Learn Liberty | Taxes & Abuse of Power @LearnLiberty | Uploaded January 2023 | Updated October 2024, 20 hours ago.
The colonists got sick and tired of the increase in taxes and encroachment on their freedoms. It may have been the last straw.
One major grievance colonists had against England is the one most people remember learning about in school: taxes. But the concern that radicalized the colonists was less about taxes per se, and more about power. In the decade before the revolution, Parliament passed a series of new, unprecedented taxes on colonists to try to pay down their debt from the French & Indian War. In doing so, they were claiming powers to directly tax and control the colonies in a way they had never done before. Prof. Sarah Burns explains how this was perceived as a pattern of steady encroachment on freedom, as colonists became afraid that these increased powers would become permanent.
LEARN LIBERTY:
Your resource for exploring the ideas of a free society. We tackle big questions about what makes a society free or prosperous and how we can improve the world we live in. Watch more at learnliberty.org/.
The colonists got sick and tired of the increase in taxes and encroachment on their freedoms. It may have been the last straw.
One major grievance colonists had against England is the one most people remember learning about in school: taxes. But the concern that radicalized the colonists was less about taxes per se, and more about power. In the decade before the revolution, Parliament passed a series of new, unprecedented taxes on colonists to try to pay down their debt from the French & Indian War. In doing so, they were claiming powers to directly tax and control the colonies in a way they had never done before. Prof. Sarah Burns explains how this was perceived as a pattern of steady encroachment on freedom, as colonists became afraid that these increased powers would become permanent.
LEARN LIBERTY:
Your resource for exploring the ideas of a free society. We tackle big questions about what makes a society free or prosperous and how we can improve the world we live in. Watch more at learnliberty.org/.
