American Colonists Struggles

American colonists were going through daily struggles and government oppression, and we, as modern Americans, can sympathize with them. They strived for justice and freedom in a time where they were not respected by their own higher government. Although by eighteenth century the colonies were already off the ground, so to speak, they still struggled deeply with wars, trade restrictions, nutritional issues and hunger, taxation, and crime which ...
The Seven Years War strained the American colonists, and wars such as this take a heavy toll on the people and classes that mainly support them. Efforts made by colonists in support of wars include sacrifices. Men would be expected to directly participate by serving in the war. Slaves would be worked harder than they already had been in order to supply goods. Women would be left to maintain the household and take care of domestic responsibilities. In addition, a labor shortage was caused by the men's efforts being redirected to the war. This lack of typical, manual labor further increased the strain on the colonial people.
Moreover, trade restrictions were stressful to the colonists. The
colonies were only able to trade with certain locations and countries. These restrictions limited the market to an extreme where whole topics of trade could not be explored because they would not be profitable, regardless of the mass necessity of the product. Restrictions hindered the economy of the colonies. This was done because of England's self-interest. England had to ensure that they were taken care of when it came to goods and the trade industry.
With the combination of immigration from Nova Scotia and France, Scots-Irish indentured servants, and an increase in the slave population and trade, the colonies became less English. At this point, most of the American colonists had never seen England. The colonists were still relatively foreign to the New World, and the environment of this land was tremendously different from what the former Europeans were used to. Proper nutrition was difficult during this time due to the difficulty of cultivation and troubles understanding the land. Temperatures, growing season, soil quality and type, and knowledge of crops were all factors that were trouble for colonial agriculture. In addition, strenuous work and common crop failure made crops tough to produce which was particularly troubling during this time.
Taxation was a rough spot between the colonists and the British. Colonial struggles were intensified by taxation and restrictive acts such as the Molasses Act, Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Intolerable Acts.
"The Molasses Act of 1733 imposed a duty of sixpence per gallon upon foreign molasses imported into British America." " Whatever hopes Parliament may have had of a colonial revenue in 1733 were blasted by the effect of the Molasses Act" "Had the Molasses Act of 1733 been enforced, it would have yielded a considerable revenue to the British government."
During the year of 1764, the Sugar Act came into effect which reduced the duty on foreign molasses imported into the British colonies from six to three pence a gallon. The Sugar Act imposed new duties on imported sugar and other goods. The Sugar Act was designed to make a revenue, but also increased the enforcement of smuggling laws. It functioned as a virtual prohibition of trade between the northern colonies and the West Indies.
The Stamp Act of 1765 all American colonist to pay a tax on every piece of paper they used.
Civilian unrest became so high that distributors and inspectors of stamps renounced their positions. After the Stamp Act was repealed, Parliament imposed the Revenue Act of 1766 which further reduced the duty on molasses from three pence per gallon to only one penny. Protesting the Tea Act, which followed the Revenue Act by seven years, the Boston Tea Party was held. After the Boston Tea Party and other protests took place, the Intolerable Acts were passed by Parliament in 1774. These acts, also known as the Coercive Acts, were designed to punish the American colonists. The acts included in the Intolerable Acts were the Boston Port Bill, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, the new Quartering Act, and the Quebec
Act.