Discuss The Difference Between The Virginia And Massachusetts Colonies

The Virginia and New England colonists struggled to adapt to the radically different conditions of their new environments. However, that is where the similarities between the two seem to end. Both colonies boasted different economies, political systems, societies and cultures, which place them at opposite ends of the colonial spectrum.

Huge debts were owed to Great Britain for supplying the colonists with military support and supplies. To pay the dues, there was the establishment of the Stamp Act, the taxation on domestic goods and services. A tax on domestic merchandise brought even more anger to the colonists. The Sugar Act, the Townshed Duties and the Tea Act were also all introduced with the same fundamentals: applying tax on goods whether it be directly or indirectly, domestic or international. “British commercial regulations imposed a paltry economic burden on Americans, who enjoyed a rapid economic growth and a standard of living higher than their European counterparts” (McGaughy). Each act resulted in irritated colonists. Some even retaliated by tarring and feathering certain English tax enforcers living in the colonies.

Beginning in 1764, Great Britain began passing acts to exert greater control over the American colonies. The Sugar Act was passed to increase duties on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. A Currency Act was also passed to ban the colonies from issuing paper bills or bills of credit because of the belief that the colonial currency had devalued the British money. Further, in order to continue to support the British soldiers left in America after the war, Great Britain passed the Quartering Act in 1765. This ordered colonists to house and feed British soldiers if there was not enough room for them in the colonist’s homes. An important piece of legislation that really upset the colonists was the Stamp Act passed in 1765. This required stamps to be purchased or included on many different items and documents such as playing cards, legal papers, newspapers, and more. This was the first direct tax that Britain had imposed on the colonists. Events began to escalate with passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These taxes were created to help colonial officials become independent of the colonists by providing them with a source of income. This act led to clashes between British troops and colonists, causing the infamous Boston Massacre. These unjust requests and increasing tensions all led up to the colonist’s declaration as well as the Revolutionary War.

Britain had just got out of The French and Indian War and had to come up with a way to pay off the debt from the war some how. So, they decided to come up with the Sugar Act and Stamp Act. The Sugar Act placed tax on sugar, molasses, and other goods shipped to the colonies, while the Stamp Act was a law that required all legal and commercial documents to carry an official stamp showing that a tax had been paid. The colonies did not like this at all. They thought they were huge threats against their political rights. The reasons why were because

The British were quite in debt after the French and Indian War over the land west of the Appalachian Mountains. In order to remedy this, the British decided to tax American Colonists over their own citizens. These taxes were decided on and put in place by the House of Commons, but did not allow for representatives from the colonies in the legislature. The different acts put in place were the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and Tea Act. The Sugar Act required the colonies to but sugar, molasses, and rum from British colonies in the Caribbean only, even though it was much more expensive. The Stamp Act was applied to many items including newspaper, glass, paint, legal documents, and playing cards. With both of these acts, large amounts of smuggling and boycotting took place, but they were still hard to avoid. The Tea Act was different because it actually lowered the price of tea, but the colonists were not upset with it for the price rather the reason behind it. The British government decided to bail out the

The economy of the colonies was also impacted. Britain's attempts to raise revenue after the war caused tension among the colonies. With the end of salutary neglect, a stricter enforcement of mercantilism and new policies soon replaced it. Facing the enormous debt of the war, the British realized, “not only [was the] revenue impaired, but the commerce of the colonies diverted from its natural course” (Doc F). In order to resolve this issue, they decided to impose taxes on the colonists through various acts such as the Revenue Act, Sugar Act, and, most notably, the Stamp Act of 1765. The act, passed by British Parliament, imposed a direct tax on the colonists, requiring them to pay for a stamp on all printed materials. These various acts sparked

The passing of a series of laws regulating trade and tax, most notably the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), and the Tea Act (1773) increased tension between Great Britain and its colonies in the period 1763-1776. Near the end of the French and Indian War, Great Britain was in desperate need of money to pay for their war debts. The British Parliament believed that they had a right to tax their colonies. Their legislations placed duties on certain imports that had never been taxed before. By the end of 1764, tensions heightened between colonists and imperial officials as they were disagreeing more and more about how the colonies should be taxed and governed. These feelings of dissatisfaction would soon swell into rebellion, leading to the American Revolution.

