bomb known as the Revolution ahead. One of the first Acts passed was the Stamp Act. .
The Stamp Act was the first direct tax levied on the colonists and even though this Act .
had been around since 1694, when it was introduced to the colonies it created much .
controversy and violence in the colonies, particularly among the most influential .
members of society. The Act enraged some members of the colonies and later the Stamp .
Act was lifted. This was not the end of the problem, when one year later the same .
situation arose and during a protest the British sent troops and three civilians were killed. .
This would come to be known as the "Boston Massacre".
In the years before the Revolution and after the French and Indian War, British .
economic policy toward the colonies was more burdensome than previously had been .
imposed. Americans responded by exerting their rights as British subjects, ultimately .
leading to armed rebellion, as their protests were unresolved. The British Parliament .
treated the American colonies with arrogant disrespect in the colonists" view. The British .
believed the colonies should serve the Empire without question. This strained .
relationship could only lead to conflict, but who would lead this Revolution? Samuel .
Adams was outraged by the incident in Boston and he felt that the British troops should .
have no right to station themselves in Boston. He brought fourth the Mutiny Act, which .
disallowed the troops to station in Boston, but the "British military authorities were .
determined to post them in the heart of town until the citizens had been thoroughly cured .
of their weakness for rioting"(Werner D. Kirk, The American Revolution. Pg.55). The .
defiance to the imperial government had been established, when Samuel Adams and .
other radicals established "committees of correspondence" in many of the colonies. The .
East India Company was given exclusive rights to sell it's tea directly to American .