The Boston Gazette
The Stamp Act, The Declaratory Act, & the Boston Massacre...
Overview
The stamp act, the declaratory act, and the Boston massacre were all huge proponents to starting the Revolution. Since Great Britain (GB) didn't represent the Thirteen colonies whatsoever whilst deciding to tax the living heck out of it's territories the colonies got really ticked off. The first thing they taxed that was significant was paper. Anything and everything with paper needed a stamp which required money people didn't want to give (since they weren't represented in parliament). The declaratory act only furthered this rage since they were angry they were not only being forced to pay heavy taxes on paper they also were given a very passive aggressive notice saying they had no power over mother Britain. o After the tea tax was proposed the colonists got so incredibly enraged that they rebelled and dressed up as native Americans are threw the tea into the harbor. The shot heard around the world was the Boston massacre, which was England firing shots at the Americans. To be fair, the colonists SO exaggerated. It wasn't a massacre, it was shooting only a handful of people, that's just a really bad homicide case. This, however, was cause for the colonists to feel like they needed to protect themselves. These events all were pressure points for the colonists to start the Revolutionary war.
Event Information
The Stamp Act
- Every piece of paper to be used in any situation must possess a stamp (which you can buy for varying amounts of shillings!)
- Britain was taxing the heck out of every citizen it had since it had to pay off their (fairy unnecessary) seven years war, which had caused the country to go into National Debt
- George Grenville proposed this act to Parliament
When?
Thursday, Mar 12, 2015, 09:00 PM
Where?
The Thirteen Colonies
Boston Massacre
- Crispus Attucks was the first who died. [complete sidenote: what an unfortunate name!]
- Five civvies died during the "massacre"
- Considered by many historians to be the first battle of the revolution
Declaratory Act
This was a total "screw you" to the colonists. The declaratory act pretty much said "We have the power, just stop. Stop." So the colonists got really angry after being told to shove it. This is the exact quote "The Declaratory Act proclaimed that Parliament "had hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America ... in all cases whatsoever".
This act however did repeal the stamp act, which appeased the colonists, however they were still pretty irritated.
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was the colonists response to the tax on tea (1). This was, in fact, not an actual party, but an exaggeration like the colonists were known to do (2) The colonists decided to act like ruffians and throw tea into the harbor as a sign of rebellion (3).