The Colonists' Path To Independence

  

In between 1754 and 1763, the French & Indian War took place between the English and the French empire, both of which owned disputed colonies in North America. Although England successfully defeated their opponents, their victory did not come at a cheap price. As a result of this bellic conflict, as was mentioned during Lecture 10, England’s national debt doubled and the King felt the need and responsibility to protect their newly acquired territories such as Quebec, Florida, Detroit, etc. These consequences of the war led England’s Prime Minister at the time, George Grenville, to think of a strategy in which the Americans, as the mainland Englishmen called the colonists, ended up paying the price for the defense of their own territory. We can say that the implementation of Grenville’s ideas and the colonists’ reactions to them caused colonists to stop feeling British but rather create their own identity. In my opinion, one could state that the enactment of the acts to be discussed below actually generated for the first time the sentiments that would eventually lead colonists to revolt against the British Crown.

The way of charging colonists for the expenditures that were to be implemented in the North American continent was exemplified through the enactment of the “The Stampt Act of 1765”. This act established a tax on the colonies by means of a special stamp that would be placed on any printed product such as: playing cards, letters, permits, death certificates, etc. As one might imagine, this bill affected much of the colonial population and they would not remain silent.

            Mad and determined to speak out, the colonists started to demonstrate resistance to the Stamp Act in spring 1765 and continued until it was repealed the year after. These demonstrations of resistance all led 9 of the colonies to send delegates to convene in the newly created Stamp Act Congress, in which they published a resolution voicing the opinion of the colonists. In this text they exemplified much of the emotions felt by the British subjects of the American continent such as the sense of loyalty, self-government, disappointment, indignity, and resistance that suddenly conglomerated together following the enactment of the Stamp Act.

            The loyalty that the colonists felt towards the King & Country, especially after a war in which they contributed avidly towards its success, is perfectly seen in the introduction to their resolution, which says that the members of the Congress are “sincerely devoted with the warmest sentiments of affection and duty to His majesty’s person and Government.” (Major Problems 104) However, the rest of the document illustrates some of the ideals that lay the foundation for the American Revolution, the ideals of no taxation without representation and self-government; government with the consent of the governed.  These were the main reasons why they were protesting the Act; they began to realize that they were being taxed without their approval and that their rights as British subjects were being reprimanded. For example, the colonists started to realize how the legislation began to illustrate a “manifest tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of the colonists” (Major problems 104). This led them to state in Article II “That His Majesty’s liege subjects in these colonies are entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural born subjects within the Kingdom of Great Britain” (Major Problems 104). With regards to the illegality of being taxed with improper representation the members of the Stamp Act Congress expressed in Article III “That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes be imposed on them but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives”(Major problems 104). Finally, even more convincing that this resolution served as a predecessor for the foundations of the American Revolution, the colonists expressed in Article V “That the only representatives of the people of these colonies are persons chosen therein by themselves, and that no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on them, but by their respective legislatures.” In other words, since 1765, the colonists refused to be represented by the British Parliament but rather demanded that their affairs be resolved amongst themselves in their respective colonies, which seems a lot like a sovereign form of government.

Without a doubt, the foundations that led to the eventual Declaration of Independence of the United States of America can be seen as early as 1765 through the Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress. Such an opinion is best represented by “Liberty, Equality, Power” which indicated that the resolution affirmed “colonial loyalty to the King and all due subordination to Parliament but condemned the Stamp and Sugar Acts.” In other words, although the English subjects of North America stilled hailed loyalty to the King, as they have increasingly done so up until the late 18^th century, the implementation of these unjust acts began to change the tide of American loyalism. So much did these this acts change the sentiments of the colonists, that none more than 11 years later, they proudly and rightfully proclaimed Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. In an odd way, our path to independence was sparked by the intolerable policies of the very nation our fathers called home.