The Declaration of Independence. free essay sample

The Declaration of Independence inspired many during the American Revolution. It was probably because the events, the history, the time before were a time of suffering and many unacceptable actions from Britain. Many events had occurred prior to the formation of the Declaration of Independence. Fifth events hadnt occurred, I believe that the Declaration of Independence wouldnt have such a strong significance to it. It all started when the British first fought for land and kicked the French out of North America (Gibson, 1954). This did this by having a war with them, which was called the French and Indian War (Gibson, 1954). They thought that taking over the French land would be the last struggle that they would have to face. What they did not know was that if they would treat their own people with the same manner, they would get the same result: War. The French and Indian War was a war that lasted seven years between Great Britain and France for control over the land in North America (Gibson, 1954). The British wanted to expand their land and move into the land claimed by the French. The war actually began on July 3, 1754. This important war started because George Washington came to Pennsylvania with a message to get theFrench out of Englands territory, but the French just plainly said, No! One battle was fought at Fort Duquesne, in Pennsylvania, near the Ohio River where Pittsburgh is today (Gibson, 1954). This resulted in going back to Virginia and telling the governor of Virginia that the French said, No! (Gibson, 1954). They just had to force the French out because it was their land. But how? was the question (Gibson, 1954). The French didnt agree so there was a war. The Proclamation of 1 763 was written after the French and Indian War. The proclamation was a law that stated that no more settlers were to come on theIndians land west of the Appalachian Mountains (Gibson, 1954). The British King, George Ill, gave this order as an official announcement or Proclamation. The King drew a line on a map along the middle of the Appalachian Mountains, from New York to Georgia (Gibson, 1954). No colonists were to settle west of that line. He proclaimed this because settlers were coming on the Native Americans land, which made The Native Americans furious to fight back. The King then sent troops to protect the settlers. This proclamation also said that the settlers who were already living there had to move east (Davis, 1990).People were very angry and they continued moving in anyway. It resulted in Colonial dissatisfaction. After the proclamation Britain started to become greedy, with no money to regain back from the war with the French. They knew that settlers in North America were happy in business, making money and Britain wanted a part of it. They did this by putting in place a Sugar Act, which was a version of the Molasses Act of 1 733 (Afraid, 2002). It put a three-cent tax on foreign sugar and higher import taxes on non-British cloth, coffee, indigo, and wines (Gibson, 1954).The British Empire, the French, and the Dutch West Indies ere involved. The Sugar Act went into effect on April 5th, 1764. The British had fought too many wars and needed more money. They decided to get their money by taxing the colonists. The Sugar Act resulted in the banning of importation of foreign rum and French wine (Gibson, 1954). The colonies reacted with the meeting of several assemblies and a protest of British taxation for revenue (Afraid, 2002). After the Sugar Act, in 1765 King George the Third passed the Stamp Act still trying to regain money from fighting the French and Indian War.The Stamp Act made the colonists pay taxes on various items such as paper, legal comments, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards (Maier, 1998). The Colonists would use the Stamps by putting them on the items listed above. The colonists didnt want to pay taxes so they boycotted British goods until the King repealed the Stamp Act on March 18, 1766 (Davis, 1990). Though no commissioner was actually tarred and feathered, the colonists threatened to do it if the tax was not repealed. The King now enraged, wanted an idea that would get the colonists back for rebelling.The Townsend Acts were a British trick to cut the British land tax and tax the colonists. The British treasurer Charles Townsend had the idea for the tax and the King liked it. The Townsend Acts started in June of 1 767 (Sullen, 1996). The act established a board of customs collectors in Boston. The money collected from these import taxes was used to pay the salaries of the British colonial officials. This made them more independent of the colonial legislatures and more able to enforce the British orders and laws (Gibson, 1954). It caused the colonists to be angry. The Townsend Acts called for new import taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea (Sullen, 1996). In March 770, the Townsend Acts were repealed except for the tax on tea. The Townsend Acts were very unpopular with the colonists, who criticized the Acts and demonstrated by protesting in October (Maier, 1998). The colonists decided to once again boycott all English items. Following the Townsend Act, the Boston Massacre started when the Boston townspeople started calling the British troops names.The British troops got infuriated. Then somebody called out fire but nobody knew who shouted. The British turned their guns and shot at the crowd. When the smoke cleared, five townspeople lay dead. One of the men that got killed was Crisps Attacks, he was the first African American to die for American liberty (Sullen, 1996). The colonists were angered with the British troops. Seven months later in October 1770 Captain Preston was tried for murder in a Boston courtroom and was acquitted by a Boston jury (Sullen, 1996).But when the soldiers case came to trial the jurors in their case came from outside of Boston. They won acquittals a month after the trial began. Many events in Boston, such as the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townsend Acts, and the Boston Massacre, angered the colonists (Gibson, 1954). In 1772, Committee of Correspondence was created during a Boston town meeting called by Samuel Adams. The Committee of Correspondence was a group of people who wrote letters that would be sent to the other colonial governments telling them what was happening in Boston (Gibson, 1954).Similar committees were soon started all through the Colonies. These committees kept the colonies informed and united in a common cause. When the Committee of Correspondence was formed the British government put forth the Tea Act, which was a tax placed on tea by the British Parliament (Afraid, 2002). This all happened on April 27, 1 773, in Boston, Massachusetts. When the British placed a tax on tea the colonists