How Did The Townshend Act As A Result Of The American Revolution

1636 Words7 Pages

In dire need of paying off war debt, the British Parliament decided to tax the colonists due to the debt being their fault. Along with taxing the colonists, the East India Company boosted the income for the Parliament and benefited the George III by hurting the colonists economically by enacting the tea act. Blending “lethal politics, personalities, and economics”3 the American Revolution was bound to happen between the colonists and British, having little supporters of the idea of war. With the tension build up between the colonists and British Parliament, the Boston Tea Party occurred with the colonists rebelling against the Parliament’s political decision towards the colonists, symbolizing the starting point for a revolution and a step …show more content…

The Townshend Act was one of the “last several attempts by the British Parliament to raise revenue from the American colonies”5. Charles Townshend believed the American colonies should be taxed and “presented a series of proposals”5 to the British Parliament in early March 1767. Tea was included as a taxable item in these proposals, though with more taxes the colonists hoped they could repeal these taxes like they did with the stamp act. After writing twice to the British Parliament in attempts to repeal the Townshend Act, they were ignored both times and resulted to the protest of this act, leading towards the non-importation movement. Before, the non-importation movement gained support, American colonists tried to persuade their women to drink Labradore tea instead of English tea to gain support. Many newspapers began to write articles to help gain supporters, specifically one Boston newspaper said …show more content…

No vote was taken.”3. The British Parliament chose to do this to gain revenue off of the American colonists for the East India Company. With the Tea Act enacted upon the American colonists by the British Parliament, they sent it to the colonist because once the tea has been carried off the boat and placed on American colonist land, that would be an “acceptance” of the tea and the British Parliament would make the colonists pay for each crate. The British Parliament “had pushed colonial affairs into the background of British politics”3, but little did they know the Sons of Liberty had something to say about their decision. The British Parliament was “entirely unprepared for such turn of events”3. The Sons of Liberty took matters in their own hands to prove to the corrupt British Parliament that they will not be taxed and be taken advantage of. Taking place on December 16th, 1773 Hancock and “Samuel Adams directed a group/most of whom were members of the Sons of Liberty, to board the British tea ships and destroy their

More about How Did The Townshend Act As A Result Of The American Revolution