In 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed and the Seven Years' War ended. Even though it was supposed to be a moment of celebration, in reality there were many problems hidden beneath the surface. During the Seven Years' War, Britain emerged victorious but was also buried in debts accumulated during the war. Sick and tired of the last war, Britain wanted to avoid future conflicts with the Indians and French and enacted the Royal Proclamation of 1763. While this may seem like a simple solution, it also increased the costs of administering the colonies. The new prime minister began to notice that American customs duties amounted to less than 1% of the estimated amount. To pay off its debts and increase tax revenues, Britain began imposing stricter laws and raising taxes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayAlthough it seemed reasonable for the Thirteen Colonies to contribute to and pay off their mother country's debts, the colonists' thoughts were different. During the Seven Years' War the colonists believed that Britain did not provide enough military support and left the colonists to fend for themselves during the war. However, Britain suddenly decided to enforce its own laws and taxes after the war, when the colonists were struggling with their debts. The English, however, thought differently on the issue because they had a greater tax burden. Although the American colonists had a low tax burden, their continued protest led to differing opinions on taxation. This puts the Americans and British on two separate paths that would lead to a future collision. In 1765, Great Britain was still trying to raise a sum to station an army in North America and so they decided to pass the Stamp Act. However, soon after the Stamp Act was passed, the American colonists reacted with violent protests. riots and the collectors were forced to resign. The colonists believed their actions were justified with the phrase “No taxation without representation.” They believed that their colonial assembly was similar to Parliament because they were represented and already had to pay taxes. But now the British government wants another tax added too? Furthermore, did they believe it was an unrepresentative tax? Of course they didn't want to and so they reacted ferociously. The British government, however, thought otherwise. They argued that the colonists could “enjoy” the luxurious choice of having representation, but other British subjects could not. Why should American colonists be treated differently from other British subjects? There are other British citizens who have no say in Parliament, but do not oppose the Stamp Act. Despite the British government's arguments, it later repealed the Stamp Act, but this only quelled the protests for a while. When the Townshend Act was passed, it was a little different than the Stamp Act. Before the Stamp Act was repealed, American colonists argued about how it was a “direct tax.” Therefore Britain believed that the American colonists could not argue when they would tax imported goods. Because surely imported goods are not a direct tax, right? Wrong, Americans believed that Britain had some right to tax the colonies and thought that taxation was an abuse of power. Subsequently the colonists decided to do something, they did not want to give in to the tax. And so many colonists boycotted the Townshend Act which led to a 50% decrease in goods imported from Britain. Once again, in 1770, Britain repealed.