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Road to the Revolutionary War: Acts and Taxes. Ms. Koleczek/Mrs. Anderson Team Voyager. Words to Know!. Writ of assistance-legal document that enabled officers to search homes and warehouses for goods that might be smuggled Internal tax- taxes paid inside the colonies
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Road to the Revolutionary War:Acts and Taxes Ms. Koleczek/Mrs. Anderson Team Voyager
Words to Know! • Writ of assistance-legal document that enabled officers to search homes and warehouses for goods that might be smuggled • Internal tax- taxes paid inside the colonies • External tax- taxes paid when goods entered the colonies • Act- a legal document stating the ideas of a committee (In our case, taxes) • Coercive- to force someone to do something they do not want to do using intimidation (In our case, taxes)
Why Create the Acts? • Britain was in great debt after the French and Indian War • William Pitt (Secretary of State of Britain) used any measure possible to secure victory • Created a giant amount of debt for the country
Why Create the Acts? • Britain prohibited Colonists from moving west of the Appalachians to secure a constant trade source • To enforce this policy, the King placed 10,000 troops at the border • How will the King pay his soldiers? Tax the Colonists!
Navigation Acts • Originally created in 1651 • Strictly enforced in 1760 by writs of assistance • Why? Starting to gain debt from the French and Indian War! • External tax • Purpose • Anything imported or exported from the Colonies had to be shipped on British ships • 75% of crew had to be British • ONLY ALLOWED COLONIES TO TRADE WITH BRITAIN!
The Sugar Act • Created in 1764 • External tax • Purpose • Lowered the tax on imported molasses • Hoped this would encourage Colonists to pay the tax and not smuggle cheaper sugar in from other countries • Allowed officers to seize (or take without permission) goods from smugglers without going to court • Also taxed: wine, whale fins, silk
The Currency Act • Created in 1764 • Got rid of Colonists’ form of money • What did the Colonists have to use now? British pound • The pound was based on gold, but there were not gold mines in the Colonies-Where did the colonies get the pounds? Britain shipped them over. • Why would this upset the Colonists? • They now had to depend on Britain for one more thing: their money source. They lost some independence!
The Stamp Act • Created in 1765 • First internal tax! • Purpose • Taxed most printed products: newspapers, wills, land deeds, legal documents and playing cards • All printed material received a stamp after tax was paid • Why did this upset the Colonists? • Taxed without consent • Britain interfered with colonial affairs • Boycotted (refused to buy) British and European goods • Repealed (canceled) because the merchants were losing business!
The Quartering Act • Created in 1765 • Purpose • Forced Colonists to provide housing and food to the troops • Why would this upset the Colonists? • Invasion of privacy • Financial burden on the Colonists
The Declaratory Act • Created in 1766 • Effective the day the Stamp Act was repealed • Purpose • British government could create laws WHENEVER and HOWEVER they wanted • Parliament had the right to tax and make decisions for Colonies “in all cases.”
The Townshend Acts • Created in 1767 • External tax • Purpose • Tax only imported goods like paint/oil, glass, tea and paper at port of entry (where ever the goods entered the colonies) • Any British tax angered Colonists • Boycotted • Daughters of Liberty made goods that were boycotted rather than buy the British goods
The Townshend Acts • The Boston Massacre • March 5, 1770 • Colonists were frustrated with the taxes and formed a mob outside the tax collectors’ customhouse, which was protected by British soldiers • Sticks and stones were thrown, which frightened the tax collector • A soldier was knocked down, which caused other soldiers to fire • Five Colonists were killed • Townshend Acts repealed, except for the tax on tea
The Tea Act • Created in 1773 • Purpose • To save the British East India Company • Allowed BEIC total trade control over tea trade in America • Actually lowered cost of tea • BEIC was able to sell directly to shopkeepers • Eliminated the merchants who normally distributed tea • Why would this upset the Colonists?
The Tea Act • The Boston Tea Party • December 16, 1773 • A group of male Colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians threw 342 chests of tea overboard • Why????? • Colonists were boycotting and forcing ships to turn back • One ship did not, and the governor ordered it to be unloaded, which upset the Colonists
The Intolerable/Coercive Acts • Created in 1774 once King George III heard news of the Boston Tea Party • “We must master them or totally leave them alone” • Called Intolerable by Colonies • Purpose • Punish and isolate the people of Massachusetts for resistance • Other colonies supported Boston by sending them supplies • Closed Boston Harbor until Colonists paid for ruined tea • Took away rights • Banned town meetings in New England except for one a year • Forced to shelter troops
The Quebec Act • Created in 1774 • Purpose • Set up a government in Quebec • Gave Ohio River Valley to Quebec, which ignored the Colonists’ claims to the area