Taxes
The Problem all started when Great Britain started to tax the colonies to pay for 10,000 british Soldiers that the colonists didn’t want. The colonists thought it wasn’t fair but Great Britain thought is was.
British taxes existed in the colonies for many years. But before the 1760s, colonists rarely complained about them. Here are a few reasons why:
British taxes existed in the colonies for many years. But before the 1760s, colonists rarely complained about them. Here are a few reasons why:
- The taxes were low. Colonists paid lower taxes than most people in the British Empire. People living in England, for example, often had to pay twice as much tax on the same goods.
- The taxes were not meant to raise money. The British government mostly taxed non-British imports, or goods sold to the colonies from countries like France and Spain. These taxes were only meant to encourage colonists to buy more British goods and fewer non-British goods.
- The taxes were easy to avoid. Even if colonists didn't like the taxes, they could usually avoid paying them. For example, they would buy imports that British officials didn't know about. Avoiding taxes was against the law, but colonists usually got away with it.
Here are some of the major acts on the colonies and what they did:
- Sugar act gave British officials the power to enforce taxes. This tax was made to ultimately stop smuggling (mostly sugar).
- Stamp act said that the use of special paper bearing an embossed tax stamp for all legal documents was required.
- Quartering act said the colonists needed to find or pay for lodging for British soldiers stationed in America.
- Townsend act said the the colonists to pay taxes on imported goods like tea.
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre occurred May 5, 1770 when a crowd started to snowball a Red Coat (British) sentry. When other Red Coats saw what was happening to the sentry they took out their guns and fired into the crowd killing 5 colonists. The British officer in charge, Capt. Thomas Preston, was arrested with 8 of his men for manslaughter.
Boston Tea Party
No, it wasn't a large tea party in boston. The Boston Tea Party was when the Sons of Liberty destroyed British tea by dumping it into the harbor. On December 16, 1773 they disguised themselves as Native Americans and went on to the British boats and dumped the tea. Which in today's money the tea would have been worth over 1 million dollars. Soon all of Boston's harbors were closed until they could pay for all the tea dumped in the water.