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English 10 honors
10 October 2012
Liberty
"Give me Liberty, or give me Death!” (Henry 100) The date is March 20, 1774, we as a nation must choose between one of these two proclamations. The British have increased our taxation and yet we have no representation, in addition, the British allow their soldiers quarters in our homes, alongside our families, with no consent of ours? Furthermore, when we try to protest against these unjust acts, we get punished for doing so. I cannot stand by while my country has its freedom’s robbed. As an American, I ask my fellow countrymen to stand alongside each other and seek justice in independence. How can we be ruled by a tyrant, who himself, is across the ocean and is ignorant on our way of life? How much longer can we let innocent townspeople get massacred by redcoats? Great Britain has stolen our liberty leaving only death at our doorstep. Taxation without representation, inability to protest unjust acts, and tyranny of a king are only few, but major reasons why we must fight for Liberty or remain cloaked in death.
In 1765 we received the first unjust taxation, The Stamp Act, all colonists were taxed on paper, newspapers, cards, etc. At the time we believed ourselves to be British citizens yet we were being taxed without any representation what so ever in the British parliament. Furthermore the Magna Carta allowed us personal liberty, which had been taken away with this unjust taxation. Even though the Stamp act was repealed one year later, similar unjust laws were its subsequent. The Townshend acts of 1767 put an import tax on our tea, glass, and paint. Once again we were not represented in this taxation and our freedom decreased as Britain continued to tax us at its leisure. How many more taxation laws must be passed before we realize that Britain is taking advantage of us? Not only did these unjust taxations lead to massacres at Boston and such events as the Boston Tea party, the taxations would not stop if we did not put a stop to them. Taking up arms is the only way we can put an end to these taxations, otherwise we will never be represented and always be mistreated. The right to protest is a basic right given to all humans. If we could not protest, we would have to submit to any authority without a say in the matter. The Boston Tea Party was a protest against the Tea act of 1773 yet, we were punished for protesting. The intolerable acts were thrown upon us in exchange for the protest. These acts stated that our town meetings would be restricted and that any British Official, who has murdered one of our colonists, will be sent back to Britain for a trail (where it was assumed they would be acquitted of their charges). How can we ever change the injustice, in the actions of the British, if we get chastised for protesting unfair acts? If British officials have their trials back in Britain, how will we ever justify the Boston Massacre and other murders of our people? Common sense tells us this isn’t right. The only way to break the cycle of injustice is through force. Some aspects of the domination of Britain, over the colonies, do not quite make sense. Britain being thousands of miles away, across an ocean, governs the large country of America? How can such a small island control such a large land mass? Furthermore, the king of Britain has never been to the colonies and only appoints Laws and acts that benefit him or Britain. It seems as if we are just pawns in the king’s game. He is ignorant of our needs and thinks we are just profit mules for the Britain. If a problem occurs in the colonies it would take months for king to hear word of it back in Britain and make a decision on the problem. In the end it is quite simple; having a government so far away from the colonies does not make much sense. The only way to change this government is through revolution. All the signs lead towards the same conclusion. We have never had representation and never will have representation. We will never be able to protest against the injustice that is dealt upon us. We will never change the government that controls. Not ever will we accomplish any of these things if we remain loyal to Britain, we must revolt and fight for liberty. War is eminent; we will win our freedom and never again feel the hand of oppression. "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!” (100)
Work cited Henry, Patrick. "Speech to the Virginia Convention." Trans. Array Elements of Literature. kathleen daniel. 5th course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1997. Print. Paine, Thomas. "The Crisis, No.1." Trans. ArrayElements of Literature. kathleen daniel. 5th course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1997. Print. ed. "chapter 7 the road to revolution." apnots.net. apnotes.net, n.d. Web. 15 Oct 2012.
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