6 Chapter 5 Breaking Away

Chapter 5 Breaking Away The long French and Indian War had been very costly for England. The king—George II—had borrowed a lot of money. The war had been fought on American soil. Even after England won, an army of ten thousand redcoats remained in America in case the French acted up again.

In 1763 the king's grandson—George III—took the throne. The new king thought it only fair for the colonies to pay for the war expenses. Where would the money come from? Taxes. In 1765 the English Parliament passed the Stamp Act. In the colonies, all kinds of documents and paper goods suddenly had to carry a stamp on them. Wills, contracts, college diplomas, and marriage licenses weren't valid without the stamp. Newspapers and playing cards had to be stamped, too. The stamps didn't cost much. But the colonists were furious. It was one thing for their own local governments to pass new taxes. Local governments were made up of men elected by the colonists. But Parliament was three thousand miles away. Colonists had no power there. They hadn't elected any of the members of Parliament. Nor could they vote them out of office. What seemed fair to the king and to Parliament on one side of the Atlantic seemed totally unfair to

colonists in America. Where did George Washington stand on the Stamp Act? He thought it was wrong, but he didn't join in the protests. Parliament ended the Stamp Act in 1766 because so many angry colonists had stopped

buying British goods. It was hurting trade. But the very next year Parliament forced colonists to pay taxes on paper, paint, glass, lead, and tea. All these items were imported from England. Once again protests in America brought about the repeal—the end—of the taxes, all except for one: The tax on tea. A tax on tea may not seem important. But tea was a very popular drink in the colonies. People often drank fifteen cups a day. Taxing tea made everyone mad . . . including George Washington. Rather than pay the tea tax, he switched to coffee.

The latest round of taxes changed his feelings about being an English subject. He thought Parliament's control of the colonies was unjust. It had to stop. He wrote to a friend that colonists should not "hesitate to use arms" to defend their rights. Before the wave of taxes, the thirteen colonies had little in common with one another. Each colony considered itself a separate land with its own separate interests. Now anger over taxes brought the colonies together. It united them. England cracked down on Boston after the Tea Party. The harbor was closed. The local government was shut down. British troops moved in. No goods could come in or go out of the city. Business came to a halt. Food was scarce. Still, the citizens refused to pay for the ruined tea. After all, they had only been standing up for their rights. BOSTON TEA PARTY

IN NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA ANGRY CROWDS PREVENTED BRITISH BOATS FROM UNLOADING CARGOES OF TEA.