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British policies toward the colonies before the 1750s
British policies toward the colonies before the 1750s
18th century mercantilism = Britain and colonies
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Jeremy Silbert, This is not an attack, just my reply. You said: " The British government in the 1700s was not democratically elected. Within Britain, franchise was limited to the wealthiest. And colonials had no vote." ------ Seeing how England sent and financed and supplied countless colonists and colonies in the new world, it made perfect sense that England was accepted by many of the colonists without single vote as some form of a recognized government in the colonies. The fact that the colonists accepted anything at all from England is just the same as if they had voted for an English government, unless they though England was simply supplying everything they needed out of the goodness of their hearts. And we all know, even back then,
The British policies having to do with the American colonies that passed between 1763 and 1776 were an attempt by Britain to have the colonists pay for the French and Indian War and an attempt to keep the colonies subservient to British rule. However these policies backfired and cause the colonist’s to resist British authority and strengthened their commitment to republican values in government. The policies implemented new taxes in order to raise funds and caused what the colonists believed to be injustices to go unchecked by the government, as well as causing the colonists to turn to republican ways of self-governing. The colonists felt as if they were not being properly represented in the British parliament, which led to them turning towards
British presence in America became increasingly unwelcome during the 1700’s. The regime repeatedly became more authoritarian and deprived the colonists of their freedom. When the British made their way into Massachusetts in October of 1768, colonists were enraged. Years of major battles with France left England in need of money. The imperial government called for heavy taxes which were used only for the benefit of Great Britain itself. These taxes included housing British soldiers ("British Reforms and Colonial Resistance, 1767-1772 - American Memory Timeline- Classroom Presentation | Teacher Resources - Library of Congress"). There was absolutely no Democracy at the time. Regulars would abuse their power to intimidate and control the wrath of the colonists.
New England should have respected the mother country more. Great Britain did not do anything threatening to justify colonist to war. Colonist might have not understood how Great Britain was working at the time. Charles Inglis a minister wrote, “So far, Britain has not exerted her power. Her number of troops and ships of war here at present, is very little more that she judged to be necessary in time of peace.” This gives some evidence of how Britain did not have many protection, because it was no necessary, or so they thought. Colonists had no justification to go to war the mother country was not doing anything to provoke
The colonies weren’t close to accepting the attitude and policies that Great Britain was throwing at them. They felt that they too were Englishmen and should have all the rights any Englishman would have.
Most of the first settlers in America came from England and considered themselves to be Englishmen. At first they relied on their mother country for money, supplies and protection. As the colony became larger and more populous, people gradually started feeling as if they were a separate nation. By the eve of the Revolution the patriotism has built up to such an extent, that the colonists believed America was self-sufficient enough to exist as independent unit from England.
The New England colonies developed a close-knit homogeneous society and a thriving mixed economy of agriculture and commerce. They developed this by creating a group called the New England Confederation. This focused on the protection of the people in the colony in the event of enemies trying to attack them. On page 49, it says “The primary purpose of the confederation was defense against foes or potential foes, notably the Indians, the French, and the Dutch.” They created this as a safety net for the New England colonies. Every part of the New England colonies had two votes, it didn’t matter on the size of the colonies. The ran it as their own because the king of the time didn’t care much for the colonies.
By the time the colonists had settled into their new land they had established some order such as small governments to keep the colonies in line. The ocean separating England and the colonies made it difficult though for England to guide the colonists successfully the way they had wanted. The main thing the British tried was implementing taxes, but they also went so far as letting the colonies on their own for awhile and using military to keep them in place. On the other hand, the colonists saw that the British were stalling their attempts at self-governing so they worked together to disregard any British policies. By the eve of the Revolution, colonists had developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans that was brought about by the British parliament. Exasperated by British efforts to hinder their growing self-reliance, colonists began pushing them away by doing various things such as rioting, boycotting, or voicing their opinions on paper.
