A series of taxing legislation during the colonial era set off a series of
actions between colonists and Great Britain.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE [ edit ]
Describe the contribution that British tax policy made to the colonists' grievances against the
mother country
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
In the colonial era, Americans insisted on their rights as Englishmen to have their
own legislature raise all taxes.
Tax loads in practice were very light, and far lower than in England.
Beginning in 1765 the British Parliament asserted its supreme authority to lay taxes, and a series
of American protests began that led directly to the American Revolution.
The first wave of protests attacked the Stamp Act of 1765, and marked the first time Americans
from each of the thirteencolonies met together and planned a common front against illegal taxes.
The Boston Tea Party of 1773 dumped British tea into Boston Harbor because it contained a
hidden tax Americans refused to pay.
The British responded by trying to crush traditional liberties in Massachusetts, leading to the
American revolution starting in 1775.
TERMS [ edit ]
sons and daughters of liberty
The Sons of Liberty was a group consisting of American patriots that originated in the pre­
independence North American British colonies.
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act is the name of at least two 18th­century Acts of the Parliament of Great
Britain.
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a political protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston, a town in the
British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government and the monopolistic East India
Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies.
Give us feedback on this content: FULL TEXT [ edit ]
In the colonial era, Americans insisted on having their own legislature raise all taxes, based
on their rights as Englishmen. Tax loads in practice were very light, and far lower than in
England. Beginning in 1765 the British Parliament asserted its supreme authority to lay
taxes, and a series of American protests began that led directly to the American Revolution.
The first wave of protests attacked the Stamp Act of 1765, and marked the first time
Americans from each of the thirteen colonies met together and planned a common front
against illegal taxes. This also began the rise of the Sons andDaughters of Liberty, who staged
public protests over the taxes. The Boston Tea Party of 1773, the most popular example,
dumped British tea into Boston Harbor because it contained a hidden tax Americans refused
to pay. The British responded by trying to crush traditional liberties in Massachusetts,
leading to the American revolution starting in 1775.
The Parliament attempted a series of taxes and punishments which met more and more
resistance, namely the FirstQuartering Act (1765), the Declaratory Act (1766), the
Townshend Revenue Act (1767), and the Tea Act (1773).
In response to the Boston Tea Party Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts: the Second
Quartering Act (1774), the Quebec Act (1774), the Massachusetts Government Act(1774), the
Administration of Justice Act (1774), the Boston Port Act (1774), and the Prohibitory Act
(1775). By this point, the 13 colonies had organized themselves into the Continental Congress
and began setting up shadow governments and drilling their militia in preparation for war.
Protesting Taxes at the Boston Tea Party
During the Boston Tea Party of 1773, Americans dumped British tea into Boston Harbor in protest of
a hidden tax.