colonialism and power and gain (Essay Sample)

Name Instructor Course Date Colonialism and Power and Gain In colonial America, the Great Britain exercised control over the colonies in North America. The colonial government wielded great power and would pass laws and establish taxes. They would also often decide the way the colony’s tax money would be spent. For this reason, as time went on, the colonists started to agitate for freedom and independence for Great Britain. Colonial America had gained both power and control though a series of events. Using the pamphlet called “Common Sense,” the colonialists expressed their grievances to the Great Britain by demanding separation and freedom from the colonist. In addition, colonists resisted orders in hopes of gaining more power by opposing the Stamp Act and later rebelling against Great Britain. However, freedom for the colonists did not mean freedom for all. Women, Natives and slaves did not see light in sight for equality and freedom just yet. The “Common Sense” pamphlet greatly influenced the colonists to declare that they were independent from the Great Britain. The pamphlet is credited with being the instrument that united average citizens and politicians to rally behind the idea that America deserved to be independent (Paine, 2). The pamphlet is further hailed for being a remarkable document that transformed the colonial squabble into a revolution which would eventually give America its independence. At the time when the pamphlet was authored, most colonists saw themselves as aggrieved citizens of the Great Britain. The author of the document fundamentally changed their perspective and opened their eyes to the fact that Great Britain invaded their land. In the pamphlet, the author stated that: “Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America. This new world hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe. Hither they have fled, not from the tender embraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the monster; and it is so far true of England, that the same tyranny which drove the first emigrants from home pursues their descendants still (Paine, 3).” When it comes to the Stamp Act, it was a law that was ratified by Great Britain parliament in 1765 under King George III. The law imposed a tax on all official documents and papers in the American colonies and never in England. It was King George III who imposed this tax on documents such as licenses, bonds, certificates and all forms of official documents (Fitch, 4). Mundane items such as playing cards and plain parchment cards were also included in the new tax. The Great Britain parliament thought that the colonies in America required offsetting the sums which were necessary for their maintenance. It aimed at using this tax to offset war expenses which had been incurred in the war that involved Great Britain, France and Spain. Most American colonists rejected the Stamp Act duty. They were angered by the intention of the King of Britain and started to distance themselves from the Great Britain by asking for total freedom from the colonial power (Skalenko, 3). They argued that the distance between London and America was too big for policies to be made away from America and be imposed without their involvement in the policy making. The colonists argued that only their representative assemblies had the power to tax them and insisted that the Stamp Act was unconstitutional. They eventually resorted to violence which intimidated the stamp tax collectors into resigning. Therefore, it can be said that the Stamp Act was among the roots of colonial resistance which increased the power and control of colonists in America. Although most colonists went on to accept the authority of parliament to regulate the way they traded, they continued to agitate for their representative assemblies to be the ones directly taxing them (Skalenko, 5). They resisted the government of Britain’s argument that all subjects of the Great Britain were enjoying virtual representation in parliament even while they did not have the power to elect members of Parliament. The colonists took exception with t...