ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by tax breaks,

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the best way to stop runaway government spending.

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All right.

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Colonists argued that the actions depicted in the cartoon -

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right here - were unjust

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for which of the following reasons?

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And here are the potential answers.

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[ buzzing ]

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Okay, well, let's take a look at that cartoon again.

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We see the phrase "American swallowing the bitter drought,"

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and what looks like a British man pouring something

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from a tea kettle into another man's mouth.

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Well, then there's a reference to military law

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and the Boston Port Bill. Hmm.

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Well, so the actions in the question

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must have to do with the taxes

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and increasing tyranny colonists faced

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from the British in the years leading up to the Revolution.

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Well, let's keep all that in the back of our minds

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as we check out the answers.

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So did the colonists argue the actions in this cartoon

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were unjust because A -

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the colonies had few commercial ties with Great Britain?

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Hmm.

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Well, the date on the cartoon is 1771,

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and at that time, the American colonies and Great Britain

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had a thriving economic relationship.

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Well, sure, their political one was on the brink

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of collapse, so they traded on their trade

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to keep things going. So it's not A.

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Would colonists have protested the punitive measures

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because C - British merchants were unaffected by the taxes?

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Well, actually, all those taxes

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forced the Americans to start smuggling goods

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into the country. So the British merchants

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lost a good deal of money, as well.

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That eliminates C.

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But maybe the colonists were upset because

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they D - believed all taxes were unjust.

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Well, it might surprise you, but the colonists were

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quite comfortable with the idea of taxes.

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They knew they were necessary for government

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to properly function.

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So if it's not D, that means,

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yeah, the colonists were upset because B -

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they had no political voice in the British Parliament.

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Ah, yes, good old taxation without representation.

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The colonists were upset that they had no

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say in what kinds of economic policies

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were instituted in their country,

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which was a big reason they decided to revolt.

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And to make things worse, Great Britain was

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dead broke after the Seven Years War with France,

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so many colonists felt the taxes were only

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being collected in order to refill British

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coffers with American money.

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The correct answer is B.

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That's a whole bottle of bitter pills.

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[ pills rattle ]

Full Transcript