The American Colonists Were Justified In Breaking Away From Britain

From the first day that they landed in America, the colonists from Britain knew the meaning of struggle. Many years later, after the first settlements in America, the colonists were still British citizens and thought of themselves as such. However, tensions began to mount between colonists and their government across the ocean as complications arose from the chaos of war and its aftermath. Amidst the changes occurring in the colonies and the rules that governed them, some colonists began to question the authority of the king and Parliament. Although the British protected them, the American colonists were justified in waging war and breaking away from Britain because the British oppressed them with taxes and tyranny.
The first reason why it

For instance, according to documents two and 10, the Stamp Act was the first tax inflicted upon them and it angered them greatly. The Stamp Act was a tax that required colonists to purchase stamps when they bought paper products, such as newspapers. Newspapers were very significant in the colonies because it allowed them to communicate across great distances and express their opinions. This tax enraged the colonists because they had no representation in parliament and had not voted for the tax, in addition to the taxed goods being among the highest in demand. Secondly, the Townshend Acts also inconvenienced the colonists. According to these acts as stated in document 16, the colonists had to pay extra taxes on items such as paint, lead, and glass, quarter soldiers, and were subject to intrusions by tax collectors and investigators. This stirred up animosity among the colonists because the sole purpose of the tax was to raise revenue, and the colonists often tarred and feathered tax collectors in response. The added injustice of having to not only house soldiers but to provide them with food

For example, according to document one, the British soldiers undertook the arduous task of protecting the colonists during the French-Indian War. During the French-Indian War the French and some Native Americans banded together to oppose the British in America, and the British eventually won but still accumulated debts. They reasoned that the colonists should help pay off the war debts since they were the ones being protected, and thus raised the revenue by taxing them. However, it was already their duty to protect the colonists since they were British citizens, so the colonists should not have had to bear the brunt of the debt considering that they also served in the war. Additionally, even if they did plan to tax, the British should have consulted the colonists on the matter, and since they did not, the tax came as a surprise and was despised by the colonists. Furthermore, the British argued that the colonists had no right to protest the quartering of British soldiers. According to document nine, the soldiers were to be quartered in residences since there was not enough room in the barracks and the soldiers were stationed in Boston in order to preserve peace. Nonetheless, the citizens of the colonies were forced to house and provide food and other services for the soldiers without their consent, and they were not compensated for