The Chesapeake region had developed a different society partly due to their location. Jamestown was swarming with mosquitos that caused many colonists to obtain a disease. There was a high mortality rate. Many died during the first years in the settlement. Jamestown had many colonists who were in the upper class back in England. Most of them were “gentlemen” and refused to work when settled. The colonists heavily relied on the Natives to give them food. They were very aggressive towards the Natives and often attacked and killed them. Most of the colonists were more focused/motivated on finding gold and were in it for themselves. There were no sense of unity in the communities. New England colonies were completely different from colonies of the Chesapeake region. Colonists in New England were more religious and family orientated. The separatists (Pilgrims) had left England to seek religious freedom and the Puritans sought to reform the church. Although, the Puritans suffered through the first winter, they soon prospered after that. The Pilgrims had been generally kind towards the Natives. They had a peace treaty that lasted for more then 50 years. The New England colonist arrived to the New World with their families, rather than by themselves. They were more focused on family values and had a

During the early 1600s many new colonies were building up strong economies that produced materials worthy of trade. These colonies were also experimenting with more freedoms and democratic systems away from the watchful crown of England. Two colonies, Virginia and Massachusetts, were both able to be self-sustaining colonies despite the vast differences between the two. Virginia's strong economic independence and Massachusetts strong political freedoms and independence allowed the regions to establish themselves separate from England.

Despite the British parliament passing and imposing various laws including The Sugar Act of 1764, they continued to impose The Stamp Act the same year on the Americans in order to make them pay part of the cost of stationing their soldiers on their land. This form of taxation involved

How did early colonial Virginia differ from early colonial Massachusetts in organizational structure and in the demographics of the colonists?

Virginia and Massachusetts Bay Colonies In 1607, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, known as the Virginia Colony, was founded. Working under the Church of England, this colony established the basis of English settlement in the New World. Soonthereafter, during 1620, the Puritans arrived, eventually forming the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The colonists were seeking religious freedom from the Church of England.

They reevaluated the way they were operating things, in hopes of increasing the money they were taking in. Britain had a law called the Navigation Act, which prevented colonists from buying products that were not exported from England. However, colonists found ways around this law by bribing officials with one pence or buying the product from merchants who had smuggled in foreign products. Britain then passed the Sugar Act in 1764 which cut taxes on molasses in half, from 6 pence to 3 pence, they hoped to stop the illegal import of other European exports. Colonists, merchants especially, tried to protest but had no unity to do so effectively yet. The Stamp Act the following year, which taxed every piece of paper they printed was enough to unite the colonies. There was a Stamp Act Congress held to organize protests on the new law. Previously, Parliament practiced a policy known as Salutary Neglect, England always had the right to tax the colonies, but never enforced it. Therefore, Americans were used to an untrammeled political life, they began to believe England was going to enslave them, due to the new enforcements being put on

After the “Seven Year War” between Britain and France, Britain had to find new ways to finance its massive empire after obtaining territories from France. However, this caused tensions between the colonies in the North America and Britain began to rise. One of the measures that the British employed was the “Writs of Assistance” which was meant to stop American merchants from trading goods with France. Then the “Sugar Act” was enforced in 1764 to raise revenue to protect, defend and secure North America. Then by 1765, the “Stamp Act” was passed in order to make the colonists pay as much taxes as the British to help them get out of their financial crisis. Through 1766-1770 the colonists began to resist the British Empire because of how they

Shortly after the French and Indian war, the American colonies began to revolt against Great Britain. Out of the many reasons, taxes were one of the big ones. The colonist was being unfairly taxed for the war debt that the British owed. Taxes were first placed on items such as raw sugar and molasses; this became known as the Sugar Act. The Stamp Act came in shortly afterwards. This act placed direct tax on colonist. Seen