The first reading was written by Benjamin Franklin. In this reading he explains the hardships of taxation on the early American people. He talks about how new taxes are being imposed by the government and how people are no able to pay them. Around halfway through he changes to a bit of a lighter mood when he begins to talk about procrastination. He talks about how instead of complaining about the new taxes people should work harder. He says how people shouldn’t put their work off, they should do it as soon as possible. He says with this attitude people will be able to get more done in the day, and thus make it easier to pay taxes. One quote that stood out to me was “Then plow deep while sluggards sleep, and you shall have corn to sell.” What Franklin means by this is work harder earlier and later in the day, accomplish more and then you will have more to sell.
The second article starts off by talking about the various laws and regulations that made it hard for the colonies. These new laws and regulations came after the Boston Tea Party. The laws imposed many taxes, fines, and debt onto the colonists. Examples of these hardships are the British wanting payment in pounds, not dollars, and the 1764 Currency Act. This act made it so the colonies can’t print paper money. Things only got worse after the Stamp Act was passed. Many riots across Boston broke out over the coming years. British Military Governor Gage would later try to take away the harmful acts but would fail. After this, opinions were split on both sides, and it was beginning to look like the only solution was war. The riding ends by saying in 1775 the revolutionary war would begin.
-Nick Mitterando
HS-310 Blog: Nick Mitterando 