Stamp+Act+Project

Maha Kourikchi 10/26/10

Editorial: Support Or Refute The Sons of Liberty were not justified in using the mob as a political tactic. There was no need to resort to violence and chaos. Also, the colonists should have helped pay for the Seven Years War. Another reason why the Sons of Liberty weren’t right by using the mob was that they lived fortunate lives and were lucky they had everything that they did.

When the Stamp Act was imposed on the colonists, they were outraged. Colonists rebelled and committed acts of violence. They believed that it was unfair for the British to do this to the colonists because they weren’t even represented in Parliament. Therefore,the colonists vandalized people’s homes and hung effigies of public political figures. On August 14th, the Sons of Liberty hung two effigies of two important political figures. These two men were Thomas Hutchinson and Andrew Oliver. Andrew Oliver was Boston’s Stamp Act Commissioner and Thomas Hutchinson was the colony’s highest ranking government official. Thomas Hutchinson was a man who the colonies despised, because he was so arrogant, ambitious, wealthy and powerful. A mob attacked his house on August 26th and made a bonfire on his street. The mob then stole most of his belongings, and destroyed his house by tearing down the walls and roof. No one stopped the mob or did anything to cease the violence. These events were happening regularly in Boston which caused so much violence and battles to start, all because the colonists didn’t want to pay a small Stamp Act tax. The colonists shouldn’t have acted so violently. They should have settled matters a different way. Destroying people’s homes and hanging effigies was cruel and certainly not the way to handle the situation. Besides, if they were so bothered by the Stamp Act, why didn’t they just go to Parliament and make them listen to them? That probably would have been effective, too. Using mobs as a political tactic just made tensions stronger between the British and the colonists, when the colonists could have showed how they felt some other way.

After the Seven Years War, the British had a lot of debt that they needed to pay, considering it doubled after the war had ended. During the war, the British had protected the colonies and always had before. The Seven Years War required a lot of money, so the British needed help to pay their debt off. They thought it was only fair to look to the colonists for help, since they were the ones who really started the war. If it wasn’t for George Washington, the Seven Years War probably wouldn’t have occurred. Creating mobs and rebelling against taxes wasn’t necessary because the colonists were only paying a small fee compared to the British. The colonists owed it to the British because without the British, they would have crumbled in the war. Also, it was all because of the British that the colonies were created, so the colonists were just being greedy and selfish when they decided to start protesting.

The colonists lived very nice lives in the colonies. They had so much more freedom than the British, far more luxuries, and the colonists took many things for granted. Also, since trade was flourishing in the colonies, people had the benefit of earning more money. When the Stamp Act was imposed, the colonists were only asked to pay a small amount of money; 2 shillings per person every year. The Stamp Act taxed all colonies on paper items and it was the first direct tax that was imposed on the colonists. Meanwhile, the British had to pay 26 shillings. The colonists were acting unfairly, because they expected to live luxurious lives and not pay a single shilling for taxes.

The colonists shouldn’t have created mobs to get their point across. Violence is a terrible thing to take part in. There was no need for mobs to attack people’s houses and terrorize people. Also, the colonists should have paid their taxes because the British helped them a lot during the French and Indian War. So, the least the colonists should have done was pay their taxes, besides they weren’t really paying much anyway. Life in the colonies was very good because they had more freedom than any other place in the world, so the mobs shouldn’t have rebelled. They should have at least tanked the British. Also, if the Stamp Act bothered the colonists so much, they should have discussed the matter with Parliament, not cause chaos in the colonies. There were a better way to handle this situation, and using mobs as a political tactic was not one of them. media type="custom" key="7324151"