Dbq Essay On The Declaration Of Independence

During the years 1763 to 1783, the newly established American colonies found themselves in a situation where disagreements were becoming more common. This took place right after the French and Indian War and the nation had a prodigious amount of debt to pay. In addition, Great Britain started to place countless taxes and restrictions on the American colonists to help raise money to support the economy. This unfair treatment really angered some colonists which led to a disruption of order and rebellion in certain colonies. In order to suppress this chaos, the Continental Congress met and created the Declaration of Independence. To a significant extent, the ideas about American Independence did shift from 1763 to 183. The ideas would slowly

In England, a teapot was made between 1766 and 1770 and on each side the words “No Stamp Act” and “America, Liberty Restored” were inscribed (Doc 1). This shows how colonists were against Britain's first effort to place direct tax on American goods and services. The purpose was to show how the British manufacturers capitalized and profited from the Stamp Act crisis. In 1772, Samuel Adams wrote in The Rights of the Colonists that “All men have a right to remain in a state of nature as long as they please” (Doc 3). He is referring to the Americans being treated unfairly by British officials. The colonists had no voice in elections and were prohibited from many activities including printing more paper money. He is declaring the sovereignty of man over the government's. His point of view is through the eyes of a political leader who is also a Patriot and member of Sons of Liberty. Likewise, in June of 1775, Janet Schaw wrote in the Journal of a Lady of Quality her observations as officers threatened landowners to join the Patriots otherwise they will “shoot your pigs, burn your houses, seize your Negroes” (Doc 5). This was a threat using violence or destruction of property to those who didn’t support. The purpose was to challenge ideas of the Independence movement and observe to what extent would new members be willing to join.

Charles Inglis, an Anglican church minister in New York highlights this in The Costs of Revolution. He argues that the American Revolution will be costly and there was no clear solution to how the colonists will manage to pay it all. He notices the growing economic instability inside the colonies and a favoritism towards Britain by the Anglican Church. His purpose is to show how the colonies underlooked the whole independence movement and how the future will have hardships. Meanwhile, the colonists did try many petitions to oppose the British government, but once that proved ineffective they turned to boycotting. After the first boycott, Parliament overturned the Sugar and Stamp Acts, and after a second boycott Parliament overturned all of the Townshend duties except for the tax on tea. The American boycott on tea eventually led to the Boston Tea Party of 1773. The tea party was only one of the ways the colonists showed disapproval of the British