I know this is really long... but I can't figure it out for the life of me. If you don't want to answer the whole question that is fine. I'm greatful for whatever I can get. Also links to websites with the information is also helpful. Thanks!!
Directions: Read the following five document excerpts, and then write one well-organized paragraph summarizing the reasons many Americans felt pushed toward independence.
Document 1
A colonist cannot make a button, a horseshoe, nor a hobnail, but some snootly ironmonger or respectable buttonmaker of England shall bawl and squall that his honor's worship is most egregiously maltreated, injured, cheated, and robbed by the rascally American republicans.
Boston Gazette, 1765
Document 2
We have called this a burthensome tax, because the duties are so numerous and high...that it would be totally impossible for the people to subsist under it....We further apprehend this tax to be unconstitutional. We have always understood it to be a grand and fundamental principle of the constitution, that no freeman should be subject to any tax to which he has not given his own consent, in person or by proxy....We take it clearly, there fore, to be inconsistent with the spirit of the common law, and of the essential fundamental principle of the British constitution, that we should be represented in that assembly in any sense, unless it be by a fiction of law....
Resolution of the Town of Braintree, Massachusetts, 1765, opposing the Stamp Act
Document 3
Considering the utter impracticability of their ever being fully and equally represented in parliament, and the great expense that must unavoidably attend even a partial representation there, this House thinks that a taxation of their constituents, even without their consent, grievous as it is, would be preferable to any representation that could be admitted for them there.
Circular letter, Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1768
Document 4
If we view the whole of the conduct of the ministry and parliament, I do not see how any one can doubt but that there is a settled fix'd plan for enslaving the colonies, or bringing them under arbitrary government....If the ministry can secure a majority in parliament...they may rule as absolutely as they do in France or Spain, yea as in Turkey or India....
View now the situation of America: loaded with taxes from the British parliament, as heavy as she can possibly support under,--our lands charged with the most exorbitant quit rent,--these taxes collected by foreigners, steeled against any impressions from our groans or complaints...our charters taken away--our assemblies annihilated,--governors and councils, appointed by royal authority without any concurrence of the people, enacting such laws as their sovereign pleasure shall dictate...the lives and property of Americans entirely at the disposal of officers more than three thousand miles removed from any power to control them--armies of the soldiers quartered among the inhabitants, who know the horrid purpose for which they are stationed, in the colonies--to subjugate and beat down the inhabitants....
Reverend Ebenezer Baldwin, 1774
Document 5
I have heard it asserted by some, that as America hath flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, that the same connection is necessary toward her future happiness, and will always have the same effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of argument....
Not one third of the inhabitants, even of this province [Pennsylvania] are of English descent. Wherefore I reprobate the phrase of parent or mother country applied to England only, as being false, selfish, narrow and ungenerous....
The injuries and disadvantages we sustain by that connection are without number; and our duty to mankind at large, as well as to ourselves, instruct us to renounce the alliance: Because, any submission to, or dependence on Great Britain, tends directly to involve this continent in European wars and quarrels; and sets us at variance with nations, who would otherwise seek our friendship, and against whom, we have neither anger nor complaint. As Europe is our market for trade, we ought to form no partial connection with any part of it....
[Continued British rule will lead to] the ruin of the continent. And that for several reasons. First. The powers of governing still remaining in the hands of the king, he will have a negative over the whole legislation of this continent. And as he hath shown himself such an inveterate enemy to liberty, and discovered such a thirst for arbitrary power; is he, or is he not, a proper man to say to these colonies, "You shall make no laws but what I please"....Secondly. That as even the best terms, which we can expect to obtain, can amount to no more than a temporary expedient, or a kind of government by guardianship, which can last no longer than till the colonies come of age, so the general face and state of things, in the interim, will be unsettled and unpromising....
O ye that love mankind! Yet that dare oppose, not only tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression.
Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
Can you pick out the key argument in each document?
For instance, Document 2 opposes taxes that the people didn't approve -- taxes without representation.
Try to pick out some of the other main ideas.
I will do that. Thank you!
To summarize the reasons many Americans felt pushed toward independence, we can examine the document excerpts provided.
In Document 1, it is clear that the colonists felt aggrieved by the British merchants who accused them of maltreating, cheating, and robbing. This showcases a sense of unfair treatment and disrespect.
Document 2 highlights the opposition to the Stamp Act and the belief that taxing the colonists without their consent is unconstitutional. The resolution from the Town of Braintree shows that the colonists believed that they should have a say in the taxes imposed upon them, and that being subject to taxes without representation was unjust.
In Document 3, the Massachusetts House of Representatives expresses the view that it is practically impossible for the colonists to be fully and equally represented in the British parliament. They argue that taxation without consent would be preferable to any inadequate representation.
Document 4 reveals a sense of conspiracy, as the author accuses the British ministry and parliament of having a plan to enslave the colonies and impose arbitrary government. The author highlights various oppressive measures taken by the British, such as heavy taxes, the revocation of charters, and the presence of armies to subjugate the inhabitants.
Lastly, Document 5 features the perspective of Thomas Paine. He challenges the idea that the connection with Great Britain is beneficial for America's happiness and argues that it leads to numerous injuries and disadvantages. He also expresses concerns that British rule would give the king too much power and create unstable conditions for the colonies.
Overall, these documents collectively reveal the colonists' grievances over perceived mistreatment, lack of representation, unjust taxation, conspiracy against their rights, and the belief that their connection to Great Britain was detrimental to their wellbeing and potential for alliances with other nations.
For more information, you can refer to websites such as:
- History.com: https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/causes-of-the-american-revolution
- National Constitution Center: https://constitutioncenter.org/learn/educational-resources/