The American Colonies In The 1700s

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The 1700's were a time during which the American colonists began to butt heads with their mother country over what rights the colonists did and did not possess. As the New World began to evolve into more and more of its own independent nation, the colonies began to detest the British for trying to remain in control of their people.

Throughout the mid 1700's, England put into place several different laws regarding the American colonies. Such laws included the Stamp Act, the Sugar Act, the Declaratory Act, and the Quartering Act. Although the Stamp and Sugar acts were revoked in 1766, with their eradication came the implementation of the Declaratory Act. This act stated that "the King's majesty, by and with the advice and the consent of the
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Another act enforced onto the colonies was the Quartering Act (1774), which stated that "it shall and may be lawful for the persons who are now, or may be hereafter, authorised be law, in any of the provinces within his Majesty's dominions in North America, and they are hereby …show more content…
One particular right that was focused upon was the right of taxation. As stated by Samuel Adams the colonists believed that "the supreme power cannot justly take from any man any part of his property, without his consent in person or by his representative." It is this statement that brought forth the saying of taxation without representation, which was a big issue between the colonists and the mother country. Along with this right, Henry and Adams also believed that the colonists exclusively held the natural rights of life, liberty, and property, as well as the right to defend these natural rights. They also were considered to hold the right to worship God in any way they pleased. This is stated by Adams in "The Rights of the Colonists," which says that the colonists have the "natural right to worship God according to the dictates of [their] own conscience." Henry also believed that the colonists had the right to fight for their liberty, as evident in his famous speech, "Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death." The colonists believed that it their local assemblies should have all legal authority over them, rather than the British