Civil Disobedience & The American Revolution

1. Civil Disobedience & The American Revolution Tarvorous Mathews Larunte Lewis Michael Mathews 7th Period

2. Causes of The American Revolution • No one event can be pointed to as the actual cause of the revolution, the war began as a disagreement over the way Great Britain treated the colonies versus the way the colonies felt they should be treated. Americans felt they deserved all the rights of Englishmen. The British, on the other hand, felt that the colonies were created to be used in the way that best suited the crown and parliament. This conflict is embodied in one of the rallying cries of the American Revolution: “No Taxation Without Representation”.

3. What was The American Revolution •  Britain imposed a series of direct taxes followed by other laws intended to demonstrate British authority, all of which proved extremely unpopular in America. • Because the colonies lacked elected representation in the governing of the British Parliament, many Americans considered the laws to be illegitimate and a violation of their rights as Englishmen. • In 1772, groups of colonists began to create committees of correspondence, which would lead to their own Provincial Congresses in most of the colonies. • In two years, the Provincial Congresses or their equals rejected the Parliament and effectively replaced it with a British ruling apparatus in the former colonies, coming together in 1774 with the coordinating first continental congress.

4. Actions Taken • The Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party: The Boston Tea Party was one of the key events in the American Revolution. It was a the result of the Tea Act enforced by British Parliament to restore th East India Company full refund on the 25% duty imposed for importing tea into Britain. It also permitted the company to export tea to the American colonies on its own account and led to a number of protests from the colonies. On December 16, 1773, a group of colonists boarded the three shiploads of taxed tea in Boston and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor.

5. Continued • There were many other acts which the people of the British American colonies to hate the British Parliament. Amongst these were the Sugar Act, the Quebec Act and the Boston Port Bill. According to Boston Port Bill, Boston Harbor was closed to all ships until citizens of Boston repaid the British East India Company, for damages caused in the Boston Tea Party.

6. Perceived Injustice • The Americans were treated unfairly in the sense that taxes were put on them including their tea, bread, living quarters, only to show that the British leaders still had authority over their land.

7. What is Civil Disobedience? • Refusal to go by a law that is immoral or unjust in itself, or furthers injustice. • Appeals to the mass sense of justice, in order to get them to think about it again and change public policy.

8. How was this started? • Henry David Thoreau’s reputation began when he was jailed for not paying a poll tax in 1840. • The tax supported the war with Mexico and slavery, which he strongly disagreed with. Thoreau did pay his other taxes. • The term “civil disobedience” in the title of his essay argues in favor of non-violent opposition to slavery and for waging war on Mexico.

9. Connection • Thoreau argues “that the rule of the majority sometimes prevent people from doing the same thing.” The majority allowed British to tax the citizens for tea and so they reacted by throwing the tea into the Boston Harbor. • Also in Civil Disobedience, Thoreau claims that the best government is the one that operates least, the British is the example of a government that tries to control another human being, which would be the colonies as they controlled them through fear and intimidation. • Thoreau contends that “A man can change an unjust government by refusing to be unjust and by willing to make a sacrifice.” Whoever decided to throw tea in the Boston Harbor felt that if they complete that task then they would send a message to British about the taxes.

10. Explanation • This is an example of civil disobedience because people were treated unfairly and the law was immoral by the fact that the taxes were put on Americans weren't necessary for their economic growth. • The law put on the Americans by the British weren't accepted by the majority of the public and so to show that their hard work was unappreciated they decided to revolute against Britain’s law and threw the tea into the Boston Harbor .