Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

How Did The Albany Congress, Stamp Act Congress, And First Continental Congress Cause The Colonies To Unite?

Good Essays
376 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did The Albany Congress, Stamp Act Congress, And First Continental Congress Cause The Colonies To Unite?
During the two Decades from 1754 to 1775, the American colonies moved from division to unity. The accomplishments of the Albany Congress, the Stamp Act Congress, and the First Continental Congress caused this change. The Albany Congress was held in 1754. It was a meeting of representatives from various colonies in response to the war between Britain and France. The main plan was to form a colonial defense and gain the support of the Iroquois Confederacy. They also debated an intercolonial government. Ben Franklin and Thomas Hutchinson were the authors of the Albany Plan. They proposed an elected assembly would plan for a common defense paid for by taxes levied by congress. Although the plan did not pass, because the colonies were not ready to share their powers to tax with each other, it did put the idea of a unified nation in the minds of the colonists.

The Stamp Act Congress was held in New York City in1765. Delegates from 9 American Colonies gathered to respond to the Stamp Act Parliament passed. The Stamp Act taxed commercial or legal documents, licenses, newspapers, permits, pamphlets and even playing cards. It was not a heavy tax but if they let Parliament pass this tax, they would only have more in the future. "No taxation without representation" basically means the English colonies did not want to be taxed without their consent.

The First Continental Congress met in 1774 in Philadelphia to protest Britain's Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts): 1. Boston Ports would be closed until compensation was met to the East India Tea Company for the Boston Tea Party.

2. The Colonial Charter was annulled and they replaced colonial officials with royal officials and they banned town meetings.

3. Royal Officers would not be tried in colonial courts.

4. They legalized quartering of troops in public buildings and private homes.

5. They established a government in Quebec and gave them the territory claimed by colonists North of the Ohio River.

Twelve of the colonies were present at the meeting (not Georgia.) They urged the colonies to form militias. They formed the Continental Association to boycott British goods. They also voted to reconvene the following spring if Britain would not redress American grievances. After this meeting, the majority of the colonies were in unity.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Restated Thesis. Taxation without representation was common in the 13 colonies. Colonists often debated about why a small island, Great Britain, should rule a piece of a continent, the 13 colonies, from 3,000 miles away. The Stamp Act was issued by the British Parliament in 1765. The Stamp Act directly taxed printed materials. In Document 2, John Dickinson, a political leader from Pennsylvania, shows his disagreement with the Stamp Act. John Dickinson shares that Great Britain never thought the colonies would thrive as much as they did, so when the British Parliament issued the Stamp Act, and it was just for the purpose of raising Britain’s revenue, he disagreed with it. In addition, all the laws regarding the colonies only talked about regulating trade but it never intended the raising of taxes. John Dickinson, like many other patriots tolerated the old taxes, but at the Stamp Act, they drew the line, because Britain was taking money from the abundant colonies, with no benefits in return. The Townshend Acts followed the Stamp Act in 1767. Similarly, in Document 2, John Dickinson talks about the Townshend Acts having the same purpose as the Stamp Act, bringing more money to Britain. However, this time, when the Townshend Acts were issued, the tax was hid in the price. Charles Townshend hoped the colonists would be glad there were no more taxes even though the taxes would be right in the price. Unfortunately for Great Britain, the colonists realized that Britain was trying to be sneaky and hide the tax, so they got even madder. Moreover, the British never…

    • 528 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Coercive Acts known to the colonist as the Intolerable Acts were the British response to the Boston Tea Party. In December 1773, colonist boarded a British cargo ship and dumped 90,000 lbs. of tea into the Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act. The Prime Minister of England, Lord North, responded by passing four laws that would punish the colonist for the destruction of the tea. The first law was that Boston Harbor would be closed until the colonist paid for the destroyed tea. This law was meant to cripple commercial life at one of the biggest hubs of commerce in the colonies. The second law, gave the governor the power to appoint all the judges, sheriffs, and officers of the court. This law also made it illegal for town meetings, except for the election of the…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Intolerable Acts were passed after the Boston Tea Party to show the colonies that the British had both the right and the power to tax them however they wanted to; the British named them the Coercive Acts, as they were a warning, a threat to colonies who continued to resist. The Acts shut down colonial assembly, the harbor, increased authoritarian power, tried convicted officers outside of the colonies, and gave more freedom to soldiers who wished to stay in private property. Colonial assemblies would now be limited to an annual assembly, unless the royal governor permitted more. The harbor was so tightly closed that hay was restricted and horses starved. Moreover, the colonial leaders would be appointed by the royal governor, not elected…

    • 203 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When the news of the “Tea Party” impacted Great Britain, King George lll and the Parliament were irritated.The Boston Tea was not the only one.There was approximately ten other tea party a example is Philadelphia, NYC, and Charleston.The King was frenzied with Boston behaver , The king decided to teach the colonists of Boston a lesson , with coerce! On March 28,1774, the parliament departed the Coercive Acts . they were set up by five laws that was mandatory onto the colonists of Boston.…

