Question

Identify four British actions that angered American colonists during the 1760s and
1770s.

Answer 1

Colonial resentment towards British authority grew significantly due to the Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Intolerable Acts, and Quartering Act, leading to unification, the creation of shadow governments, and the First Continental Congress, which marked the beginning of the American Revolution.

Step-by-step explanation:

British Actions and Colonial Resentment

The actions of the British government that angered American colonists and helped push them toward declaring independence were numerous, but four in particular stand out:

1. Stamp Act of 1765: This direct tax required all printed materials in the colonies to bear a tax stamp. The act was met with intense protest and the formation of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, uniting various colonists in opposition.
2. Townshend Acts: These acts imposed duties on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea imported into the colonies. Opposition to these indirect taxes led to a significant non-importation movement and heightened colonial cooperation.
3. Intolerable Acts: Also known as the Coercive Acts, these laws were intended to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. They included the Port Act closing Boston Harbor, exacerbating tensions and leading to a widespread call for armed resistance.
4. Quartering Act: This act required colonial governments to provide barracks and supplies to British troops, a mandate viewed as an imposition and a violation of property rights.

In reaction to these actions, the colonists began to unify, formed extralegal shadow governments, like the Committees of Correspondence, and eventually convened the First Continental Congress, defying British authority and leading to the outbreak of the American Revolution.

Answer 2

1. The Sugar Act passed in 1764. The act placed a tax on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies.
2. A year later, in 1765, The Stamp Act was passed placing a tax on all printed materials such as newspapers, magazines, and legal documents. The Stamp Act meant that these materials had to be printed on official British stamped paper.
3. The Townshend Acts were a series of acts passed in 1767 and 1768 that placed indirect taxes on imports British goods such as glass, lead, pants, paper, and tea. These acts were also met with protests from the colonies, and the British government had to send troops to enforce the taxes.
4. The Intolerable Acts were five acts passed by the British Parliament against the American colonists in 1774: Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act. These acts were meant to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party, where a group of colonists threw hundreds of boxes of British tea into the Boston harbor in protest of the increasing taxation of the British Parliament.


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