Legacy Of Colonial Religious And Political Ideas example essay topic

There were many factors that prompted the Americans to rebel in 1776. The parliamentary taxation, the restriction of civil liberties, the British military measures, and the legacy of colonial religious and political ideas were major factors that led to the American Revolution. Some people believe that the parliamentary taxation was the most important factor to the American Revolution. Taxation without representation started the Americans rebelling and it gave them a reason to fight against the British.

There were many cases of taxation without representation within the colonies. The first unfair tax law was the Sugar Act of 1764. This raised the duty on sugar, but it affected few people other than the New England merchants. The second unfair taxing was the Stamp Act of 1765, which placed a tax on most printed documents in the colonies, such as licenses, deeds, almanacs, wills, pamphlets, etc. Another unjust tax law was the Townshend Duties.

This imposed new taxes on diversified goods imported to the colonies from England. Some goods taxed were lead, paint, paper, and tea. In 1773 the un jsut Tea Act was created. It gave Britain's East India Company the legal right to export it's tea to the colonies, without paying the taxes that were imposed on the colonial merchants. Unlike prior protests, which had a small number of people involved in the boycott, large segments of the population were involved. People thought parliamentary taxation was unfair, and that is why it was a major factor to the rebellion.

Another important factor that compelled the colonists to rebel was the restriction of civil liberties. When England started to strengthen its enforcement in laws with such things as trade, taxes, etc., the colonists ban together and fought with a rebellious attitude. After the Boston Tea Party, Parliament drastically decreased the powers of the self-government in Massachusetts, and they closed the port of Boston. Parliament also allowed royal officers to be tried in different colonies or in England when accused of a crime, and granted the troops the right to use colonists' barns or empty houses for quartering.

The Quebec Act followed the Coercive Acts. The objective of the act was to provide a civil government for the French-speaking Roman Catholic population of Canada and the Illinois country. To do this the law expanded the boundaries of Quebec to encompass the French communities among the Mississippi Rivers and Quebec. After these acts were passed the colonists were ready to stand up for their rights and rebel and that is why the restriction of civil liberties was important to the revolution. The British military measures were another important reason for the revolution. As Britain started to use their military to control the colonists, more people took an active role in the revolution.

Some people believe that the colonists felt threatened, and wanted a way to protect themselves. Farmers and townspeople in Massachusetts had been accumulating arms and ammunition, and they had been training as "minute men" so that they would be prepared to fight in a minute's notice. When Britain found out that there was a large supply of gunpowder in Concord, General Gage sent 1,000 soldiers out from Boston to seize the illegal supplies. Their movement toward Concord was detected and the minutemen defended themselves from the British army. The colonists probably would have revolted anyway, but the 1,000 soldiers gave them an immediate reason to defend themselves.

The colonists protested to the military measures and it was one of many reasons that pushed them to rebel. The legacy of colonial religious and political ideas was also a factor in prompting the colonists to rebel. People presume that the colonists wanted to have their own religious and political ideas, they didn't want Britain to have control over these things. The Quebec Act granted political rights to the Roman Catholic Church.

Many colonists' thought it was a threat and they didn't want to be told what religion they should follow. They wanted to maintain religious and political freedom instead of Britain telling them what they had to do. Parliamentary taxation, restriction of civil liberties, British military measures, and the legacy of colonial religious and political ideas were all factors in prompting Americans to rebel. Some people believe that it was also that the colonists were tired of being controlled by Britain, and they were ready to be their own country. This along with the way Britain treated the colonies led to the American Revolution..