History Assignment | Online Assignment
Examine the events and relationship between the colonists and the English authorities from the time of the Seven Years War[1756-63] until the confrontations at Lexington and Concord[April 1775] that led to the creation of “americans”, a very interesting twelve year period. The Seven Years War or the French and Indian War- followed by an Indian uprising in the summer of 1764 started to raise the level of distrust between the american colonists and the British authorities in England. I will begin to send lecture notes to help with this question in the next couple days. I will send several possible sources you may want to view in gathering information for this assignment. Students, The French and Indian war created two issues between the colonists and the British authorities: first-the colonists complained the British did not do enough to help reduce the threat of Indian attacks against the colonists and their settlements-second the Britsh felt the colonists should pay for the effort in the French abd Indian War. Colonists were only paying 4% in taxes of what the people of the British Iles were paying. To change this inequity, The British Parliament began to institute a series of taxes on the colonists to raise money for the royal treasury. This would put into motion the colonists resisting these taxing measures. I will begin to explain this resistance by the colonists. several economic measures by England resented by colonists: Revenue Act-1764[duties on imports of molasses,wines,foreign textiles,coffee,indigo,and sugar] raised the cost of many items on the colonists- Currency Act of 1764[no paper money issued by colonies]-Stamp Act of 1765[required revenue syamps on all printed matter and legal documents]-Quartering Actof 1765[colonies to supply British troops with provisions, barracks or use of inns and vacant buildings. Idea of taxation without representation[ the colonies were being taxed by parliamentand didn’t elect members to Parliament. England insisted on therory of “virtual representation” colonies were represented by Parliament with interests of whole country. Colonists developed a practice of non-importation-did not buy British goods. The idea of self-government came from the collective experiences of the colonists in dealing with the efforts of survival in the new world and relations with the British authorities. This progression can be traced from the Mayflower Compact[civil body politic-consent of the governed]-1620 to the Maryland Toleration Act -1649. Mayflower Compact-1620 First Charter of Massachusetts-1630 Fundamental Oders of Connecticut-1639 Plan of Civil Gov. for Providence-1640 Massachusetts Body of Liberties-1641 New England Confederation-1643 Mass. School Law-1647 Maryland Toleration Act-1649 Charter of Liberties[Pennsylvania]-1701 establishment of colonial assemblies-House of Burgesses[Virginia]-House of Delegates[Maryland]-House of Represntatives[Mass]. Representatives elected by colonial voters to serve in these assemblies. Ideas of the Enlightenment. The ideas of the enlightenment came from the French philosophers-Voltaire-Rousseu-Montsque-Deidorot-as well as John Locke-Francis Bacon and other English thinkers. These men were engaged in a reckless search for the truth examining such radical ideas such as self-government-checks and balances-equality. Their writings found an eager audience in many groups and individuals in the colonies as the colonists began to gain comfort and confidence in dealing with the issues of government-commerce and trade-inter-colonial affairs without interference from the British parliament.As the sophistication of the colonial institutions grew and expanded so did the beginning of the desire to be free of interference from England. As the proliferation of literacy-writings-newspapers-and newsletters spread the ideas of self ruie from New England to Georgia, the mind set of resistence to taxation without representation spread as well.
