untitled
After 1763 George Grenville, the British Prime Minister, sent the army over to the colonies to supposedly keep the colonists and Indians from fighting. The colonists did not believe that they needed any further military support from Britain and looked at this as a threat. Shortly after the military "aid" was placed in the colonies, Britain imposed the Proclamation Line. This line was set up to keep colonists from crossing the Appalachian Ridge into Indian Territory. The Colonists are at this point beginning to feel oppressed and restricted. Soon after Britain imposed the Writs of Assistance. This came with a blanket search warrant that allowed British officials the right to search anything they wanted to with no previous evidence. At this point a revolutionary lawyer highered by merchants of New England, James Otis, argues that the Writs of Assistance are unconstitutional. The case went to the Massachusetts Supreme Court where a pro- English justice, Thomas Hutchinson, ruled that they were constitutional. At this point Grenville, who was a financial genius, realized that Britain had a major financial problem with the war debt. Therefore, he decides to impose the Sugar Act of 1764. This was a tax on sugar, which reduced
In 1765 Grenville passes the Stamp Act, a tax on newspapers, playing cards, dice, and all legal documents. This tax is also revenue raising. Yet another slap in the face for the Assemblies. However, due to mob acts the Stamp Act was never really enforced, except in Georgia whose governor was forced to enforce it at gunpoint. I believe the mob acts, or most of them were a waste of political energy in a lot of ways. Most of the time these practices did nothing but quite frankly, tick the Parliament and the King off. The organization and peacefulness of the Continental Congresses and the merchant/citizen "boycott" is what I believe "hit 'em where it hurt", so to speak. I don't think you can win a war, much less a revolution for your freedom and rights, if you can't organize yourselves, become unified, and make your statement intelligently. And, I just don't believe mob action has ever been the winning force in any situation. It doesn't bring a country together, it pushes them apart. Mobs start to form and mob acts such as the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre begin to take place all throughout the colonies. These acts upset the British very much and the Intolerable (Coercive) Acts are passed. Boston Harbo
Some common words found in the essay are:
Continental Congresses, Sugar Act, Customs Commissioners, Stamp Act, Prime Minister, Stamp Acts, Continental Congress, Writs Assistance, Parliament Grenville, Thomas Hutchinson, stamp act, mob acts, revenue raising, board customs commissioners, stamp acts, customs commissioners, board customs, american board, william pitt, american board customs, writs assistance, believe mob,
Approximate Word count = 830
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
