Preview

Analysis Of The Stamp Act Protests

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
321 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis Of The Stamp Act Protests
The British believed the Stamp Act protests were an act of uncontrolled violence, while the colonists thought it was widespread political protest. According to the letter written by Thomas Hutchinson, the royal governor of Massachusetts, on August 30, 1765, the colonists were a “hellish crew that fell upon my house with the rage of devils.” By saying this, Hutchinson means that a chaotic mob of angry Patriots destroyed his house without reason. This was seen as uncontrolled violence because the British had never seen any act this violent come from the colonists, and because the British were not leading the rebellion, it was seen as uncontrolled. Furthermore, in the same letter Hutchinson declares that the protests were an act of “...unparalleled

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    British merchants were greatly affected by the colonists determined boycott protests, that they begged parliament to stop the Stamp Act. February 1766, the Act was canceled. But the British didn’t stop, they were resilient and came up with newer Acts and ways of taxing the American colonies. The British parliament passed Acts such as the Declaratory Act, the Townshend Act, the Tea Act and the Coercive Act that further angered the colonists by making them feel restricted, ignored and unfairly treated. 4 1676, Charles Townshend, new finance minister, came up with the Townshend Act.…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This Act required Taxed Stamps to be placed on printed materials (Norton, 2015). These stamps had to be purchased using the British sterling coin, which was not prevalent in the colonies. Colonist saw the pitfalls of this act and began to seek equal liberty with British Parliament. Not yet seeking independence, the colonist wanted British leaders to rethink how government worked. Opposition continued to rise as these ideals were rejected by Royal Rule. Demonstrations opposing this legislation took place one of which being the burning of an effigy of the stamp distributor, Andrew Oliver and his home being vandalized. Eventually a group b the name “Sons of Liberty” formed to help influence protesting events. Finally, Parliament had repealed the Stamp Act, however, it was directly linked to the passage of the Declaratory Act. This stamp act was central to the American Revolution because it was the first collective from the Colonies to oppose Parliament, and was the direct linkage to future taxation against the Americas, thanks to the Declaratory Act, that would push the Colonies to…

    • 1567 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    After officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists from a political group called the Sons of Liberty boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. The colonists believed that the Tea Act, (the act which imposed the taxes) violated their rights as citizens; hence, causing indignation throughout the city of Boston. Although protesters had successfully prevented the unloading of taxed tea in three other colonies, Boston’s obstinate Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused to allow the tea to be returned to Britain, which resulted in the already vexed colonists to commence a revolution that would bring havoc to the British government. The colonist’s rage towards the Parliament was fundamentally fired from Britain’s demand to have absolute control over the colonies, and the Tea Act proved to be the last straw. The British Parliaments strong desire for power over the colonies, resulted in their downfall as misuse of power nearly always starts a…

    • 889 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fights broken out between the American Patriots and the British Loyalists. A number of outrageous taxes were being placed on everyday supplies. The Stamp Acts placed taxes on printed documents including legal documents, licenses and newspapers. John Adams an American colonist wrote a resolution to get his other fellow colonist to protest against the act (Document 1). The Declaratory Act helped secure the colonies and keep the colonist under Britain's control. However, this just created more violence from the colonist for the taxes (Document 2). Paul Revere’s engraving of the Boston Massacre 1770, was used as Propaganda at the time shortly after the event to show that the British fired on unarmed colonist. Colonist try to make it look like the British just fired for no reason but really some of the them were antagonizing the soldiers. Yet, the colonists made the attack look like British were the bad guys (Document 4).…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Stamp Act of 1765 was established after the French and Indian War to help the British pay for war damages and debts acquired during the war. The Stamp Act placed a tax on all printed material in the colonies. This act aroused a large amount of protest from the colonist who felt it was unfair for Britain to issue taxes upon the colonists especially since the colonist had no representation in Parliament. A country should not be allowed to levy taxes upon its colonies, especially when the colonies are a great distance from the mother country. Great Britain lack of interest in the colonies in the beginning of American colonization is the reason for the colonist adapting a new sense of independency. For the British to pay attention to the colonist only when they are in need of money is…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Stamp Act Research Paper

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A new act was passed by the Parliament in March 22 , 1765 and made colonist very mad. It was called The Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was a law passed by the Parliament because of the French and Indian war dept. The Stamp Act tax the colonist on any use of printed materials (newspaper, magazines, legal documents and etc.). The colonist had 7 month to think about the Stamp act before it took effect. In summer/ fall the Stamp Act the colonist staring public protests…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first major American opposition to British policy came in 1765, right after parliament decided to pass the stamp act, a taxation measure designed to raise revenues for a standing British army in America. With its enactment in November, most colonists called for a boycott of British goods, and some organized attacks on customhouses and homes of tax collectors. Parliament finally voted to repeal the stamp act in March 1766, after months of protesting in the colonies. Most of the colonists went on peacefully and accepted it until parliament’s enactment of the Tea Act in 1773, a bill designed to save the faltering British east India Company by greatly lowering its tea tax and granting it monopoly on the American tea trade.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    American Colonies Dbq

