help! HISTORY HOME WORK! HELP HELP HELP!!!!!?

Question

My teacher gave us an essay topic to write about but I dont know what it means and what im supposed to answer! the question is:

to what extent was the demand for no taxation without representation both the primary force motivating the revolution and a symbol for democracy?

Answer 1

First, ignore all those who say you should do it yourself and not seek help. Sometimes people need help and I am glad you are seeking it, especially in this forum since this I think was the general purpose for Yahoo! answers.

Now, break the question down into its components to figure out what your teacher is asking. The first part is 'to what extent was the demand for no taxation without representation a motivating factor of the revolution.' This basically is asking how much influence (or role) did the philosophy 'no taxation without representation' have on motivating the colonists to revolt against the King of England. Then you need to support your argument. So look at the events occurring in the colonies leading up to the Revolution, such as the Boston Tea Party, to support your statements.

The second part is asking 'to what extent was the demand for no taxation without representation' a symbol for democracy.' Basically, how does 'no taxation without representation' symbolize democracy, and provide a supporting argument.

Make sure you answer both parts as I am sure your teacher will be looking for a complete answer that answers both parts.

I hope that helps.

Answer 2

As horrible as this sounds, there is two answers to this question: a high school answer, and a real answer. I would suggest the former is the one you go for. The simpliest way to create this is to just make a list of all the reasons you've been told that the American revolt against the British Crown started and when you're done, pick out which ones had to do with money and were arbitrarily applied to the American colonists by either parliament or the Crown and draw the pattern between them. Then follow this up by making a list of all the institutions that the Americans created to eliminate these problems from ocurring again and show the similar pattern between them. Basically what you need to do is get down all the facts you've learned about and then show you can draw a line between them. Don't worry about suggestions about discussing the true meaning of democracy or whether the 1791 institutions of the republic truly represented the people. These are all concepts that a university student would talk about and way out of anything you should be talking about.

Show that you know your facts and that you can see "no taxation without representation" in as many of these facts as you can and you will do allright.

Answer 3

Since what your teacher wants you to do is to fully understand the subject you are studying, here are some other questions for you. To put your teacher's question differently, why, from reading your history text on early American history, did the majority of people, over here, revolt to the extent of causing a revolution? The "no taxation without representation" was a huge force in motivating the revolution. Why did a group of people hack open a bunch of crates in the Boston port and dump a shipment tea, from England, into the Boston harbor? What do you think "representation" means? Did the early settlers in America have "representation"...in Parliament?

A symbol of democracy. What is the definition of a 'democracy?' Don't get this confused with 'republic,' since that is the kind of government that was established after the revolution...and what is continued today.

Answer 4

Try re-working the question to "Was the demand for no taxation without representation the primary force motivating the revolution?" and answer that with supporting evidence. Forget all about the symbol for democracy crap, since that wasn't an issue either then or later.

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

It means, what does "no taxation without representation" mean, how big was the demand for it ["no taxation without representation"], how did it influence the American revolution and how is it a symbol for democracy? That's a pretty simple translation, I'm sure it will be easy to find these answers in your textbook. This is a good question but please finish your homework and answer the essay by yourself, you'll feel like you know something in the end if you do.

Answer 6

no taxation without representation was only a minor reason because the majority of people in the usa were not given a vote anyway so it meant very little to them,it was the rich that would gain the most,with slavery only being defeated in parliament by a few votes it was only a matter of time before it was banned which affected the rich,also the british planned to give back land to the native americans that was stolen from them by the rich land owners ,the rich themselves were the instigators of the whole thing as the man in the street was not interested so they demonized king george for their benefit only,and it was the poor who had to do most of the fighting while the rich sat back and waited ,there is a lot about the revolution that you wont read in any american history books ,the simple answer is the power and greed of the rich was the major reason

Answer 7

it means that you have to explain the conflict between the american colonists and the british government...the british government came up with an idea that colonists should pay some taxes so that the british could recover their economy from the seven-year wars with france....the colonists refused to pay the taxes, and asked the king not to place taxes in america without asking them fist (that's taxation without representation)...the king was offended by the colonist's disobedience and sent an army to take care of them...the colonists resisted and that's how the revolution started....
well, that's too short and superficial for your assignment, you need to explore it and write about how did this rebellion became revolution and the symbol for democracy...in other words how big it was...
good luck!

Answer 8

it's basically along the lines of how did the demand of no taxation lead to the revolution and the public wanting democracy. you have to write about this and how much did the no taxation influence this to happen.

Answer 9

History Repeats Is Bound To Repeat Itself-because no one listens the first time. Ask your parents if they think the present system of taxation is fair. There's the foundation of your essay.

Answer 10

Uh, IF you are in a grade where you are being asked this question and do not even know what it means I would venture to say that YOUR school system has a whole array of SERIOUS issues...

Our entire way of life in the US(where I assume you live) was brought about because the King of England was taxing the people of the colonies(that would be us)for things like tea,(The Boston Tea Party)etc. The people of the Colonies revolted(the American Revolution) and in the course of time yadayadayada...blah blah blah...