1763 Dbq Analysis

Between 1763 and 1775, there were three ‘Imperial Crises’ which occurred between the British and the American colonists. The conflict that was produced during this period arose through an undefined balance of political and economic power between the two parties. In 1763, Britain had just concluded the French and Indian war and were left with an immense and almost crippling debt of around 140 million pounds sterling (“Turning Point In American History”). In Britain’s eyes, the most effective way to reduce this debt was taxes. Unfortunately, the people of England were already massively overtaxed which meant the last option for the British was to tax the American colonists. This meant that the reinforcement of the Navigation Acts, as well as a …show more content…
To suddenly have to pay heavy taxes again was ludicrous in their opinion, especially when they didn’t even have direct representation in Parliament (“Turning Point In American History”). American history often depicts this enforcement of taxes as a completely negative brutish act, but in reality the taxes were quite reasonable given the British debt was so massive. However, just because the British actions were reasonable didn’t reverse the fact that many Americans would still be upset because they were not represented in Parliament. Additionally, the reasonability of British responses only lasted for a certain period. The Intolerable Acts were passed in 1774 and the Americans responded with anger. Nevertheless, the British response to American colonists was extremely reasonable until the Intolerable Acts. However, the British assumption that their response would restore tranquility in the colonies was completely …show more content…
This act entailed that Britain had full sovereignty over the colonies and Parliament was the only body allowed to tax those colonies (“The Second Imperial Crisis”). This move by the British was very reasonable because it was a way for them- or so they thought- to reduce American tensions while still maintaining their authority over them. Obviously some colonists such as the mercantilist elites though sovereignty lied in the colonial assemblies so there was some conflict, but for the most part the British had come out on top. Then in 1767, Britain messed up once again. They decided to pass the Townshend Acts which taxed all British goods imported to American colonies and imposed new taxes to pay the salaries of British officials. In addition to that, the British created the “American Board of Customs Commissioners” and the “Vice Admiralty Courts” in the colonies (“The Second Imperial Crisis”). This was actually very reasonable and even quite smart for the British to do. Unfortunately, the Americans responded harshly especially with the Massachusetts Assembly which produced numerous pamphlets pertaining to American rights. Because of this Assembly, large portions of colonial people started to boycott British goods and even refuse quartering the British. Parliament's response was to temporarily dissolute that Assembly (“The Second Imperial Crisis”). This is the turning point

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1763 Dbq Analysis

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