After the French and Indian War, Britain needed money. As a result, the British government placed taxes on the American colonists. The British thought that the colonists should help pay for the war since it had been fought partly to defend the colonies.
The first tax was the Stamp Act. It said that colonists had to buy tax stamps for printed materials. Many colonists refused to pay. They said they had not voted on the tax (No taxation without representation). Colonists under the leadership of Samuel Adams formed the Sons of Liberty to protest the Stamp Act.
Since the Stamp Act did not work, Britain replaced it with a tax on imported goods, the Townshend Acts. So colonists refused to buy imports. The Daughters of Liberty formed to make tea and cloth.
The colonial boycott was hurting British merchants; therefore, King George III ordered British soldiers and warships to the colonies. Tensions rose to and explosive level in Boston between the colonists and the British soldiers on March 5, 1770. Shots were fired and in the end five people laid dead. This event became known as the Boston Massacre.
As a result of colonists’ protests, Britain removed all taxes except the tax on tea. The Tea Act said that the …show more content…
The people of Boston were ordered to feed and house British soldiers, Massachusetts was put under the control of Thomas Gage, and the port of Boston was closed until the people of Boston paid for the tea they destroyed. The Intolerable Acts had two effects: closing of the port hurt businesses that depended on trade and many people were out of work, but it also had a positive effect, it forced colonists to take sides. Those that supported the people of Boston became known as Patriots. Those that wanted to stay loyal to King George III and Britain became known as