The American colonists were justified in waging war against Great Britain. In the late 1700’s conflicts between the Colonists and The British arose. The British were imposing taxes on the colonists. They attacked defenseless Colonists and the British wanted to have total control over the government of The Colonists. After the French and Indian war Britain was in financial debt. In order to pay off their debt they imposed many taxes, which seemed unfair to the colonists. The stamp act, which taxed all printed materials, was a direct tax on the people. John Dickinson, in his writings, Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania, felt that the stamp acts were unfair and unconstitutional. He also felt that the purpose of these acts were only for raising revenue. (Doc. 2) The Townshend Acts were also imposed on the colonist for the purpose of raising money. These acts included taxes on glass, lead, paper, paint and tea imported by the colonies.(ROI) They also allowed officials to seize private property without due process. (ROI)
The colonist were fed up with the British imposing taxes on them. As a result of the unfair taxes imposed on colonists, hostilities arose between the two parties. The Boston Massacre is an example of the tensions that were between them. The Boston massacre started when approximately 1000 troops went to the city of Boston to maintain order. The crowds harassed the troops, called them names and threw snowballs at them. (ROI) As a result, “the lobster backs” began shooting at unarmed people. (ROI) Paul Revere, leader of the Boston Sons of liberty, engraved a portrait showing the British troops firing at defenseless people. His engraving clearly showed that the American colonist were unarmed and were no real threat. (DOC3) This is why this event was seen as a massacre. The effects of the conflict were not only causing problems between the colonist and British but it also caused conflict amongst the colonists