War and American Society
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You have been asked to sign the Declaration of Independence. Explain
your decision.
I would sign the Declaration of Independence, with some apprehension. As I read “The Birth of a Nation”, “Civil Disobedience”, and “Common Sense”, and watched “The Patriot”, “1776”, I realize that the people of America were separated into three camps. The Loyalist who wanted to remain loyal to King George, Parliament, and Mother England, there were the people who wanted to stay connected to Mother England, but wanted economic, and legislation autonomy. Then there were the real rebels, man like John, and Samuel Adams, who were distant cousins.
Parliament made the rebels job easy; they passed many tax laws, which impacted the Colonies economies.
The Sugar Act is passed by the English Parliament to offset the war debt brought on by the French and Indian War and to help pay for the expenses of running the colonies and newly acquired territories. This act increases the duties on imported sugar and other items such as textiles, coffee, wines and indigo (dye). It doubles the duties on foreign goods reshipped from England to the colonies and also forbids the import of foreign rum and French wines. The English Parliament then passes a measure to reorganize the American customs system to better enforce British trade laws, which have often been ignored in the past. A court is established in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that will have jurisdiction over all of the American colonies in trade matters. The Currency Act prohibits the colonists from issuing any legal tender paper money. This act threatens to destabilize the entire colonial economy of both the industrial North and agricultural South, thus uniting the colonists against it. In May, at a town meeting, James Otis raises the issue of taxation without representation and urges a united response to the recent acts imposed by England. All of this happened in 1764. In 1765, In March, the Stamp Act is passed by the English Parliament imposing the first direct tax on the American colonies, to offset the high costs of the British military organization in America. Thus for the first time in the 150 year old history of the British colonies in America, the Americans will pay tax not to their own local legislatures in America, but directly to England. In March, the Stamp Act is passed by the English Parliament imposing the first direct tax on the American colonies, to offset the high costs of the British military organization in America. Thus for the first time in the 150 year old history of the British colonies in America, the Americans will pay tax not to their own local legislatures in America, but directly to England. The next year the Stamp Act was repealed but in its place Parliament passes the Declaratory Act stating that the British government