History 309

In a time when numerous countries were beginning to explore the new and exciting land of North America during the Age of Exploration, and groups of people from England and Spain were fleeing their home countries either for religious freedom or wealth, vast and civilized colonies began to form all throughout the New World. It is in this context that the colonies founded by the English and the Spanish began to develop and grow. There was a significant difference between the Spanish and New England colonies between 1492 and 1700 in terms of the treatment of indigenous people, and there were some immense similarities between the two colonies in terms of the role of religion in their society and the

Economically, the Crown did not provide as much assistance as needed to the colonists of the New World. Trade involved mainly countries other than England, because this way profits were maximized. England, once again, created its colonies for mercantilist reasons: profits and only profits. In reaction to these trade schemes, the Navigation Acts were enforced. Smuggling then grew extremely popular mainly because of price differences and simple convenience. Agriculturally, the main crops were indigo, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, and rice. Due to high demand, several workers were needed. Through the Triangular trade, raw materials went to England and the Northern Colonies, slaves came to the plantation-dominated areas of the colonies, and manufactured goods went to the West Indies. Molasses was turned into rum in New England and traded for more slaves as well.

Soon the Quartering Act was passed, directing the colonies to provide quarters for British soldiers. Americans found this oppressive because it meant that soldiers were placed in colonial homes. In 1764 Parliament passed the Stamp Act, putting a duty on most printed materials. This was a normal tax for the British as it had been going on in Britain for a long time, and it made sense that the rest of their empire would pay the same tax. This placed a burden on merchants and the colonial elite who did most legal transactions and read the newspapers. Also passed in the same year was the Declaratory Act, which stated that the colonies were subject to the will of Parliament. This made a lot of sense to the British, as Parliament was their ruling body, but, to the colonies who had become used to their own government during the years of salutory neglect, this was a direct threat to their way of life.

Compare the ways in which religion shaped the development of colonial society (to 1740) in TWO of the following regions: New England

Colonial America was a time of great change and discovery. The era was a time of conflict between people’s secular desires as innovation boomed and their spiritual growth as they discovered more about God and explored new religious ideas. In his essay, Worlds of Wonder in the Northern Colonies, David D. Hall accurately argues that despite the secular advances of the Colonial Era, religion was undoubtedly the most prevalent area of Americans’ focus because the power of God was being manifested into their lives in so many irrefutable ways.

Evaluate the extent to which the American colonies had developed a society different from that of the mother country by 1763.

(Devore, Lecture #3.) Even though most of the credit was issued from England, it allowed the colonists to buy more things and further strengthen and enhance the cohesiveness of the colonies. By this time the colonies had already well established external trade relationships with both the Indians and other countries. One of their major trade partners was the West Indies, where the colonists procured molasses from which they made rum. (Devore, Lecture #3.) All of these economic developments – consumerism amongst the colonies, Anglicizing of the colonies, the newfound availability and use of credit and the abundance of external trade – play a major role in the reasons that lead up to the American Revolution.

Beginning in 1764, Great Britain began passing acts to exert greater control over the American colonies. The Sugar Act was passed to increase duties on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. A Currency Act was also passed to ban the colonies from issuing paper bills or bills of credit because of the belief that the colonial currency had devalued the British money. Further, in order to continue to support the British soldiers left in America after the war, Great Britain passed the Quartering Act in 1765. This ordered colonists to house and feed British soldiers if there was not enough room for them in the colonist’s homes. An important piece of legislation that really upset the colonists was the Stamp Act passed in 1765. This required stamps to be purchased or included on many different items and documents such as playing cards, legal papers, newspapers, and more. This was the first direct tax that Britain had imposed on the colonists. Events began to escalate with passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These taxes were created to help colonial officials become independent of the colonists by providing them with a source of income. This act led to clashes between British troops and colonists, causing the infamous Boston Massacre. These unjust requests and increasing tensions all led up to the colonist’s declaration as well as the Revolutionary War.

The right of the Legislature of Great-Britain to impose taxes on her American Colonies, and the

“During the 150 years after the settlement of Jamestown, the colonies grew apart from the motherland”. – (Lecture). Colonies were beginning to support themselves economically and politically without British input. This of course meant they had and were exercising different economic and political views than England. Colonies that failed in the beginning were being restored. While Britain was dealing with issues in England, no new English colonies were established in America for nearly thirty years since Lord Baltimore received the charter for Maryland in 1632. – (Page 26) “The English colonies eventually united, expanded, and became the beginnings of a great nation”. – (Page 28). The colonies became independent minded and created their own governments, and operated separately from the crown. “The growing colonial ventures were producing pressure in England for a more uniform structure to the empire. The English government began trying to regulate colonial trade in the 1650s.” – (Page 32) England imposed the Navigation Acts. This didn’t go well because most colonial governments except Virginia operated independently of the crown. Additionally, although the Navigation Acts were passed - they were not enforced. While Parliament was crashing, “the colonial assemblies, taking advantage of the weak imperial administration, had asserted their own authority to levy taxes, make appropriations, approve appointments, and pass laws for their respective colonies.” – (Page 37). “The British took little notice. England pursued polices of Salutary neglect, leaving the colonist fairly free to conduct their own internal

In the chapter Kings, Parliament, and Inherited Rights, starts off with the quote about the revolution. The revolution was in the mind and the hearts of people, a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. The evolution of the revolution began was an argument over rights that changed into struggle for power of each party to assert their rights as it understood them, then afterward struggle for empire as Americans began to conceive a more ambitious and independent course for themselves. Americans believe that legally of all parliamentary statutes was measured against the constitution; on that basis, being unrepresented in Parliament, they denied the rights of the body to tax them directly according to the principles of constitutional law. A particular act focused on in the chapter is the Stamp Act, which imposed a stamp tax ranging from one shilling to six on various commercial and legal documents such as wills, mortgages, and college degrees, as well as on newspapers, almanacs, calendars, pamphlets, playing cards and dice. Also the Trade and Navigation Acts was a parliamentary revenue raised in America would make England governors and their appointees independent of local pressure and more faithful enforcing British statutes. These made the colonies more united. Colonies wanted to distance

Students will analyze 6 sources, identify main ideas and answer questions asking them to identify democratic and undemocratic aspects/features of colonial America and how American democracy was a work in progress in colonial times.

This includes the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was a direct tax to the colonies that required many printed documents to be on stamped papers produced in London and to be carrying a revenue stamp. This was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain. The colonists thought this was unfair. Another was the Sugar Act, it was passed on April 15, 1764, the reason for this Act was for the expenses it cost to protect them. Honestly, it was just to increase the revenue of the

These acts then led to the long string of others given out by King. In 1765, Parliament passed the Quartering Act, which required colonists to provide barracks and supplies to British soldier and also the Stamp Act that required stamps to be placed on paper products such as playing cards, pamphlets, almanacs, and newspapers. Unlike the acts before it, the Stamp Act was a direct tax on the colonies and made many believe "the passage of it was not merely an impolitic and unjust law that threatened the priceless right of the individual to retain possession of his property until he or his chosen representative voluntarily gave it up to another; it was to many, also, a danger signal indicating that a more general threat existed" [3]

Write a 750 word report on one of the following topics: nineteenth-century isolationism, the Spanish-American War, or the administration of Theodore Roosevelt. Use the library, Internet, and other research sources for your topic. You should think about the causes, consequences, and impact of the event or person upon American history. Use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation in your report.