History of USA

Lesson 3
The War of Independence
No taxation without representation; The Boston Tea Party
British officials believed that the British government and Parliament in particular
had the constitutional power to tax and govern the American colonies. The rulers
of Parliament assumed what they called Parliamentary Sovereignty and they
insisted this to be a dominant within the British constitution. It was a break
against arbitrary monarchs. Parliament alone could tax or write legislation and
could not consent to divide that authority with any other part. The Americans,
however had developed a very different opinion of how they should be governed.
By the 1720s, all but two colonies had an elected assembly and an appointed
government. Contests between the two were common with governors generally
exercising greater power in the Northern colonies and assemblies having more
power in the South. Governors technically had great power. Most of them, were
appointed by the king and stood for him in colonial government. Governors also
had the power to make appointments and thus to pack the government with their
followers. The assemblies however were the only ones that could pass bills and
taxes. They often used that power to gain more control in relation to governors.
Colonists tended to view their elected assemblies as defenders against the king,
Parliament and colonial governors, who were attempting to increase their power
at the expense of popular liberty. Thus, when the British Parliament asserted its
right to tax and govern the colonies, something that had never been done before,
ideals clashed. The British elites idea of the power, that its Parliament had
gained, collided with the American elites idea of sovereignty of its own
Parliaments. The British assumed that their Parliament legislated for the whole
Empire. The Americans assumed that while the parts of the Empire shared the
British king but also British liberties, the colonies could be taxed and governed
only by their own elected representatives. The British attempt to tax the colonies
was certain to start the fight.
History of USA
Lesson 3
Between 1764 and 1773, Parliaments passed a number of acts that imposed
certain taxations on the American colonies. Among these were the Sugar Act, the
Currency Act (which forbade the colonies to issue paper money), the Stamp Act
(which required all official documents to carry a tax stamp), the Townshend Act
(which drew up new taxes on imports on tea, paper, glass, paint..). Clearly these
acts were meant not only to tax the colonies but also to exert British authority.
The Americans protested to these duties and they even rioted. They also agreed
to boycott on imported British goods, particularly tea. The British responded by
landing troupes at Boston, the centre of residence in October 1768. Tensions
between towns people and soldiers were constant for the next year and half. On
March 5
th
, 1770, tensions exploded into the so called Boston massacre, when
British soldiers fired into a mob of Americans, killing 5 men. In England, on the
day of the massacre, the Parliament repelled all of the Townshends Acts except
the one on tea, a reminder that it would never relinquish its right to tax and
govern Americans.
The Tea Act of 1773 maintained the tax and gave the English East India Company
a monopoly on the export of tea. The companys tea ships ran into trouble in
American ports most probably in Boston, where on December 16
th
, 1773,
colonists dressed as Native Americans dumped a shipload of tea into the harbor.
Britain responded to this Boston Tea Party by closing the port until Bostonians
paid for the tea. In September 1774, every colony sent delegates to a first
continental congress in Philadelphia. The congress refused to recognize the
authority of the Parliament and sent a petition to the king. The petition stated the
principle that Parliament could not legislate the colonies without their consent
and that there should be no taxation of the colonies without their representation
in the Parliament. The British responded by sending an army to cease the
American leaders. In August, king George I proclaimed the colonies to be in
rebellion.
History of USA
Lesson 3