History 103 (Bridge History)
Journal #2
Power Struggle
The vast dispute between Great Britain and the Colonies before the Revolutionary War was a struggle over power. The dispute started during/after the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War) when the British had taken all the credit for winning, even though the colonists had played a very big part in fighting the war. After the war ended, the British had huge war debts. The war very costly and Britain didn’t really have a way to fund it. When the war ended they come up with the idea of taxing the colonies on certain items; two ideas they had were the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act.
The Sugar Act, also known as the Revenue Act, was created to help enforce the Molasses Act, which …show more content…
The colonists considered this to be taxation without representation (virtual representation) because the British were coming up with the taxes without any colonist being there. The taxes were an infringement on the colonists’ rights and created anger within the colonies and ultimately caused huge street protests. Due to the protests from the Acts, Parliament repealed them and put the Declaratory Act in their place, which asserted Parliament’s powers over the colonists’ and the …show more content…
In Boston, Massachusetts on March 5, 1770, the Boston Massacre occurred. The Massacre was a big brawl in the streets of Boston between a bunch of Colonists’ and British soldiers. It all started with a group of Colonists’ taunting the soldiers. Then, the Colonists’ started throwing snowballs, rocks, and other objects at the soldiers who started firing their weapons back at the Colonists’ when a person in the crowd shouted “fire.” As a result of the fight, five Colonists’ had died. Due to the Boston Massacre, the relationship between the colonists’ and the British was tense. The British were mad and the colonists were