American Revolution – tax protests, Boston Tea Party

1. American Revolution – tax protests, Boston Tea Party Tierra McKnight Sasha Anthony Riginal Roberts

2. Before, During, & After ♥ • 1764- Sugar Act -. The attempt to curb the smuggling of sugar and molasses in the colonies by reducing the previous tax rate and enforcing the collection of duties. • 1765- Stamp Act-Required colonial residents to purchase a stamp to be affixed to a number of documents. EX: Wills, Contracts, Newspapers & Etc. • 1765-Quatering Act- Required colonial assemblies to provide housing , food and drink to British troops stationed in their town. • 1765-Stamp Act Congress-Representatives from nine of the thirteen colonies declare the Stamp Act unconstitutional as it was a tax levied without their consent. • 1766- Declaratory Act-Parliament finalizes the repeal of the Stamp Act, but declares that it has the right to tax colonies • 1767-Townshend Revenue Act- Tax on wine , fruits, and green glass, red and white lead, painters colors, paper and pasteboard. • 1770-Boston Massacre- A group of British soldiers open fire on protestants in Boston. • 1770-Repeal of The Townshend Act • 1773-Tea Act-Placed on no new tax on tea and was not designed to increase revenue. Create a monopoly which the colonists perceived as another means of “taxation without representation”. Was also intended to benefit the East India Company by giving them the right to sell tea to the colonies. • 1773-Boston Tea Party-Angered by the Tea Acts, American patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians dump £9,000 of East India Company tea into the Boston harbor. • 1774-Intolerable Acts-Four measures which stripped Massachusetts of self-government and judicial independence following the Boston Tea Party. The colonies responded with a general boycott of British goods. • 1774- 1stContinental Congress-Colonial delegates meet to organize opposition to the Intolerable Acts.

3. TAXATION without Representation ! • After the French & Indian War the British maliciously taxed the 13 colonies. People living in the 13 colonies didn’t have representatives in the British Parliament. The colonist had no way to vote on how they would be taxed or who would represent them. Because of the lack of representation, British government could tax colonist in any way that they felt. They felt as though the British were mocking them. They introduced many of new tax laws just about every year taking away the rights of the colonists. These laws soon led to heated tension between the colonies and the British causing protests. The British sent troops to the colonies to ensure the money was being paid. The colonists were very rebellious towards the laws and the British.

4. Lets Take Action ! • Merchants and protesters who called themselves the Sons of Liberty came up with an master plan. In a unified act of vandalism, the Sons of Liberty dressed up as Native Americans and boarded the three ships and dumped mass quantities of tea into the harbor. The Boston Tea Party was an act of revolt.

5. Success or Failure? • The Boston Tea Party was considered successful and a failure because the king lowered taxes but right after it started a war. • The failure of the Boston Tea Party were the Intolerable Acts that were passed soon after in retaliation towards there actions.

6. Compare & Contrast 1. “That government is best which governs least.” “The colonies refused to pay the levies required by the Townsend Acts claiming they had no obligation to pay taxes imposed by a Parliament in which they had no representation.” 2. “At the war's conclusion in 1763, King George III and his government taxed the American colonies as a way of recouping their war costs.” He refused to pay a tax that would be used to support slavery 1846. He spent a night in jail for refusing to pay delinquent poll taxes 3. “It is not many moments that I live under a government, even in this world.” Agroup of about 200 men, some disguised as Indians, saying war chants, the crowd marched two-by-two to the to the ships and dumped barrels of tea into the Boston harbor.

7. Civil Disobedience • The Boston Tea Party is a prime example of civil disobedience because it shows how the government takes advantage of their power. The colonists became rebellious because their head (England) decided to impose “taxation without representation.” This shows how they enforced laws without the consent of those who are not even considered under them. Thoreau’s main idea or state of mind was “No man with a genius for legislation has appeared in America.” Thoreau went to jail for not paying taxes, the colonists went against paying taxes which was the cause of the Boston Tea Party.