Apush Dbq Essay

After the French and Indian War, Great Britain went into serious debt. Great Britain’s debt caused them to tighten their control over colonial America. One way that Great Britain tightened their control over the colonies was by enacting many taxes. The colonists met these acts with much resistance, and protests. This went to show that the main cause of the revolution was tighter British control for the colonists.
A huge debt formed with Britain’s victory of the French and Indian War. The responsibility to pay this debt extended to the colonists. According to Grenville and Thomas Whately, Great Britain had a large debt because they were protecting the colonists (document 1 and 1). The first problem came up with the Proclamation Line of 1763,

Parliament began to take the colonists basic rights from them, so their will to fight to regain their right developed. Parliament believed that taxes would tighten Britain’s control over the American colonies. In reality, if Parliament had the right to tax the colonists, then the colonists should be asking a favor for them to stop taxing them, and not claiming a right (document 3). When Parliament began to tax the colonists, this sparked small protests. Eventually, the colonists had enough and began to protest with violence. The colonists continued to protest the Townshend acts, so the governor asked Great Britain to send soldiers to the colonies. Great Britain had sent soldiers to the colonies to tighten their control on them. One of the violent protests was the Boston Massacre. In this event, an officer, gathering a group, struck a colonist. This group provoked the officers, leading to the death of five colonists. Colonists called the shootings the Boston Massacre (document 3 and 4). Although the colonists were calmed down after the trial, many were still angry. Parliament decided to repeal almost all of the Townshend Acts except the tax on tea. To stop tea smuggling, Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonists. Parliament continued to pass acts because they wanted to show that they possessed control over the American

Parliament decided to punish Boston because of the Boston Tea Party and decided to pass the Coercive Acts in the spring of 1774, to rigidify their control over the colonists. The acts caused the Boston Harbor to close until Boston paid for the ruined tea. The governor decided if, and when the legislature could meet, which took even more of the colonists’ rights away. Royal officials accused of crimes were sent to Britain for a friendly judge and jury for their trial. A new Quartering Act required colonists to house British soldiers (document 5). The Quebec Act gave a large amount of land to the colony of Quebec. The British hoped that this would bring back order in the colonies but instead, they simply increased people’s anger at Britain. In response to the closing of Boston Harbor, every colony but Georgia sent representatives to a meeting in October 1774. This meeting, known as the First Continental Congress, demanded certain rights from Great Britain. This meeting was one of the few times that the colonist tried to resolve their problems with the king with peace. They did not seek a separation from Britain, but to ask the king to correct certain complaints colonists had. The delegates encouraged colonists to continue boycotting British goods but told colonial militias to prepare for war. Meanwhile, they drafted the Declaration of Rights- a list of 10 resolutions presented to King George. At dawn on April 19,