The Justification for Declaring Independence

"Give me liberty or give me death." These heroic words were spoken by Patrick Henry, a man who fought for the principles he believed in: freedom and justice for all people. During the American Revolution, many colonists, encouraged by their hearts, felt they needed to separate themselves from King George III and his barbaric acts of oppression. He enforced outrageous taxes, unjust laws, and denied his people in the colonies any freedom.

"Taxation without representation is tyranny." King George imposed a multitude of taxes upon the colonists, some of which included the Stamp Act and the Navigation Acts. The Stamp Act of 1765 was an internal tax that mandated colonists to procure stamps for all printed materials that included but were not limited to: wills, deeds, mortgages, newspapers, wedding licenses, and even death certificates. This imposed quite an inconvenience on the colonists and a drain on their pocketbooks. The Navigation Acts forced colonists to transport goods only in British vessels, selected goods could be transported only to Britain and imported goods must be purchased in Britain. If imported goods were purchased elsewhere, an import tariff had to be paid in the British port. This severely limited the colonists importing and exporting, causing them to lose profits, and miss goods not found in Britain or to pay a high fee to get them. Not only did King George enforce cruel and sudden taxes on the people, but he also deprived them of any representation in the government, dissolving the House of Burgesses.