Well, when you refer to "colonists" you mean those who in fact resented the Crown's actions? There were loyalists for the duration of the entire conflict.
For example, the Puritans in Massachusetts certainly unhappy (resentful?) when the Crown put an end to the actions undertaken by the Massachusetts government and the Puritan ministers to subjugate, persecute, outlaw, and harass those who were not Puritans. I don't think, though, that the rebellion traces its roots quite to that point. It's a bit early and the Massachusetts Puritans, who were not whole hearted supporters of the actions of their brethren in England, would not have been inclined to take the same road only a few years after the Restoration. Ironically, the complaints about taxation do seem to begin with the minority denominations who were taxed in certain colonies to support the expenses of the dominant denomination. That anti-taxation sentiment then morphed from an intracolonial debate into a conflict between the colony's majority and the Crown. Some of the materials on the development of the First Amendment focus on this particular taxation question, taking it from its beginnings through the end of the 18th century. You may find some useful things in that literature, and surely citation to items that have more of a cultural rather than legal or political bent. Fun stuff. Jim Maule Professor of Law, Villanova University School of Law Villanova PA 19085 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://vls.law.vill.edu/prof/maule President, TaxJEM Inc (computer assisted tax law instruction) (www.taxjem.com) Publisher, JEMBook Publishing Co. (www.jembook.com) Owner/Developer, TaxCruncherPro (www.taxcruncherpro.com) Maule Family Archivist & Genealogist (www.maulefamily.com) >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 08/08/03 11:45AM >>> Can anyone suggest scholarship describing the beginning of the King's tyranny over the American colonies? (Alternatively, when did the colonists begin to resent English rule? Was it a discrete event--such as the Stamp Act--or, what seems much more likely, did it develop slowly? If so, when did this process begin? I'm interested more in cultural history than political history, but I'll take whatever I can get.) More importantly, when did the colonists acquire (develop, create) the idea of a centralized government? Off-list replies are fine. Thanks in advance. Bobby Lipkin Widener University School of Law Delaware
