Development of Colonies

He used various means to archive his goals and through his efforts Jamestown pulled through. After a period called the “Starving Time,” (America: A Narrative History, 60), where most of the colonist died, a man named John Rolfe provided a way for the colony to survive. He was able to acquire tobacco seeds from the Spanish and with it he made the colony a source of trade (America: A Narrative History, 61). Tobacco and other grown good where used to improve the lives of the colonies, but their daily lives were still very harsh as they were

The most notable of these, the French and Indian War (or the Seven Years’ War), had immediate effects on the relationship between the colonies and Great Britain, leading to the concept of no taxation without representation becoming the motivating force for the American revolutionary movement and a great symbol for democracy amongst the colonies, as Britain tried to tighten their hold on the colonies through various acts and measures. After the French and Indian War, the British were unimpressed with the colonial war efforts and generally assumed they were unable to defend the western frontier, whereas the colonists thought they had done well in all of the wars and were confident that they could defend themselves. This led to conflict between the two nations, brought on by the costs of the wars. Landowners in Britain wanted to reduce the taxes placed upon them. King George III and the Whigs supported a colonial policy that would abandon salutary neglect and force the colonies to support the cost of the British empire.

However the King and British parliament weren’t always happy when they heard of these petitions. Even the Declaration of Independence was written due to King George not comprehending with the previous colonial petitions to declare independence. Each of the thirteen colonies had their own charter between either the king and joint-stock company or the king and proprietor (Burk, 92). Colonists had made it clear that their colonies were not a “part of the realm of England” but in fact a rather “separate and distinct dominions” (Burk, 92). By emigrating here to the new country colonists believed they had the right to enjoy all liberties and immunities of free and natural subjects (Burk, 92).

Its purpose was to manage the colonies and plantations around America and other locations (Reich, 2011, p. 104). Furthermore once this was established colonies became more decentralized and began to govern themselves, slowly becoming Americanized, setting the stage for revolution. Many of the factors that set the stage for revolution took years of developing, the time it took and generations of work that eventually manifested in the American Revolution (Reich, 2011, p. 264), (Brinkley, 2010, p. 100). The factors that lead down the road to revolution and a national identity are religion, separate unregulated freedom to worship (Reich, 2011, p. 265). Also, the proclamation of 1763, that regulated where colonist could not migrate and expand past the Appalachian mountains within the land where they could etch out a living (Reich, 2011, p. 265).

The Stamp Act upset the colonist... ... middle of paper ... ...ited through their local governments though, because they wanted to stay colonies to Britain they still had no future plans for independence, the people believed that they would be able to either get representation in parliament or that the taxes on colonists would end. The parliamentary taxes were primarily the main reason for colonial rebellion; the colonies if being taxed very simply wanted representation in parliament. The British military measures and restriction of civil liberties are next because they are really tied together. Without one there could not be the other, and then last comes the legacy of colonial religion and political ideas. The sudden end to salutary neglect would impact the colonists in ways that the British could not have imagined, and would eventually be a main cause for the American Revolution, and forming of a new independent nation.

With the continued efforts of complete control by the British, the colonists became livid and developed a better sense of their identity as Americans; they knew what had to be done! One such thing that American colonists united themselves upon was the misrepresentation across the Atlantic. British Parliament consisted of many members from many areas, but not one of those members was able to convey the message from the colonies because there were no such representatives. Many members of Parliament, such as Edmund Burke, led the rest of Britain and Parliament to believe that the colonists were simply tenants in their land and were to abide by the laws of the British constitution. [Doc B] This mere thought unified the colonists and presented a situation that they could not take their eyes off of.

Although Thomas Jefferson wrote the document, it expressed the desire of the heart of each colonist to be free of British rule. British rule over the colonies became unbearable in the early months of 1776, making it clear to the colonists that it was time to either give in to British power or declare their independence. This idea of independence divided the colonies, but it was not long before a revolutionary committee met in Philadelphia and drew up the document that would change American history. The Declaration of Independence was written to separate the American colonies from Britain, but there were many underlying goals. It was written to state the grievances that the colonists held against the British, particularly the king.

Prior to the Revolutionary War, during the 1760s, the contradicting opinions among the colonists living in England’s thirteen colonies separated them into two major groups, those loyal to the king and to Great Britain and those patriotic to colonial America. While the loyalists were content to be English subjects and wanted to remain under the protection of England, the patriots felt that it was essential that the colonies obtain their liberty from England. Some colonists were strongly opinionated, while others were undecided. However, a series of events, including the Proclamation of 1763, the Stamp Acts, the Townshend Duties, the Quartering Acts, the Boston Massacre, and the Intolerable Acts, caused the majority of colonists to desire more from England. Their motherland’s king, government and citizens conversely thought and felt that the colonists had taken advantage for a time period that was longer than necessary.

Because of this, the region almost died out because there was no natural population growth. It was not till John Rolfe introduced tobacco that the Chesapeake region began to generate wealth. The rapid growth of tobacco required heavy labor so to encourage cultivation of tobacco; the head right system began which also contributed to a large population growth in the region. Because tobacco plantations created such wealth they became the key economic product. Despite the profits from tobacco, The Chesapeake was still a terrible place to live with a high death rate from diseases and attacks from Powhaten Indians.

By the late-17th century, indentured servants opportunities diminished as the cost of migration and threat of a population plagued with excess laborers grew more apparent. The overpopulation of indentured servants fostered a hostile and rebellious environment of poor white laborers in the southern colonies. As a result, southerners looked towards slavery as an alternative to labor. Many slaves were brought via the Triangular Trade, crossing the transatlantic trading route because of their specialized skills in crop cultivation. The southern colonies were blessed with many waterways and fertile soil that allowed facilitated methods of crop transportation.