In 1763, the French and Indian War finally ended. Britain was in debt and needed money. The colonists were not happy when the British Parliament came and taxed them. They had no voice in Parliament and they believed that it was not fair for the British to tax them. The colonists protested these taxes and acts. This led to negative feelings toward the British. The colonists who were fighting for their freedom were called “Patriots”. War broke out. The American Revolutionary War began and the relationship between the soldiers and the Patriots was unstable.
The British started to tax colonists with the Tea Act. Tea was very popular in the colonies, but much of it was smuggled from Holland. On the evening of December 16, 1773, the colonists boarded three ships. They disguised themselves a Native Americans. They dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. Patriots called the Sons of Liberty organized this rebellion. This protest was referred to as the Boston Tea Party. Parliament did not take this situation lightly. They wanted all of the colonists to pay the money for the tea. The loyalists, who believed in British rule, were disgusted because they did not want to pay for the destroyed tea. King George III created laws called the Intolerable Acts.
In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. This law required all legal and commercial documents to have an official stamp showing that a tax had been paid. All diplomas, contracts, wills, and published materials, such as newspapers, had to be taxed also. One of the boycotts was to refuse to buy stamps. The Sons of Liberty staged protests against the act. Some protests were not respectful. The Sons of Liberty burned the stamped paper whenever they could find it. They attacked custom officials and tarred and feathered them and paraded them in public. It was very dangerous to be a custom official at that time. The Stamp Act was a mistake and Parliament finally realized this and decided to repeal the act in 1766.
One of the most influential political documents in history was written by Thomas Paine. The document, Common Sense, helped convince many Americans that a complete break with Britain was necessary. Common Sense was published in January 1776 and sold more than 100,000 copies in three months. Thomas Paine also explained that being a part of Britain also had many difficulties. One of them was going to war and a second was becoming involved in quarrels against European countries. Europe was known as a market for trade not to be interfered with as explained by Thomas Paine in document three.
All in all, famous Patriots helped us overcome British rule. The colonies protested against British taxes and acts. The thirteen colonies became independent on July 4, 1776. These colonies were the United States of America. With help from the French and the Spanish, the colonies defeated those British lobsterbacks in the American Revolutionary War.
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