The colonists first started to show real signs of unity after the Seven
Years War (French Indian War). Although Britain fronted most of the
supplies, troops, and war costs, the colonists were able to hold their
own under the direction of both British and colonial officers. George
III, as a way to ease Britain's national debt (war isn't fucking
cheap), passed first the Navigation Law of 1650. It was mostly aimed
at Dutch shippers who wanted to muscle in on American trade. It
prevented the colonists from trading with anyone but Britain. It also
required that European goods had to first be landed in Britain where it
was taxed, which turned European powers away from trading with the
colonists. This united the colonists in that they were unanimously
annoyed by George III. Next came the Sugar Act of 1764, which
increased the duty on sugar imported from the West Indies. The
colonists united to protest the act, and the taxes were substantially
lowered. In 1765, the Quartering Act (forced colonists to provide
food, water, and a place to sleep for British soldiers when needed) was
passed, which kept up this colonial resentment. In the same year, the
Stamp Act was passed; it required the use of stamped paper (cost extra
money) or stamps (also cost money) for bills and around 50 trade items,
as well as many commercial and legal documents. This did not only
substantially increase living and occupational expenses for the
colonists, but also angered the colonists because George Grenville
(ordered enforcement of Navigation Law, imposed Stamp Tax) assumed it
as a matter of right for the British to impose these new laws on the
colonists. Colonists who defied these laws were tried in admirality
courts, where juries were not allowed and defendants were presumed
guilty until proven innocent. The colonists protested against the new
laws, focusing on the Stamp Act. The saying, "No taxation without
representation," became a slogan of the colonists who had rallied
against the acts. Grenville's response to these outcries was to
dismiss them, saying that Parliament had supreme and undivided power,
and that the colonists were virtually represented by every member of
parliament, because the colonies were a subsidiary of the British
empire, and therefor they were considered in royal decisions. The
Stamp Act Congres of 1765 in NYC brought together 27 delegates from
nine colonies to request that the king repeal the legislation. The
congress was mostly ignored by the king, but the effect of the Congress
on the colonists was a significant step towards colonial unity.
Another response of the colonists was the agreement to use non-British
products. Home-spun wool clothes became fashionable, and colonists
stopped eating lamb chops so as to let wool-bearing sheeps mature and
produce more wool. The nonimportation agreements were another step
towards colonial unity, because it game the colonists a common goal and
action. Next came the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, who advocated the
slogan "Liberty, Property, and No Stamps." Violators of the
nonimportation agreements were targeted and enforced, and often tarred
and feathered. They destroyed property of British officials,
confiscated money, and hanged imitations of stamp agents on liberty
poles. The law was essentially nullified, and England felt the blow.
Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, very grudgingly.
Parliament, almost immediately after repealing the Stamp Act, passed
the Declaratory Act which stated that they had rights "to bind" the
colonies "in all cases whatsoever." In 1767 Charley Townshend
convinced parliament to pass the Townshend Acts, which put a light tax
on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and most importantly TEA. This tax
was indirectly payed at American ports. Some 17 million The tax was a
minor nuisance; the real problem that united the colonists was that
they were still being taxed without representation in parliament.
However, the colonial bonds had a giant upswing as a result of the
events of March 5, 1770, in Boston. Around sixty townspeople gathered
to throw snowballs at and taunt a squad of ten British soldiers.
Provoked by the crowd, and without direct orders, the soldiers opened
fire and wounded and killed eleven citizens. The first to die was
Crispus Atucks, who was leading the mob. The Boston Massacre caused an
uproar among the colonists. The Townshend Acts failed to raise the
revenue predicted by Parliament, instead nearly causing rebellion.
Lord North finally persuaded Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts in
1770, but the three-pence tax on tea was kept as a reminder to the
colonists of Parliaments presence, and power to tax. Discontent kept
brewing in colonial minds, the fire being fed by British officials
efforts to enforce the Navigation Laws, and Samuel Adams' propaganda.
Samuel Adams also helped to form, in 1772, the Committees of
Correspondence, whose responsibilty it was to spread the spirit of
resistance by exchanging letters and keeping opposition to British
policy alive. In 1773, Virginia created the House of Burgesses, which
was the first standing body to organize a central committee to exchange
ideas ideas and information with other colonies. These groups were
extremely important in that they stimulated sentiment in favor of
united colonial action. In 1773, Parliament gave the British East India
Company, who was going bankrupt because of American nonimportation laws
and whose bankruptcy would mean the loss of tax revenue from tea,
supreme monopoly over the American tea business. This allowed them to
sell tea for less than they ever had, even with the three-pence tax.
However, many american tea drinkers still refused to buy tea because of
the principal of the tax. On December 16, 1773 around 100 Boston
citizens, disguised as Indians, boarded docked tea ships, and dumped
342 barrels of tea leaves into the port. Tea had become a rallying
point around which the colonists were united against British authority.
Fuck did i really just write that? For reference, I'm using information
from "The American Pageant, 13th Edition" which is my AP textbook.
There, I started it for you, now just mention, the Intolerable Acts,
the Continental Congress of 1774 and The Association, the fight at
Lexington and Concord, and of course George Washington's influence on
the American people, bring it all together, and you're good.