    • 84 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The colonies reduced was a call to action that was made in 1767 by Benjamin Franklin as a warning of the consequences of the newly imposed stamp act. The Stamp Act of 1765 established a tax on all printed documents which realistically was not a significant monetary burden against the colonists it was however a matter of principle. Franklin was concerned that the Stamp Act would divide the colonies and the “mother land” if it was not repealed. I believe that Benjamin Franklin played a very important role in the repeal of the Stamp Act because he was the one who made the call to action which made the people respond to his call to action. Among the methods Franklin used…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    His/115 Clash of Cultures

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages

    | |protected their citizens and that |were based on common law to do |Governors and elected Colonial |by the crown, and an assembly or |protected their citizens and that |…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Revolution Dbq

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages

    As early as 1754, the colonial unity was beginning to be discussed by several colonies and individuals. The Pennsylvania Gazette printed a cartoon of the colonies as a snake divided into eight pieces (New England was represented as one piece and Georgia and Rhode Island were not included) along with the imperative statement “Join or Die” (A). This cartoon stressed the importance of colonial unity and urged colonies to unite. In the same year at the Albany Congress, Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union, which attempted to unite all of the colonies; however, it was not implemented because several colonists as well as the English Parliament refused to agree with the idea. Nevertheless, it was one of the first steps towards colonial unity and it showed that there was thought about a united colonies. The French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years’ War in Europe, began in 1756 and lasted until 1763. Due to the war, England had amassed a huge debt; to pay off their war expenses the crown began to tax the colonies in America. Parliament passed the Sugar Act in 1764, the Stamp Act in 1765, the Townshend Acts in 1767, the Tea Act in 1773, and Intolerable Acts in 1774 – the final nail. These taxes angered the colonists and the protested “No Taxation without Representation.” In response the Stamp Act, the colonists formed the Stamp Act Congress, a meeting of all but four colonies, in which they wrote and sent a “Declaration of Rights and Grievances” to the King and protested the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was repealed, but Parliament ignored the…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Leislers Rebellion

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Many of the elite New Yorkers he arrested for questioning his authority convinced the New Governor to charge him with treason.…

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Apush Vocab

    • 5523 Words
    • 23 Pages

    3. Stamp Act-Widely unpopular tax on an array of paper goods, repealed in 1766 after mass protests erupted across the colonies…

    • 5523 Words
    • 23 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    ☞ He did not allowed for the election of new leaders, and dismissed assembly’s in order to prevent such talk, thus leaving the state exposed to danger and corruption. ☞ They complained that he controlled the population and immigration, and the requirements to gain new land were increased. ☞ He refused to allow the colonies the right to create laws in order to make their own government.…

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Stamp Act, which Patrick Henry considered to be “against the law”, taxed American colonists when the colonists did not have a voice in British Parliament (Document 1). In Document 1 Patrick Henry stated that “King George is a tyrant”, “he breaks laws”, and “is an enemy to his own people”. Patrick Henry wrote a speech in May 1765 to the Virginia House of Burgesses…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    2) The colony was only able to expand due to suppression of the local Indians (who resisted the English expanding process)…

    • 2675 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Fourth of July is an American tradition/ritual that comes from the original thirteen colonies declaring independence from Great Britain, but now let me tell you in more detail. On July 4, 1776, the thirteen colonies claimed their independence from England, an event which eventually led to the formation of the United States. Each year on July 4th, also known as Independence Day, Americans celebrate this historic event. Conflict between the colonies and England was already a year old when the colonies convened a Continental Congress in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776. In a June 7 session in the Pennsylvania State House (later Independence Hall), Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented a resolution with the famous words: "Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Act, which aside from mandating that only stamped paper made in Britain was to be used on certain items (newspapers, legal documents, cards, ect.), proposed a direct tax on the colonies. The justification for this was that the badly bankrupted British needed to raise revenue to pay for troops stationed in the colonies. This idea was widely dismissed by the colonists however: having defeated the French, they felt there was no need to defend against foreign threats, and they could defend themselves against the natives as they always had. Large protests broke out everywhere which frequently turned violent, making the collection of the tax impossible. The act was repealed in March the following year, but the damage had already been wrought: The colonists were ideologically incensed at the British making decisions regarding their lives without any input from the colonists on the matter, which they felt contradicted their rights as Englishmen. The popular cry of the times was “no taxation without representation,” a statement which would go a long way to kindle solidarity within the 13 colonies. Indeed, literature produced at the time reflected the rapid shift in colonial identity. A letter which appeared in the Boston Gazzete in October called for…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This Act entitled, the Boston Harbor to be closed by a blockade until the colonists pay for all the tea that was lost, it was illegal to have town meeting, public officials needed to be chosen by a royal governor, and all colonists needed to supply soldiers since the quartering act had been reinstated. The colonists recognized their constitutional rights and liberties which led them to have the First Continental Congress.8 The purpose of the congress was a voice for the people. They tried to appeal to the crown but were unsuccessful. This unsuccessful trial to overrule the crown, was later tried again with the creation of the Second Continental…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays