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The Townshend Act

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After getting continuously hit with different taxes, the American colonists started to protest against taxation without representation. The people felt that since they were the ones getting taxed, they should have a say in how the taxes were spent. Parliament didn’t feel that way; therefore causing many colonists to rally in the streets for protesting the Stamp Act. That didn’t stop Parliament though, because they passed the Sugar Act in 1764. The American colonies responded by refusing to trade and buy English goods, which affected the British businesses. This did not sit well with King George. Eventually, Parliament backed down and took the Stamp Act away (Espinosa, 2008). The American colonies thought they would finally have peace until new laws were set that allowed England to tax the colonies. Therefore, enabling Parliament to tax them in other ways and make them less visible. The Townshend Act was enacted in 1767, which was close to the Stamp Act but worse; this act taxed all imported goods. Because of King George’s tyranny and the unbearable taxes imposed, American independence was proposed and led by John Adams, Patrick Henry, and more. To try and keep American colonists in order, the King sent a massive …show more content…
They also told the colonists that any more independence talk would result in arrest. Violence erupted on March 5, 1770, when soldiers fired at protesting citizens, killing five people. This event was known as the Boston Massacre, this event and others led to the end of the Townshend Act, but the tax on tea remained. The Tea tax was the final straw for the American colonies. So on the night of December 16, 1773, 150 men climbed onto the three English cargo ships that held tea from Great Britain. Angry with the tax, disguised as Native Americans, they threw most if not all crates into the harbor. This event was known as the Boston Tea Party (Espinosa,

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