USA HISTORY

THE ROAD TO REVOLUTION 1700 1774

THE AMERICAN ENLIGHTENMENT INTELLECTUAL AND SOCIAL REVOLUTION

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
The main reason that the colonists protested the increased taxes (like the tax levied in the Stamp Act) was that ____
A
American colonists hated stamps
B
American colonists did not have representation in the British Parliament
C
American colonists did not want to rebel against British rule
D
Most American colonists supported the French in the French and Indian War
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Prominent individuals such as Benjamin Franklin and members of the independence-minded group known as the Sons of Liberty argued that the British parliament did not have the authority to impose an internal tax.

Detailed explanation-2: -The protests were based on a legal principle that the colonial legislatures only had the power to tax residents who had representatives in those legislatures. And even though some colonies had official agents to Parliament, like Benjamin Franklin, no colonies had sitting representatives in the British Parliament.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Act resulted in violent protests in America and the colonists argued that there should be “No Taxation without Representation” and that it went against the British constitution to be forced to pay a tax to which they had not agreed through representation in Parliament.

Detailed explanation-4: -In short, many colonists believed that as they were not represented in the distant British parliament, any taxes it imposed on the colonists (such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts) were unconstitutional, and were a denial of the colonists’ rights as Englishmen.

Detailed explanation-5: -No Representation The colonists felt that the British government had no right to tax them because there were not any representatives of the colonies in the British Parliament. The colonies had no say in how much the taxes should be or what they should pay for. They didn’t think this was fair.

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