"Our colonies must be the world's biggest beggars if they see such minor duties as intolerable burdens." — "Pacificus," Maryland Gazette, March 20, 1766Using the excerpt, answer the question.This excerpt is from an English citizen reacting to colonial objections to the Stamp Act. Which central argument of the American colonists against the Stamp Act does the writer fail to understand? A. The taxes heavily restricted trade, making it challenging for colonists to earn enough to live, much less pay the taxes. B. It's not just the tax's size that's at issue, but the principle of repaying the British for a war they didn'C. The problem isn't the tax amount but the fact that the colonists had no say in creating the tax. D. The tax may appear negligible to those in England, but for American colonists, it represents a significant financial burden.
Social Studies · Middle School · Mon Jan 18 2021
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C. The problem isn't the tax amount but the fact that the colonists had no say in creating the tax.
The excerpt provided reflects ignorance about the core objection that the American colonists held towards the Stamp Act — the lack of representation in Parliament when the tax was levied. The colonists coined the phrase "no taxation without representation" to express their belief that they should not be taxed by the British Parliament, where they had no elected representatives. They felt it was unjust to be taxed by a body in which they had no voice. The writer, "Pacificus," does not seem to acknowledge this fundamental grievance and instead reduces the colonists' protest to a mere inability to bear the taxes.