Heimler's History: Taxation Without Representation

Context and Background

• Previous Topic: French and Indian War
• Current Focus: Events leading to the American Revolution
• Key Event: French and Indian War's financial burden on Britain
• British Expectation: Colonies to help pay for war costs

Salutary Neglect

• Definition: Britain's lax enforcement of colonial policies due to geographic distance
• Colonial Perception: Greater independence than Britain intended
• Result: Colonists engaged in illegal trade and smuggling

British Clampdown

• Prime Minister George Grenville's Plan:
  1. Stricter Enforcement: Navigation Acts
  2. Quartering Act of 1765: Colonists to house British soldiers
  3. Sugar Act: Tax on luxury items like coffee and wine
  4. Stamp Act of 1765: Tax on paper products
  5. Currency Act: Prohibited colonies from printing their own money

Colonial Response

• Economic Effects: Declining wages, rising unemployment
• Philosophical Challenge: "No taxation without representation"
  • Rooted in Enlightenment ideas (John Locke, Rousseau, etc.)
• British Argument: Virtual representation in Parliament

Organized Colonial Groups

• Sons of Liberty, Daughters of Liberty, Vox Populi
• Stamp Act Congress (1765): Petitioned against the Stamp Act
  • Claimed rights as British citizens, not seeking revolution yet

British Legislative Responses

• Repeal of Stamp and Sugar Acts (1766)
• Declaratory Act: Affirmed Parliament's right to legislate colonies
• Townshend Acts (1767): Taxes on imports like paper, tea, and glass
  • Resulted in widespread colonial boycotts

Key Events Leading to Revolution

• Boston Massacre (1770):
  • Conflict between colonists and British soldiers resulting in deaths
  • Defended by John Adams; viewed as tyranny by many colonists
• Boston Tea Party (1773):
  • Protest against the Tea Act and British monopoly
  • 45 tons of tea dumped into Boston Harbor

British Retaliation

• Coercive/Intolerable Acts (1774): Closed Boston Harbor and enacted more restrictive laws
  • Further fueled colonial resistance and militias began forming

Conclusion

• Tensions between Britain and the colonies escalating towards revolution
• Preview of next topics exploring further developments in the lead-up to the American Revolution