There was once a great story told of the American Revolution's infamous Boston Tea Party. This revolt had come about due to the tax imposed on colonists Dec 16, 1773. Not only was this due to the Tea Act 0f 1773. It was also due to other acts passed at the time such as the Stamp Act of 1765, the Coercion Act of 1774 all passed by an unpopular British Parliament. These Acts lay low on the radar of people nowadays, as other Acts have passed and they seem to have minor significance in modern times.
Those who believe that is true are placed in the best perspective by Benjamin Franklin stating, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." We must as a society understand the principles which lead to the positions colonists took toward British rule at the time. Understanding the mentality at the time will allow for us to better understand the background of the constitutional rights we were given and many have died for.
Right now as we speak millions of people are either at work, on their way to work, or their way back from work. All of these people you and I included work in return for compensation. Legally that compensation can not be taken without our permission (sale/purchase of goods). We are currently taxed on not only our income but our sale and purchase of goods as well. In many states that impose a state tax citizens are being taxed 3 separate ways. This is lunacy! California for example has recently raised their sales tax a full 1% from 8.25% to 9.25% and many products including gas and tobacco impose not only a local and state tax but a federal tax as well. When taken into account these people have already been involuntarily taxed on their income and other taxes imposed, they are easily being taxed an astounding 4 times on each sicle income in the state.
How we stay oblivious to this stuff is amazing to me. Colonists were initially upset over the Tea Act due to the dangers of additional taxes being imposed on other products as well. So at this time we were not even being taxed on every product purchased. The reality of the Tea Act actually lessened the already existing tax on tea, saving the colonist money. So why did they become so enraged? They were only getting taxed once. Not on their income but on their purchase of tea. An alarm was sounded several years before that with the Stamp Act in which Governors were forced to resign as a result of colonial protests. These colonists saw the same wolf in a sheep's clothing and came together in revolt in the face of madness. They were upset at being taxed at all without having their voices heard in Parliament.
The initial protests were not meant to be violent. They were simply meant to boycott the import of the tea. Although thousands were in agreement over the no taxation without representation slogan, only 80-130 colonists participated in the actual destruction of the tea. Their were attempted concessions to repay the value of the destroyed tea that were turned down by the British Parliament. As a desperate attempt to maintain control of the colonies the British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts all of which were designed to punish settlers and re-establish authority.
The Coercive Acts also known as the Intolerable Acts were as follows:
The Boston Port Act which shut down the port of Boston until the East India Company that supplied the tea had been repaid and until the king was assured order had been restored. This upset the colonists who felt the many was being punished for the acts of the few.
The Massachusetts Government Act created even more outrage than the Port Act because it unilaterally altered the government of Massachusetts to bring it under control of the British government. Almost all positions in the colonial government were to be appointed by the governor or the king and also severely limited the activities of the town meetings in Massachusetts. Colonists outside Massachusetts feared that their governments could now also be changed by the legislative fiat of Parliament.
The Administration of Justice Act allowed the governor to move trials of accused royal officials to another colony or even to Great Britain if he believed the official could not get a fair trial in Massachusetts. George Washington called this the "Murder Act" because he believed that it allowed British officials to harass Americans and then escape justice.
The Quartering Act was the least controversial of the acts as it was to allow for Governors to accommodate British soldiers housing quarters in the event colonies had not individually done so. Some protested that housing was taken for soldiers from private occupies homes.
The Quebec Act was unrelated to the events in Boston, but the timing of its passage led colonists to believe that it was part of the program to punish them. The act enlarged the boundaries of the
Province of Quebec and instituted reforms generally favorable to the French Catholic inhabitants of the region, although denying them an elected legislative assembly. Many feared the establishment of Catholicism in Quebec, and that the French Canadians were being courted to help oppress British Americans.
These Acts were the last ditch effort of the British to keep grips on the colonies. If you look at the scope of what lead to the American Revolution you will see that a lot less was tolerated by colonists then common modern day citizens now. There was an understanding that there was a risk involved and nonetheless maintained an agenda of freedom. One reason the so-called powers that be do the very things that frustrate us as a public is because no one is going to do anything about it. They can rely on the fact that the most you all will do is privately complain, make signs and march. In most cases the marches hurt us more than them in lost wages attending the rallies. There has to be some kind of way of uniting on issues.
There are so many people satisfied with their current situation it is hard for those to stand up in protest to simply be left alone by conformists completely disengaged from issues that affect their daily lives. Our media doesn't help much when they would rather provide spin than speak on the issues from the informed citizen's view. So essentially to break it all down our paid representatives often times are completely out of touch with their constituent's wishes. Our media is out of touch, with our televised news programming being largely state-controlled. The corporate structure profits along the way, cutting benefits and jobs daily. Everyone is happy except for us and we are the only ones scared to say it!
What is going on? When is enough, enough? The founding fathers of the United States fought and protested the tax of individual products as a whole. Fearful of the violation of their constitutional and natural rights as man. We get taxed on everything but oh well I guess that's okay. Our income is taxed as well. Once again oh well I guess that's okay. We have no control over the dispersal of our tax payer dollars. Oh well I guess that's okay!
I urge all of us to come together in solution to this ever massive problem and bringing awareness to the forefront. Protest the banks that received our money by withdrawing every dollar from their institutions. If you owe money on credit cards refuse to pay. Everyone stop paying your car notes. Stop paying your mortgages and give yourselves some leverage to be respected. Lobby your congressman to re-apply the regulations once placed on financial institutions. Lobby them to eradicate the private stock in the Federal Reserve Bank. Or eradicate the Fed altogether. Dismantle or restructure the IRS and suggest paying a fair tax directly to the Dept of Treasury. Promote a universal fair tax as a solution to providing collectible taxes for government use of public programs, institutions and infrastructure. While you are reading this you are being taxed. Why so excessive? And what are you going to do about it?
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