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Taxation without Representation: The Road to Revolution. 1763. After winning the French and Indian war, Great Britain is nearly bankrupt Britain decides that the funds for defending the colonies should come from the colonies
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1763 • After winning the French and Indian war, Great Britain is nearly bankrupt • Britain decides that the funds for defending the colonies should come from the colonies • PROCLAMATION OF 1763: Law stating that colonists could not live WEST of the Appalachian Mountains
FAIL • The problem was colonists were ALREADY LIVING west of the border line! • Great Britain taxes sugar in 1764…failed to collect significant revenue • STAMP ACT OF 1765:all paper goods were taxed and forced to have a royal stamp on them
Colonial Backlash • Since 1607, the colonies had been left virtually alone by Great Britain • A spirit of independence developed in British America • To the colonists, Britain’s actions seemed like TYRANNY: the unjust use of government power • Colonists began to publicly wonder if Great Britain had the right to tax them if they were not represented in Parliament
Seriously, Colonies? • Great Britain honestly did not understand this American spirit • All the other colonies, around the world, simply fell in line and paid their taxes • To Great Britain, the least the colonies could do was help with the cost of defense • Great Britain nearly went broke defending the colonists in the French and Indian War • By the way, British America paid the LOWEST taxes in the entire empire!!!
Act(ing) a Fool • In response to the new laws a slogan developed among the colonies: “No Taxation without Representation” • QUARTERING ACT:colonists were ordered to shelter and feed British soldiers in their own homes! • TOWNSHEND ACTS:raised revenue to pay salaries of royal governors
Fighting Back • Outrage and anger over the Quartering and Townshend Acts led to the BOSTON MASSACRE in 1770 • Colonists attacked a squadron of British soldiers near Boston Common • The soldiers fired back killing five people, including Crispus Attucks
Crispus Attucks, American Hero • Attucks, an African-American sailor, was the first man shot during the Boston Massacre • Attucks is remembered as the first martyr to American liberty in the Revolution
Trial of the Century • The British soldiers were defended by a young, Boston lawyer named John Adams • Adams won acquittal for 7 of the 9, and minor charges for the rest • Adams’ reputation of being honest, fair, intelligent, and a good writer makes him a leader of the growing Patriot movement