Colonist+for+Independence

=** Why Did The Colonists Want To Be Independent **=


 * The American people were strongly independent. They wanted to do things for themselves. Great Britain was a long way away. The American people didn't want people an ocean away telling them how to live their lives. Some colonists believed that the King and Parliament didn't have the colonies' best interests in mind when they were making rules, laws, and taxes.
 * The British government decided to make the American colonies pay a large share of the war debt from the [|French and Indian War]. The French and Indian was very expensive and the British Government placed large taxes on the 13 colonies to pay for it. The colonists felt that because they were British citizens they should be treated the same as everyone else.
 * Through the [|Sugar Act], [|Stamp Act], and other taxes, the British tried to collect taxes that the American people considered harsh. The British Government placed large taxes on Sugar, Stamps, and Tea (among other things) which were items that the colonists were using daily. This was another tax that the colonists were paying that the people in England were not paying.
 * The American people also thought that they should be able to send their own people to Britain's Parliament or at least vote for Britain's lawmakers. The colonists had no say in any of the rules, laws, and taxes that were being made in Britain that effected them. They didn't have their own representatives in the British parliament and when they held elections for positions in parliament, they couldn't even vote for who they wanted! The combination of the harsh taxes and the lack of an American voice in Parliament gave rise to the famous phrase "taxation without representation."
 * [|Patrick Henry], [|Thomas Paine], and others called for an independent America, colonies free from British rule and interference. Some big authors and philosophers at the time began writing about how the people should be free and how great it would be to have independence. Many colonists read this and saw potential in the country.