Tre’ Kelly
11/20/08
Writ. 101
"Who was the old mother? Why, England of course! We were the colonists. Ben Franklin was right. King George III and his ministers didn't believe the colonists were grown up and capable of ruling themselves" (Hakim, pg.50). When Ben Franklin said this it showed how little the English knew about Americans. England was our mother country but in the beginning we strived without her. At least in New Hampshire we did. The average lifestyle in New Hampshire wasn’t very exciting but no one complained. Everybody minded their one business and lived positive lives. I was born and raised here in New Hampshire and I’ve been a poor farmer all of my life, but life was still peaceful. The English were wrong for trying to rule over us and strip us of our independence. As a poor farmer, I feel that rejection of the British government’s rule will best serve me and others of the poor society in New Hampshire because we would live an unstressful life with our independence. I had nothing against our mother country but after their decision to not give us any representation in their Parliament, and their unfair taxation on us, I had no choice but to support my colony.
What I didn’t understand was that the British thought that we’d be fine with giving them money just like that. When the British Parliament started putting taxes on the supplies we imported from them I was outraged not only by the tax act but by fact that this act was passed without the recognition of the New Hampshire colonists. In fact, none of the colonies' colonists knew about the taxes till it happened. I mean some of us rely on these resources and now we're being taxed to receive them just. Now that is completely messed up. This was only such a problem for me because I was pretty poor and I relied on some of those resources from the English. I couldn’t afford to pay more money to receive those resources.
I can see if I was a wealthy merchant at the time, then I'd feel comfortable with British rule because the taxes wouldn't have felt like much and I would have known that my fellow wealthy colonial people and most importantly, my trade ships, were protected by the Royal British Fleet. But I wasn’t a wealthy merchant; I was a man with nowhere to go. This isn't' fair to me or to others who were in my shoes or worse. I had to fight for those who were hurting from this because I knew how they felt. I didn’t do anything right away though because I was just a poor farmer and no one would have listened me even if they shared my same opinion. But the merchants couldn’t take it and took action in 1768. They boycotted British goods in attempt to get Great Britain to repeal the acts.
One other important thing that happened that year was the circular letter which was sent to each governor in America from the House of Representatives of the colony of Massachusetts Bay. Our governor spoke upon the people of New Hampshire and stated that the Parliament’s tax acts needed to be repealed. That was when the merchants started boycotting. A while after, their boycotts finally took effect toward British shipments. The British repealed their tax acts in 1770. The British should have known that their act wouldn’t have lasted. Most of the British leaders, including the King, had never even been to New Hampshire. It seemed as if the King didn’t care much about our problems; he just blamed the Parliament and denied having authority over them. That's when I figured that being part of the Parliament was where the real power was at.
As the years passed more and more Americans came together to grow above British rule. There were very many Patriots all over the American colonies, and to see all of us come together at the peak of the revolution and fight for our rights was a beautiful thing. I saw many who shared my same dream for America. I didn't hate the British and I didn't want any harm put on the British people, but what I was fighting for was pure and should have been unquestionable. Great Britain abused their power in many ways but one way that stood out for me was when they claimed that they had the "so called" right to bind us under their control which to me seemed almost like slavery. Thomas Paine, who was a Patriot although he was English, stated this exact thing in is document, "Common Sense." “Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.” The British Parliament was wrong. What they were trying to do for us was not good at all. Until this event passes I will keep on fighting and keep on praying for America. My Lord God is the only one who knows how this will end, so I can only wish for the best.
Author(s): Maurice H. Robinson
Source: Publications of the American Economic Association, 3rd Series, Vol. 3, No 3 (Aug., 1902), pp 1-226
Publisher(s): American Economic Associations table
URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2485865?
Books-
A History of U.S
Hakim, Joy. : From colonies to Country. New York, Third Edition: Published by Oxford University Press, inc., third edition copyright 2003
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