were annoyed. The British lowered tea prices so no other tea company could compete with them trying to force the colonists to buy from them (Davis 1990).Since the only place colonists could pay a low price for tea was Great Britain, some bought the tea and accepted the taxes. The consequence was that tea would sell at per lb in America, not the Chichi it had obtained recently (Davis, 1990). This would increase its consumption to the India Company so it could be helped out of its financial difficulties (Davis, 1990). But many colonists bought tea from other entries even if they had to pay higher prices just to keep from paying any taxes to Great Britain (Davis, 1990). The Tea Act eventually led to the Boston Tea Party in which Samuel Adams led a group of men disguised as Indians to Boston Harbor (Gibson, 1954). On December 1 773 a group Of men rowed boats out to the British tea ships and anchored in the Boston harbor (Gibson, 1954). They were dressed as Negroes and Mohawk Indians complete with headbands, tomahawks, and face paint (Gibson, 1954). Samuel Adams led them. They dumped 342 chests of British tea, valued to be worth more than 10,000 pounds, into the water (Gibson, 1954). This event came to be known as the Boston Tea Party.In conclusion, the events that led to the caused of the Boston Tea Party to happen were: Great Britain tried to enforce tax on tea, Colonists refused to drink British tea, and the British government tried to force the colonists to accept a tea tax or Tea Act. As a result the colonists dumped the tea into the water. The king closed the harbor until the tea that had been dumped into the water had been paid for. The king also took away most of the colonists rights of self- government. The people of Boston and other colonies were growing less and less patient.Their eagerness led to the arming of the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in September 1774 (Sullen, 1996). This meeting united the colonies and was a giant step toward a decision for a revolution. After the colonists decided to do nothing but to retaliate against the British King, the Intolerable Acts was passed by Parliament in 1 774 (Maier, 1998). It was a threat to liberty and all the colonies. These acts were passed to take more control over the American Colonies. There were five acts and they involved Massachusetts and Great Britain.The first act was called the Quartering Act and was passed on March 24, 1765 (Sullen, 1996). This act had to do with the British troops. It said that the colonists were to house any British soldier who came to their door and asked to stay (Sullen, 1996). The second act was the Boston Port Act and the bill was passed on June 1, 1774 (Sullen, 1996). The bill closed the port of Boston until the damages from the Boston Tea Party were paid for. The third act was the Administration of Justice Act and it was passed on May 20, 1774 (Sullen, 1996).The bill said that the British officials would not be able to be tried in provincial courts (Sullen, 1996). They would be sent back to Britain and tried there. The fourth act was the Massachusetts Government Act and it occurred on May 20,1 774 (Sullen, 1996). This bill affected the charter of the colonies. It gave the British control of the town meetings and took control out of the colonists hands (Sullen, 1996). The fifth and final act is the Quebec Act (Sullen, 1996). It started in May 20, 1774 and the bill changed the Canadian borders (Sullen, 1996).After the Boston Tea party and the imposing of the Intolerable Acts on the colonies, delegates from twelve of the colonies met in Philadelphia in September of 1 774 (Gibson, 1954). This group was called the First Continental Congress (Gibson, 1954). They were upset with the British Parliament for their unfair treatment of the colonies and were able to accomplish these three things: to write a list Of grievances against parliament, to asked that the King respect their rights as British citizens and to vote whether to stop trading with the British until the King repealed the Intolerable Acts (Gibson, 1954).At this time the colonists still didnt want war and wanted to remain loyal to the King. On April 19, 1775 a British military force-marched on Concord to capture the Minuteness arsenal of weapons (Davis, 1990). The Massachusetts colonys ileitis were known as the Minutemen (Davis, 1990). They were called the Minutemen because they were a group of soldiers who could be ready for a battle on a minutes notice (Davis, 1990). The Minutemen were made up of volunteer citizens such as farmers, fishermen, and tradesmen (Davis, 1990). One of the most famous Minutemen was Paul Revere, who was a silversmith (Davis, 1990).The British were able to enter Concord but were unable to find the weapons. As the British marched back to Boston, they were ambushed by large numbers of Minutemen (Davis, 1990). The British suffered many casualties at this time. This battle caused the Revolutionary War to begin. After this battle, the Minutemen were able to train many more volunteers and be ready for other battles (Davis, 1990). The Battle Of Lexington was a battle in Massachusetts that happened because of some angry Americans who refused to pay taxes (Gibson, 1954).The British went to war with them and had a plan that they would leave Boston in the night. First they would march to Lexington, a village near Concord (Gibson, 1954). At Lexington they would capture the two major troublemakers who were hiding out there: Sam Adams and John Hancock (Gibson, 1954). These two men were the leaders of the Sons of bribery (Gibson, 1954). Then the troops would march to Concord and destroy the Minuteness supplies (Davis, 1990). At midnight, on the 19th of April, the British troops left Boston and crossed the Charles River (Gibson, 1954).Paul Revere warned the minutemen that the British were coming (Gibson, 1954). When the British troops arrived in Lexington, the American troops were ready. No one knows who fired the first shot, but it was called The Shot Heard Round the World (Sullen, 1996). They called it that because it was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. Patrick Henry was in the Battles of Lexington and Concord (Sullen, 1996). These battles started the Revolutionary war and took place in April 19,1775 (Sullen, 1996).The Second Continental Congress was the second meeting of the colonies delegates in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775 (Gibson, 1954). The delegates included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams. The Congress commissioned Washington to organize a continental army and assume responsibility for the siege of Boston (Gibson, 1954). It formulated regulations and conducts for trade; issued paper money; and sent ambassadors abroad to negotiate with foreign powers for financial, diplomatic, and military assistance (Davis, 1990).