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It wasn’t until the Stamp act of 1765 that Americans started to have financial difficulties, this act affected almost all of the colonists since it placed a tax on all printed documents. The stamp act however was different from previous tax acts, although other acts raised some income for the British government that was never their main purpose. The stamp act’s main purpose was to raise income and to help alleviate some of the economic troubles caused by previous wars. What made the colonist most agitated was that they had no say in the making of the act since they were not represented properly in parliament. The colonists tried to appeal the law with answers such as the Virginia Resolves but parliament eventually passed the Declaratory Act, which reassured the fact that parliament had full control over the colonists in all situations. After the Declaratory Act, parliament continued to bombard the colonists with unjust laws, one large program of laws was called the Townshend Program. This program reinforced laws already put in place that the colonists refused to obey and also created new ones. The acts and laws put in place by Townshend, except for the tea tax, were eventually appealed by Britain to end the colonists’ boycotts. But this program got the colonists starting to think about a revolution, especially after an over exaggerated event known as the Boston Massacre. The colonists tried to spread and keep the resistance strong mostly through the writing and talking of colonists in the colonies. The last acts to finally push the Americans into revolting were known as the Coercive Acts, also known as the intolerable Acts to most of the colonists. It created numerous boycotts around the colonies and was the final piece of unjust laws enforced by the…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stamp Act Reaction

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Stamp Act which was passed on March 22, 1765 was to help the British pay their massive debt from the French and Indian war. The colonists did not approve of the Stamp Act and thought that only colonial assemblies had the right to tax the colonies. Colonists responded to the tax with violent protests and petitions. Patrick Henry, who served in the House of Burgess, submitted resolutions to his colony’s assembly. These resolutions denied Parliaments right to tax the colonies and called on the colonists to resist and fight the Stamp Act. These resolutions were important in the Stamp…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American Revolution displayed certain stages throughout that matched with the broad general pattern. As a prelude before the Revolution itself, there were already preliminary symptoms of unrest within America that followed the first step in the general pattern of revolutions. Prior to the initial shots in 1775, growing discontent against the British Government who were passing certain acts that the Americans thought as very unfair had already risen to a high degree. With the majority of acts incurring economic and financial costs, by 1767, the Townshend Acts had been passed, putting further taxes on paper, glass and tea. Upon the taxes that the Stamp Act of 1965 incurred on such items as newspapers, official documents and almanacs, the American people became highly agitated and a feeling of resentment quickly spilled over the masses, ‘several person were for dying rather than submitting to it...’ [pg52 Maier, P.] Additionally, the Colonialist became increasingly violent, ‘Almost immediately after the Acts [implementation], outbreak of mob activity. By 1770, the preliminary symptom of unrest displayed through protest and discontent was evident. The Colonialist did not feel that they were obligated to be subject to these taxes without representation in British Parliament. Additionally, the psychological pre-condition associated with the cause of war was present in the Colonialist discontent regarding the numerous Acts bearing economic consequences. Not only had the events up till 1770 displayed active protests and early mob activity, it also hinted at the potential oncoming violence the growing mob could inflict which was the next step in the general broad pattern of revolutions.…

    • 1506 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stamp Act 1765

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages

    They could not start riots yet, as the tax was not going to commence until November 1st, 1765. Every colony had stamp officers, so the colonists found a way to begin rebelling without breaking the law. They decided to go to each of the stamp officers and stress the importance of doing away with the Stamp Act. If the officers refused, the colonists would mob them until they forcefully surrendered. Riots soon began and spread all throughout the colonies: Boston, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and many of the others. Some colonists hated the idea of the Stamp Act so much they even disrespected their lieutenant-governor and destroyed his household items. These acts were all in advance to the taxing. Once the Stamp Act began, it was a lot worse than one could ever…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stamp Act Crisis

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The colonists needed to show Britain that they were not going to be dictated and told what to do if it wasn't to their advantage. The colonists proceeded to throw protests during political assemblies, they put forth pressure through popular crowd actions and riots, and they boycotted English goods. This gave Parliament a taste of what they were in for in the future when situations of colonial resistance would arise. A more formal way of the colonists' rebellion can be seen through the Stamp Act Congress. As first suggested by James Otis, the Massachusetts legislature issued for a general congress to meet in New York and find ways of resisting the British law. As a result, unity occurred within the colonists, and 27 delegates from nine colonies were sent to the meeting. They drafted a set of resolutions that stood for the colonial attitudes in response to the Stamp Act. Among the resolutions, the congress resolved that since they possessed the rights of all British-born subjects, it was their right not to be taxed without their consent, that no taxes could be imposed against the colonies except by their own assemblies and that they were not properly represented in Parliament. In addition to this, many of the colonies agreed to not purchase any British goods until the Stamp Act was…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Stamp Act of 1765 was passed by the parliament basically to raise revenue. That led to new taxes being imposed on all American colonists. The Townshend Acts of 1767 was passed by the parliament to impose duties on the colonies. The Colonists were becoming more n more enraged. Then On March 5, 1770 The Boston “Massacre” happened. This was the big event that united the colonists and makes them go to war against the British. The Boston Massacre was when the British Soldiers began shooting at a crowd of colonists. Many people were dead and more was wounded. The picture shows how the British were violent and killers, it was sent throughout the colonies and it arouses anti-British feelings. {Document 2 & Document…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It all started with a family conversation at the dinner table. Tonight Mother made my favorite and I was excited. So while that was happening Mother said these golden words that started a fun and exciting conversation: “How was your day with your Friends?”. “It was wonderful” I replied, “My Friends Grandma told us all about Stamp Act.” Oh! before we go any farther, I am Emily an A+ Student. Anywho.. as I was saying, I started explaining the Stamp Act to my Mom.. I thought she already knew about it though. “The Stamp Act was made in 1765, after the British just came out of a war with France they needed more money, so this British guy named George Greenville came up with the idea that they could just tax the people in Colonial America!” I said…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    independence from britain

    • 2136 Words
    • 7 Pages

    and the Stamp Act the following year. These acts caused the colonists to revolt and reacted with…

    • 2136 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays