Taxation without Representation?
Happy 4th of July!?
Each year, we gather to celebrate our beloved country's independence from Great Britain. However, we rarely recall the events that precipitated the American Revolutionary War. Great Britain's King, King George III, and Parliament levied taxes on the 13 Colonies — New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia — without their consent, denying them the ability to represent their interests before British Parliament.
In 1765, British Parliament passed the Stamp Act — legislation imposing taxes on all paper goods made in just the colonies. Colonial paper tax included skin, vellum, parchment, sheet, and piece of paper written, printed, or engrossed. British tariffs ranged from one shilling to ten pounds. In protest, Colonials refused to pay the stamp tax arguing British had no authority to do so because the paper was manufactured in the colonies. Unable to levy taxes by force, the British repealed the Stamp Act one year later.
The Tea Act of 1773 was a defining moment in Britain's oppression of the 13 Colonies because it allowed British's East India Company to import tea directly to the colonies, bypassing the Townshend Act of 1767 — legislation requiring all goods, including tea, to be one levied (export duty) in London before being exported to the colonies. Essentially, Great Britain exempted the East India Company from paying export taxes and allowed them to impose a tea tax (import duty) on the colonies.?
Frustrated colonials defied King George and the British Parliament by refusing to dock British ships or import or sell tea. Even the Boston Tea Party, a group of political merchants, boarded British ships and dumped tea into the Boston Harbor. British Parliament responded by passing the Intolerable Acts of 1774, legislation destabilizing Massachusetts as a crown colony. King George III appointed General Thomas Gage as Governor, outlawing town hall meetings and seizing the stores of Colonial Patriots, which led to fighting and the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.?
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On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress unanimously approved the Richard Henry Lee Resolution proposing independence from Great Britain and a five-member committee, including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franking, Rober Livingston, and Roger Sherman, to draft a statement of independence. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved adopting the Declaration of Independence.??
John Adams wrote in a letter to his wife, Abigal Adams:?
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.
The American Revolution War ended on January 14, 1783. The seven-year war resulted in 4,435 men killed in action and 6,188 wounded in action. President John Adam's words shall remind us that protecting Freedom comes with a human cost that shall never be taken for granted. As you celebrate the Fourth of July, I challenge you to share with your students the events leading up to the?Declaration of Independence?and engage them in conversations surrounding why the right to?"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"?must be protected and maintained at all cost.