7 Years War Salutary Neglect Essay

When the Second Constitutional Convention wrote the Constitution in 1787, there was a controversy between the federalists and the anti-federalists surrounding whether or not to have a Bill of Rights. The anti-federalists claimed that a bill of rights was needed that listed the guaranteed rights that the government could never take away from a person i.e. “inalienable rights.” A Bill of Rights was eventually deemed necessary, and has worked for over 210 years. There are many reasons why the ten amendments are still valid to this day, and the best examples are the First Amendment, concerning the freedom of religion, the Fifth Amendment, and the Sixth Amendment.

The Bill of Rights became a very important document in the United States Constitution in order to ensure United States citizens equal protection of their rights and liberties. The main objective of the Bill of rights was to place limits on the national government creating an understanding and dividing the powers between the states and the national government. Not all the powers were granted to the national government however not all the powers were prohibited to the states. As stated by Ginsberg, Lowi, Weir & Tolbert (2015) the bill of rights consists of 10 amendments incorporated in the U.S constitution. It is important to note that each amendment contains a legal court case in which the supreme court as well as the government have ruled and have ignored or have protected the rights of the individuals involved.

When the first ten amendments were added to the Constitution, they were planned to shield the public from the national government and not the states. States had their individual constitutions, and their laws only had to comply with their constitution. The founders of our country were very concerned about creating too powerful of a centralized government that might overstep on the given civil liberties of the public. As a protection of individual liberties, the Bill of Rights was formed. The Bill of Rights contains the first ten amendments of the Constitution and protect and preserve inalienable rights against abuse by the federal government.

After the American Revolution, Americans, who had just broken free from the British, completely changed their politics, economy and society. The Founders decided to change how they wanted to run their society, even though, in the end, they went back to a more powerful federal government like Britain. Most people’s daily lives didn’t change much but the principles from the revolution made some try to look for better financial opportunities. Women, slaves, and loyalists were changed a lot in society. Women had more freedoms, some of the slaves were set free, and many loyalists left America. America did not go through much economic change, but it did experience social and political change.

A quote from Thomas Jefferson said that "a bill of rights is what a people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse or rest on inference (Schweikart)." One would think that Jefferson was a wise man for saying this. His words were powerful. Many people felt this way and the American people did not want a corrupt government that was only for the rich. During the writing of the bill of right there were the Federalist and the anti-federalist the two were in disagreement of whether the ten amendments should be added. The Federalist felt as if the constitution was already completed and nothing should be added, although the anti federalist felt that the people’s rights should be set in stone, and some things needed to be added to the constitution to reassure the people. The anti Federalist wanted to change the wording of the United States Constitution. The Federalist disagreed and said that no one had the right to change the United States constitution and that the bills should be reviewed and added on to the constitution. “The House voted to accept the Bill of Rights on September 24, 1789, with the Senate concurring the following day. (Bingham)" The bill of rights was there to ensure that the people followed the rules and that the government could not invade their rights. “Apparently, the first 10 amendments officially became part of the Constitution with their ratification by Virginia in late

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However, the colonists were used to the policy of Salutary Neglect which meant that the colonists didn’t have to pay taxes to Britain. When Britain’s policies changed, it took the colonists by shock because there was no warning, and they believed that they had no right to be taxed. Britain’s reason for taxing the colonists was to make up for the debt they got into from defending them in the French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War). Not only did their tax policies change, but they also tried to control the colonist’s trading routes as well. Britain established acts such as the stamp act, sugar act, and tea act to overall get more money and resources from the

The Revolutionary War was very radical and revolutionary. In addition to this, it was the spark for change to come. The government was most affected and then there was social change and this overall changed the economy. In document #2 it explains how the government will depend on the opinions of people and not be inherited. This supports the people’s rights to speak out and have happiness through their choices. In document #1 it shows how people supported abolishing the old form of government. Socially, the classes (rich, middle, and poor) changed drastically. In documents #3 and #4 it shows how the different classes were more mixed after the revolution and how the classes evened out and different classes became the most common. For example, the moderate/middle class became more common than an extreme amount of people in the poor and wealthy classes.

The Revolution gave wealthy even more of an advantage and helped keep the lower class down. The founding fathers had decided to declare their independence

After all, wars are expensive. The amount of food and supplies needed for the soldiers, along with their salary, costs millions, if not more. To regain money, Britain began charging the colonists more; however, their reasoning extended past the war’s cost. The British leaders, like George Grenville and Charles Townshend, claimed that the laws needed to be enforced because the colonists were British subjects and needed to be protected and watched over. However, this mentality of imposing taxes overstepped the line of control, especially after the extended period of salutary neglect. The British started to tax the colonists in a way to show their dominance, not their support or love. After all, who did the Americans need protection from? In the Seven Years War, Americans proved their strength against the French by winning battles without Britain’s help, and the colonist had been dealing with the Indians since the beginning. The only explanation is control. Similarly, during the Qin dynasty in China, the emperor enforced heavy taxes to gain control over the merchants and landowners; however, the plan eventually fell through. With the same approach, Americans began to feel annoyed and uneasy with the

Since the British won the war, France ceded all of its North American land to the east of Mississippi River to Britain, while the Spanish give Florida to Britain in return for the Louisiana territory. This land gain was important to the long term impact of the British-Colonial relations because British had a complete control over North America, which allowed the British to tighten its control over its colonies. In addition, another major change was that British began to take away American colonies freedom and rights, leading to a growing anti British sentiment among the American colonists. For example, due to the British’s bankrupt after the war, British Parliament began to impose series of taxes (Sugar Acts of 1764,Stamp Acts of 1765 ...) aimed at the American colonists, creating a bigger tension in their relationship. Not only that, when colonists began to rebel, British Parliament started sending troops to America to enforce taxes on the Americans, escalating the idea of a

The definition of Salutary Neglect is an unofficial and long term 17th and 18th-century British policy of avoiding strict enforcement of parliamentary laws meant to keep American colonies obedient to England. This British policy of Salutary Neglect was never documented although Britain was strict about it. Salutary Neglect often is associated with laws regarding trade. It was effected during mainly the Navigational Acts and the Triangular Trade.

Low class and high class families lives differed. Despite what people believe, the American Revolution was not just a war fought for freedom, but also a war against the classes. From the beginning, America has been a class society. Your social status, house, job, living environment, etc. is based on your class. While high class families strived, low class families struggled to even get by.

The American population has been ruled by different documents over time. When a document did not work, the Americans moved on to a different one, such as the Articles of Confederation to the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights was added for the benefit of Americans, it was a good compromise between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, and that it is still relevant today.

The importance of the Bill of Rights was not universally agreed upon at the time of their suggestion (Amar, 1992). In fact, in the original Constitution the Bill of Rights was specifically rejected by the Constitutional committee. The general feeling among committee members was that the provisions of the Bill of Rights were unnecessary in that protections were already in place. Fortunately, there was a vocal group of critics who argued that the Constitution was incomplete without human rights guarantees and James Madison, the principal architect was persuaded to draft what eventually became the Bill of Rights. The adoption of these ten amendments were important to the common citizenry as they clarify the various natural rights recognized by the Government such as the right to petition the government, the right to free speech, freedom of religion and the right to assembly. Without these guarantees being set forth in written form many of the Founding Fathers felt that the government would have the tendency to violate the rights of the people and that the Bill of Rights was the best way to limit the power of the national government.