Why Did The Townshend Act And The Colonists

Decent Essays
The colonists were infuriated when they realized their natural rights of life, liberty, and property according to John Locke, were being breached and they weren’t letting that happen. The Sugar and Stamp Acts raised tensions between the colonists and the British. The British repealed these acts but they passed the Townshend Acts. The Townshend Acts put taxes on lead, paint, glass, paper, and tea. The people were very angry and resistant of these acts. The Acts forced the people to pay for taxes that they had no say on; they were being taxed without representation on the decision. The colonists felt that their liberty was at stake, rules are being enforced against them they had not consented. The Townshend Acts were eventually repealed but the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Dbq Research Paper

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Numerous economic, political, and intellectual factors contributed to the Massachusetts colony becoming a hotbed of revolution (against the British). Economically, Massachusetts was deeply affected by the slew of taxes that the British government implemented after 1763. Taxes such as the Townshend Revenue Act, which placed a levy on various English goods including lead, paint, and paper, the Sugar Act, and the Stamp Act had devastating effects on the entire colony’s population- especially threatening the wealth and prosperity of Massachusetts’ merchants. The Tea Act of 1773 particularly angered many colonists because it exempt the East India Company from navigation taxes; allowing them to undersell colonial merchants, and monopolize the entire…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Townshend Acts was named after Charles Townshend, who was the head of the British ministry. This act placed a tax on imported goods, such as wine, oil, glass, lead, painter’s colors, and tea. The colonists reacted to this act by refusing to buy the imported products. How did all of these acts influence the colonists and lead them to the road to revolution? Compare a modern day issue that has lead to…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dbq Colonists

    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The tea act led to an event called the Boston Tea Party, this is a big role in the decision to declare Independence. They also had the sugar act, paying for sugar. They were also taxed on molasses, glass, lead, and paint. The colonist were denied rights.…

    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After the French and Indian War ended, the British started imposing taxes and passing acts on the colonist because they were in debt after the war. The American colonists could not do anything about this because up until the American Revolution, Great Britain controlled America.. America, being a new place where people thought they could be free, was in turmoil. There were secret meetings against the British; people were ready to stand against the taxes and the new laws being passed.. Some of these laws, called the Acts of Parliament, were the the Sugar Act, the Currency Act, Stamp Act, and the Quartering Act.…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Angry Colonists Essay Britain helped the colonists during the French and Indian War and Britain was in debt. Britain needed money after the war so they passed laws or acts and taxed the colonists. The colonists soon began to boycott and protest.…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The colonists were intent on opposing any new taxes imposed by the parliament. They felt that the British could not tax them without representation in the parliament. For every new tax that the British tried to enforce violence and protests broke out in the…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Again, one of the actions the king took that was destructive or really angered the colonists is that he taxed them. In document A, it says that this angered the colonists because they thought only their own assemblies should be able to tax them. This caused the colonists to riot, protest, and boycott. Because of the riots and boycotts, the Townshend Acts were passed, putting taxes on all imported goods from Britain, also…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    As the British emerged from the war that had just taken place, they were overwhelmed with large amounts of debt. This all had built up during the war due to the colonists buying British imports without being taxed. This led Prime Minister Grenville to reduce certain jobs when it came to sugar and molasses and other imports that were used by the colonists. He also wanted to strive to make sure that the law was being enforced, since it had been very relaxed in the past years. Of course when the law became enforced and became stricter, this caused there to be more British government involved along with raising the prices of taxes for colonists which caused a huge uproar along with many protests.…

    • 2188 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Stamp Act 1765

    • 158 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Some of the laws that the British government passed in an effort to assert its authority over the colonies included the Stamp Act of 1765, the Quartering Act of 1765, and the Townshend Acts of 1767. The Stamp Act was a tax that required colonial citizens to purchase stamps to place on everything from newspapers and diplomas to calendars and playing cards. The tax not only was put into affect to exercise control over the colonies, but also to help clear the war debt Great Britain accumulated during the French and Indian War, without raising taxes for citizens of Great Britain. Of course this placed a huge burden on colonial America and resulted in a rather violent uproar. Along with peaceful demonstrations and petitions came the harrassment…

    • 158 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The British did many things that angered the colonists and led them to declare war. Although the colonists had started to grow apart from England, most still considered themselves loyal to the King of England. To make sure he was still profiting off the colonies, the King imposed a series of heavy taxes on various items that were essential to living. To make matters worse, the King kept adding more and more taxes to the point where some colonists could not afford the cost of living. This added fuel to the increasing tensions between the colonists and the King.…

    • 216 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    British Missteps Analysis

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The colonists believed Britain was trying to stifle their growth and slowly take away the freedom they had. One consequence of the tea tax was the Boston Tea Party, which resulted in a loss of profit for Britain. The colonists in America did not believe in the Virtual Representation Prime Minister Grenville claimed they had. If Britain had given the colonists representatives in Parliament it would have appeased them and a huge conflict might not have occurred. The irony was that British representatives could have easily outvoted the Colonial representatives in Parliament.…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The British government passed a series of laws from 1765-1767 in order to ensure their political control over the colonies. In 1767, they first passed the quartering law which allowed soldiers to be put up in colonist’s homes at their expenses, eventually lead to protests from the colonists. The Quartering Act took place simultaneously with the Stamp Act. Both of these laws passed by the British government lead to the more resistance from the colonists and eventually lead to the Boston massacre and then the Boston Massacre. The Townshend Act followed which further enraged the colonist and helped spur the American Revolution.…

    • 162 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Radical Revolution

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the late 18th century the Colonists reached the precipice of frustration resulting from the tyrannical abuse of the British monarchy, causing them to want to abandon the motherland and be their own independent country. While some taxes were imposed such as the Navigation Acts and Plantation Duty Act, the Sugar Act of 1764 was a main catalyst, followed by the Stamp Act (1765), Townshend Acts (1767) and the Tea Act (1773). The progression of the taxation and lack of representation in England created hostility toward the Crown. Several leaders sensed this growing tension, realizing the issue of representation was central to the issue, yet the Crown was refused any overtures to change the circumstances. Actions taken to revolt against the…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The imperial crisis was the beginning of the war for independence. It was a conflict between Britain and its 13 colonies. The imperial crisis’ conflict was the colonists living in America were fighting for their right not to be deprived of their property without their consent. In 1763 Britain was finally not at war with any other companies. At this time, they started to see all the debt they have incurred from previous wars.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    After the taxes were set in place, the colonists began to get very upset and began to have meetings about, what they would do to either be able to survive after the new British legislature being passed or what they would do to retaliate against the British control. The British continued to pass more and more laws that the colonists abhorred because the laws made their lives incredibly more expensive and much harder. One of the new laws was that they could not meet in private anymore so that they could not plot to revolt and try for independence. Another piece of legislature put into practice by the British Parliament was the tax on tea. This tax made the colonists furious and they decided to disguise themselves as Native Americans and unload…

    • 1927 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays