Voices of freedom paper free essay sample

In chapter, five there are several points. However the biggest points are if the colonists should be independent from Britain, the colonists reaction to the laws and acts made by the British Empire, and the rights of the colonists. These points summarize the contents of chapter five of â€Å"Voices of Freedom† and â€Å"Give Me Liberty†. The articles in voices of freedom that are arguing the primary points the first article is the â€Å"Virginia Resolutions on the Stamp Act (1765)†. This article is about Virginia’s House of Burgesses making resolutions to defend their liberty they decided to approve four of these resolutions and rejected three. The next article is â€Å"New York Workingmen Demand a Voice in the Revolutionary Struggle (1770)†. This article is about how craftsmen have a right to speak there voice for public policy, as well as how ordinary men in new york city challenged how far the merchants should go for this resistance. We will write a custom essay sample on Voices of freedom paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The third article is â€Å"Association of the New York Sons of Liberty (1773)†. This article is about Britain taking advantage of the colonists’ rights and explaining to how their treatment is like slavery. The fourth article is â€Å"Farmington, Connecticut, Resolutions, on the Intolerable Acts (1774)†. This article is about the one thousand residents of Farmington, Connecticut response to the intolerable acts, as well as how liberty was the same cause as gods cause. The fifth article is â€Å"Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)†. This article is about what was wrong with monarchial rule and used colonists’ experiences as to why they should be independent to the British Empire. The last article is â€Å"James Chalmers, Plain Truth (1776)†. This article is about James Chalmers response to â€Å"Common Sense† and how the colonists would be better off staying loyal to the British, as well as how if they become independent then they will be taken over by another country and be slaves. This chapter is about the American Revolution and the argument about if the colonies should declare independence from the British Empire. There are several good points on both sides as to whether or not be independent from the British Empire. Are the British taking advantages of the rights of the colonist or what they are doing is fair and more beneficial for the colonist to just stay loyal to the British Empire. In Chalmer’s article, he describes how it is foolish to declare independence from Britain, as well as to declare independence is to be put into slavery. He states this when he writes, â€Å"We remember with unfeigned gratitude, the many benefits derived through our connections with Great Britain, by whom but yesterday we were emancipated from slavery and death (Chalmers 100)†. This shows Chalmers belief that even though the colonists were greatly benefitting from the connections with Great Britain they were still somehow enslaved by them. In Paine’s article, he is saying that the colonist should seek independence from Great Britain, as well as the reasons for this. He also is saying that there are some benefits to staying loyal but that Great Britain will take advantage of the colonists and their rights. Paine mentions this when he says, â€Å"we may as well assert that because a child has thrived upon milk, that it is to never have meat†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Paine 96). This is saying that like a child and parent that even though a child benefits from the parent the child should eventually move away from the parent and seek its own independence. This is the same for why the colonists should seek independence from its parent country Great Britain. The acts and laws passed by the British Empire caused several negative responses from the colonist. One of these negative responses to an act was the Boson Tea Party in response to the tea act that was passed. In Give Me Liberty the Foner writes, â€Å"a group of colonists disguised as Indians boarded three ships at anchor in Boston Harbor and threw more than 300 chests of tea into the water† (Foner 189). The intolerable acts caused one thousand residents in Farmington, Connecticut to make resolutions in response to these intolerable acts. One of these resolutions to the intolerable acts was â€Å" That the late Act which their malice hath caused to be passed in parliament, for blocking up the port of Boston, is unjust, illegal and oppressive; and that we and every American are sharers in the insults offered to the town of Boston†(Force 92). This is showing that the British blocking up Boston harbor is unfair illegal and oppressing the colonists and that by doing this Britain has not only insulted Boston but the all of America as well. The sons of liberty as well had a negative response to the laws and acts that were passed and thought of it as enslavement. The sons of liberty wrote this in their article, â€Å"to unite with their fellow citizens, to testify their abhorrence to the diabolical project of enslaving America† (Niles 87). This is saying that it is time to unite and state what they think of the laws and acts and stop to what they believe is enslavement by the British Empire. Not only that but as well a call to action for colonists who also believed this. These are some of the negatives responses to the acts and laws passed by the British Empire The rights of the colonists are mentioned all throughout the chapter. The British Empire passed several laws and acts to what they thought were only fair since they believed the colonies as a way to enrich the British Empire. Foner says this when he writes; â€Å"Britain reverted in the mid-1760s to seeing them as subordinates whose main role was to enrich the mother country† (Foner 179). This shows how the British viewed the colonists as well as why they thought that any law or act that they passed would be fine with the colonists since they were only thought of as a way to improve the British Empire. The British Empire also made it known to the colonists that they have the right to pass any tax on the colonists that they want. Which many colonists believed this was British Empire stamping on their rights and their liberty. Brutus says this when he writes, â€Å"Has not our Mother Country, by solemn Act of Legislation, declared that she has a right to impose internal Taxes on us? And is not such an imposition incompatible with our Liberty† (Brutus 86). This is describing how Brutus thinks of how Great Britain taxes are in itself going against the liberty of the colonists as well as how great Britain can place any tax that they please by there right no mater who’s rights it takes away. The House of Burgesses made resolutions in response to the stamp act because they wanted to do everything in their power to protect the liberty of the colonists. In this article the House of Burgesses shows this when it says, â€Å"to vest such power in any other person or persons whatever than the General Assembly aforesaid, is illegal, unconstitutional, and has a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American liberty† (Kennedy 84). This is saying that to give anyone such power is the bases for destroying both American and British liberties and should only be given to the General Assembly. Those are just some of the liberties that both sides said to have the right to. Chapter five has shown several points that are good for both sides. . These main points were if the colonists should achieve independence from their mother country Great Britain, the rights and liberties of the colonist and British Empire, and the colonists reaction to the laws and acts that were passed by Great Britain. As well chapter five has shown the primary point in the articles by Chalmers and Paine on weather to be independent from Britain, the reactions of the colonists from the sons of liberty and the one thousand residents of Farmington, Connecticut, and the rights and liberties of the colonists from Brutus and House of Burgesses. That is what chapter five of â€Å"Voices of Freedom† and â€Å"Give Me Liberty† is about.