As we celebrate our 237th Fourth of July as a nation, it’s a good opportunity to remember that taxes were the major driving factor behind the events on that day in 1776.
In fact, the very first time the colonies got together for joint action was the Stamp Act Congress, which was a response to the Stamp Act of 1765. The Stamp Act was the original colonial grievance of “taxation without representation,” as the tax was levied on the colonies even though they were not represented in Parliament. The Stamp Act Congress was the first organized colonial resistance to the British government.
Just eight short years later, in 1763, was the most famous tax protest in American history, the Boston Tea Party, which was a reaction to the Tea Act. Britain’s ratcheting up of pressure on the colonies as a result of the Boston Tea Party led directly to the Declaration of Independence and the American War of Independence just two years later.
So there’s nothing more authentically American than complaining about high taxes, and taking action against an unresponsive, unrepresentative government.
Happy Independence Day
July 3, 2013