They did not often think about the king of England or his royal governor in North Carolina.īut beneath this calm surface there were problems. Most North Carolinians carried on their daily lives on farms raising crops and tending herds, and in cities shopkeeping, cooking, sewing, and performing dozens of other occupations and tasks. In 1774 much of this unrest had calmed down, especially in the southern colonies. "No taxation without representation" became the American rallying cry. So Parliament did not have the right to take their money by imposing taxes. The colonists felt that since they did not take part in voting for members of Parliament in England they were not represented in Parliament. Also, Parliament was elected by people living in England, and the colonists felt that lawmakers living in England could not understand the colonists' needs. They believed that England had fought the expensive war mostly to strengthen its empire and increase its wealth, not to benefit its American subjects. Parliament said it was right to tax the American colonists to help pay the bills for the war.
Parliament said it had fought the long and costly war to protect its American subjects from the powerful French in Canada. That war, which had been fought in North America, left Great Britain with a huge debt that had to be paid.
Great Britain was passing these laws because of the French and Indian War, which had ended in 1763. There had been the Sugar Act in 1764, the Stamp Act the following year, and a variety of other laws that were meant to get money from the colonists for Great Britain. Parliament (England's Congress) had been passing laws placing taxes on the colonists in America. Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, NC Museum of History Trouble Brewingīy 1774, the year leading up to the Revolutionary War, trouble was brewing in America. Reprinted with permission from the Tar Heel Junior Historian.
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