod stated “The stamp act was an attempt, made in the aftermath of Pontiac’s rebellion, to compel American colonists to pay for their own frontier defense, by extending to them a duty on paper that already existed in Britain. Every piece of printed paper, from legal documents to playing cards, would be taxed and stamped by the British Government…the colonists were furious at what they saw as an illegal effort to tax them without the consent of their legislature.” This extensive taxation on the colonists was adopted by parliament, and nearly anything that was written or printed had to be on specialized stamped paper. Newspapers, deeds, pamphlets and and any business transactions were now taxed for all Americans. The purpose of the stamp act was not only to raise revenue for Britain, but was also intended to show the American colonists that through parliament Britain was sovereign over them. Americans response to the stamp act was negative because they had already contributed to their own defense in the war. They also paid local taxes and did not want to pay taxes imposed by parliament if they were not represented. In March 1776 Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but kept its rights to govern over the