Taxes and Rebellions

The government exists for the goood of the people.

- John Loke

The colonists protested about the Stamp Act, that would soon start in November 1765. They said it threatend their wealth. At the time, the colonial leaders questioned if parliament had the right to tax them directly. They argued that since they had no representation in parliament, then they couldn't make those decisions. Colonists started to believe that it they accepted these taxes that more, would start coming in.

Many colonists believed that ths Stamp Act revealed a conspiracy in the british officials to destroy American liberties. All these colonial arguements puzzled the members of parliament because the British payed taxes, most couldn't vote and they never complained. It was said that Parliament claimed to represent all British citizens and said that the colonists were selfish and narrow minded.

Now when the protest and tax resistance started, it was done in three major ways:

~ Intellectual Protests
~ Economic Boycotts
~ Violent Intimidation
The colonial leaders wrote pamphlets, drafted resolutions, gave speeches, a delivered sermons to defy the British. All this started to astonish John Adams, who was a mass lawyer.

New Ideas
The colnial protestors brought on ideas from enlightment thinkers such as:
~ Baron of Montesquieu (French)
~ John Loke (British)

They started to think like them. They said that they should be under the three universal human rights: life, liberty, and property. They started to realize that a good governor would protect them.

Patick Henry, a young Virginian representative, used these ideas of the enlightment to draft a document named "Virginia Resolves". He argued that only the colnial assemblies had the right to tax the colonists, since they were their authority.

On May 30, 1765 the Virginia House Of Burgesses accepted most of Henry's revolves, but regected two of them because they thought they were to radical. Soon after all colonial newspapers started printing all six resolves, thinking they were all accepted. Later on eight other colonies these or similar resolves.