10/9/14

Thomas Jefferson used the ideas of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” to frame colonist’s rights. The Declaration of Independence is a document in which gave freedom and liberties to people who lived in the American colonies. Many American colonists were unhappy with the British because of how they were treating them and therefore sought for equality and rights. However, some colonists had different views toward the American independence movement. Yet, the outcome changed America forever. American colonies felt that Britain was trying to take away their rights and liberties by enforcing new laws and imposing taxes upon them. The British established the Sugar Act, which lowered the tax on molasses. Even though they lowered the tax the colonists were left furious because they didn’t want Britain to be in control of them. This Act enforced colonists not to smuggle. The colonists were angered by this because they were used to smuggling and when the British established this tax they felt that they were being forced to pay a tax which had them feeling like they were having their rights taken away. Another tax that angered the colonists was the Stamp Act. This was a tax on all printed documents and it gave the parliament permission to regulate all the trade. This led colonists to protest “no taxation without representation”. It was the concept of who is representing the colonies. They felt like they had no one representing them and that they were being taken over by the British government. American colonists organized protest groups such as the Sons of Liberty to create mob violence toward stamp collectors to show the British government that the colonists were unhappy with the new enforced laws. Another attack on the British was the Boston Tea Party. After the British Tea Party the British finally reacted to the colonies revolt by