England and American Colonies

England and American Colonies were having an argument related to the British wanting to tax the American Colonists and the colonist fighting back and working toward their independence from Great Britain.

The French and Indian War in America “provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America” as well as an enormous national debt. In order to pay back the banks and other countries, Great Britain decided to impose a number of acts increasing the taxes on the 13 colonies. The Sugar Act of 1764 "revised duties on sugar, coffee, tea, wine, and other imports". The Stamp Act of 1765  “placed a tax on newspapers and printed matter produced in the colonies”. And in 1773, in an attempt to selfishly “save one of Britain’s largest businesses, the East India Company, from bankruptcy, Parliament passed the Tea Act. 

The Tea Act of 1773 gave the East India Company a monopoly on importing and selling tea. Furthermore, the tax on the tea was collected in America. During this time, "American tea drinkers preferred cheaper leaves smuggled in from Holland". This act was not only viewed by the colonial businessmen as an economical problem but also as another display of Great Britain imposing their will in the Americas. The colonial merchants answer to the Tea Act of 1773 was the infamous Boston Tea Party,  a "raid on British ships in which Patriots disguised as Mohawks threw hundreds of chests of tea owned by the East India Company into Boston Harbor." 

The divide between England and its American colonies stemmed from not only economic turmoil but also from political issues. As Great Britain imposed taxes, they also imposed their political will onto the Americans. Following the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passes the Intolerable Acts. This act closed the port of Boston unit it paid for the losses of the East India Company, restricted the amount of town meetings to once a year, and authorized the British military to set up camp wherever they felt necessary. To the colonists

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