Reasons Behind Signing the Declaration of Independence

Based on England’s salutary neglect toward the colonies, their policy of mercantilism, and the fact that no colonists were represented in Parliament, I would have signed the Declaration of Independence. England’s policy of salutary neglect allowed the colonies to more-or-less rule themselves. This ability was demonstrated by town meetings in New England as early as 1620, where New Englanders met in meetinghouses to discuss local problems and vote for officials and schoolmasters. By the 1770s, councils such as local committees of correspondence and the Virginia House of Burgesses began to appear throughout the colonies. Colonial governments did not have full political autonomy, however, they were allowed to govern themselves with minimal

The colonies would grow and produce products that were needed in England, and in turn would buy manufactured goods made in England. Some producers were granted bounties, tobacco planters had a guaranteed monopoly of the British market, and the colonists enjoyed the rights of Englishmen and were protected by England, one of the strongest and most powerful countries in the world. (Merits and Menaces of Mercantilism) However, despite all these benefits, the mercantile system was an enormous burden on the colonies. Many traders and manufacturers became indebted to England, because they traded primarily on credit. Virginia tobacco planters received the worst end of it because overproduction caused prices to fall, causing many planters to plummet into debt. Trade among other countries was heavily regulated; in certain cases it was even prohibited. In 1651, Parliament passed the Navigation Acts, which required British crews to run the now British-made ships and created a long list of “enumerated goods” that had to be shipped to England before going anywhere else. (faculty.polytechnic.org) For a while these laws were laxly enforced and colonial traders continued to smuggle goods to avoid paying heavy taxes. Prime Minister George Grenville ordered strict enforcement of the Navigation Acts in 1763, and British officials began to crack down on smugglers. It then became even harder for American traders to buy, sell, and manufacture their goods without British intrusion. The colonists felt as if they were being kept in a “state of perpetual adolescence” because the trade was so heavily controlled. (Merits and Menaces of Mercantilism) These exasperating laws caused a great deal of tension between Britain and the colonies, tension that would evolve into the revolutionary war. This tension and frustration, I believe, would have prompted me to sign the Declaration of