The Road to the Revolution

The colonists were justified to fight against the British. The British passed many unfair laws onto the colonists, but not onto the British citizens. The British also gave very serious punishments to the colonists, and did not let the colonists have a say in what their country was. The colonists also wanted control of their own future and start a new life in America and be free from British control.

The British made many unfair laws to the colonists. An unfair law was the Stamp Act. This required all official papers, letters, cards, newspapers, and legal documents to have a stamp. Many of the colonists thought of it as tyranny. They were fine with paying the taxes for the British, but the British taxed the colonists without the colonist’s say. This was very unfair to the colonists. Many colonists even rebelled by attacking tax collectors. Eventually, the taxes were repealed. One major law that was unfair to the colonists were the Townshend Acts. These were taxes made by Charles Townshend. He thought that the colonists were being more out of hand and he should punish them. This act taxed many items, such as glass, paint, paper, tea, and more. This enraged the colonists, and once again, they wanted to not pay the taxes and fight the British. The colonists boycotted British goods. Since boycotting was peaceful, even loyalists, or colonists loyal to the British, supported the boycott. Eventually, the Townshend Acts were repealed by the British. Another tax that was unfair to the colonists was the quartering act. It required all colonists to house and feed any British soldier that needed a place to stay. Many colonists could not afford it and were furious because the British did not have to house soldiers. This was very unfair to the colonists because housing soldiers was not their responsibility.

The colonists received very harsh punishments. One way the British punished the colonists was through the Coercive Acts. This included harbors being closed, being forced under British control, and more British troops were sent to Boston to enforce the laws. This angered the colonists because they were punished for trying to become free. As before, the colonists were also heavily taxed. The colonists were taxed more than citizens living in England, and they had no representation in Parliament. Many colonists rebelled against the taxes by saying “no taxation without representation”. These taxes made the colonists angry and felt as if they were being governed by a tyrant. Bostonian colonists were also “punished”, in a way. On the night of March 5th, 1770, a noisy mob started throwing rocks and snowballs at British soldiers. One soldier was knocked down and the others panicked and fired. Five Bostonians were killed and a few more were injured. The British soldiers may have acted in self-defense, not for the pleasure of killing the colonists.