New England Confederation was also a good foundation for America’s democratic government. Each colony, no matter the size, got two votes, similarly to America now. The New England Confederation also voted for themselves, and not for the King or Old England. These four colonies voted together, and to better the colonies in the New World - England’s at the time Civil
Between 1607 and 1733, Great Britain established thirteen colonies in the New World along the land’s eastern coast. England’s colonies included Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Though the colonies were classified as New England, middle or southern colonies, the colonists developed a unifying culture. With this new American culture, the colonists throughout the colonies began to think differently than their English cousins. Because colonial America displayed characteristics of a democratic society and, therefore, deviated from England’s monarchic ways, it was established as a democratic society.
The origin of England's dependence on the colonies began during the French and Indian war, in the 1750s-1760s. In this war, the British were quite inexperienced; their European style of fighting did not work against the guerilla-warfare fighting style of the French. The British wore bright red coats, marched in long lines, often lugging cannons around with them, while the French hid behind trees and picked them off one by one. General Braddock relied on his force of ill-disciplined American militiamen, who used behind-the-tree methods of fighting in order to fight the Indians. After many years of fighting, the British finally came out victorious. Although England emerged from this war as one of the biggest empires in the world, it also possessed the biggest debt. They had poured much money and resources into these colonies in order to keep them as their own, and it was time for the colonies to give something back to the British for protecting them from the Indians. They finally realized what a precious gift the colonies were, and how useful they would be. In this war, the British realized that the colonies were their pawns in a global game of chess. At any time, the British felt that they had the right to impose taxes on the colonies, in order to make up for money that was lost in the French and Indian War to defend them. They had the view that because they had done so much to help the colonies, that the colonies had to repay them.
When examining the bloody and often tumultuous history of Great Britain prior to their ascent to power, one would not have predicted that they would become the global leader of the 18th century. Prior to the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years War, the Spanish and the Holy Roman Empire held much of the power in Europe. Only with the suppression of Catholicism and the development of national sovereignty did Great Britain have the opportunity to rise through the ranks. While much of continental Europe was seeking to strengthen their absolute monarchies and centralized style of governing, in the 17th and 18th centuries Great Britain was making significant political changes that reflected the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment. The first of the political philosophers was Thomas Hobbes who first introduced the idea that the monarch ruled not by “divine right” but through the consent of the people. This was a radical idea with ramifications that are reflected in the great changed Great Britain made to to their government in the 17th century. Through a series of two violent civil wars between the monarchy and Parliament and the bloodless civil war known as the Glorious Revolution, Parliament was granted the authority to, in essence, “check” the power of the monarchy. The internal shifts of power in Great Britain and the savvy foreign policy skills demonstrated by the British in much of the conflict happening in continental Europe can be credited with England’s rise to power.
As it states in Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence “The new government will reserve the right to levy war, make peace, make alliances with foreign nations, conduct trade, and do anything else that nations do.” With that being said, that means that the colonists had to come up with their own government. That all so gave them the right to reach out to other’s for trade of goods and anything else that they may need help with, but not having to answer to Britain. There are many ways that both of these are still in effect today.
When one explains his or her ingenious yet, enterprising interpretation, one views the nature of history from a single standpoint: motivation. In The American Revolution: A History, Gordon Wood, the author, explains the complexities and motivations of the people who partook in the American Revolution, and he shows the significance of numerous themes, that emerge during the American Revolution, such as democracy, discontent, tyranny, and independence. Wood’s interpretation, throughout his literary work, shows that the true nature of the American Revolution leads to the development of United State’s current government: a federal republic. Wood, the author, views the treatment of the American Revolution in the early twentieth century as scholastic yet, innovative and views the American Revolution’s true nature as
...erall, Great Britain wanted to rule colonies to benefit themselves and only concerned for their own welfare and not that of the American people.
It is well known that the British political system is one of the oldest political systems in the world. Obviously, it was formed within the time. The United Kingdom of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the constitutional monarchy, providing stability, continuity and national focus. The monarch is the head of state, but only Parliament has the right to create and undertake the legislation. The basis of the United Kingdom’s political system is a parliamentary democracy. Therefore, people think the role of the Queen as worthless and mainly unnecessarily demanding for funding, but is it like that?