How Did King George II Use To Tighten Britain's Control?

The British had undisputed control of the continent and had very strong thriving economies in the colonies. They also had very large war debts as a result of defending the colonies during the war. This led to the British conclusion for colonies to start paying more taxes in order to pay off these war debts and start making a profit for Britain. On the other hand, the colonies wanted things to stay the way they were. They saw the principle of foreign taxation as leading to a time when Britain would tax the colonies dry and make life there miserable. This led to the fight that eventually led to revolution and independence.

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.

To begin with, the French and Indian War created political changes between Britain and the colonies. After the war, Britain saw they needed to have a stronger relationship with the Native Americans in the colonies (Doc B). The Natives didn’t always have a stable relationship with the British during the war and Britain wanted to ensure the Natives would not become aggressive and attack them. The war and gaining of new land in North America, also showed England

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.

At the end of the war Britain had much more land and much more financial burden. The only way to get out of debt was to tax their citizens which angered the people causing an uprising. The British colonists had felt confidence in their ability to fight because of the experience they gained during the French and Indian War.

The Proclamation of 1763 stated that all lands west of the Appalachian Mountains were off-limits to the colonists. The purpose of the proclamation was mainly to stabilize relations with Native North Americans through regulation of trade, settlement, and land purchases on the western frontier. On March 1765, Parliament passed the Quartering Act which stated that each colonial family must provide the basic needs of soldiers stationed within its borders and to give the soldiers certain items included bedding, cooking utensils, beer or cider. This law was expanded in 1766 and required the assemblies to station soldiers in taverns and unoccupied houses. American Colonist had to use their time and money in order to keep the soldier happy. Also, during this time period, the colonies did not have enough physical paper money to conduct trade because currency could only be obtained through trade as regulated by Great Britain. On September 1, 1764, Parliament passed the Currency Act, which gave Britain the control of currency in America. The act prohibited the issue of any new bills and the reissue of existing currency. Parliament was not inclined to regulate the colonial bills but simply abolished them. The colonies were against this because they suffered a trade deficit with Great Britain to begin with and argued that the

England knew it would be very expensive if they sent troops from England across the Atlantic Ocean to help the colonies. So England made a deal with the settlers. If they helped them win the war, the new land that would be gained because of the war would be rewarded to them. After many casualties on both sides of the war, the settlers did help England defeat the French but England did not keep their promise. Instead England prohibited the colonials from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains. This really made the colonials angry because it made them feel like they lost loved ones in that war for no

It was not until 1764 when Britain started to interfere with the colonies. The colonies had some independence so they were not used to being told what to do. Because the British government had gone in debt fighting France, they decided that the colonies had to help pay for their own defense. To raise this money, parliament made a new law, sugar act. It required payment of a tariff on imported items such as molasses, sugar, coffee and certain wines. During this time, tariffs were used to regulate trade; however, the colonist felt this was just

The end of the French and Indian war in 1763, led to a large amount of conflict between the American colonists and the British Parliament.   The French and Indian war began in 1754 between Britain and France.  These two large countries were battling for land control in America.  

The colonies wanted to move westward into what was then French territory. When England won the war, the colonists were happy because now hey could move west. However, England drew a Proclamation Line

King George the Third was wary of having to spend more money on defending the colonies. England had just fought another war with France, defending the colonies against both the Indian population and the French. England did not want another war with the French by the exponentially growing American population. The American’s expansion had caused the French- Indian War in the first place. So to try to halt further conflict, he drew a line between the colonies and were British-born citizens could settle. The intervention in colonial affairs revoked the American’s claim to the right to govern lands to their west.

The French and Indian War set the stage for future events that no one could ever have imagined. The economic practice of mercantilism, which insured profit only to the mother country was the accepted practice between England and her colonies. As long as these economic policies were met, England left much of the day to day governing of the colonies up to the colonies. It was this "salutory neglect" that ultimately led to the ideological differences between England and the colonies. England won the war, but it paid a great price for that victory. England was bankrupted, and as a result had no choice but to look to her colonies to regain financial stability. The pressures of taxation and naval restrictions imposed by the crown and Parliament,

After having years of benign British neglect, and after capably governing themselves, the people in the American colonies were not pleased when the British Parliament decided after the end of the successful end of the French Indian War in 1763 to become more engaged in the American colonists’ affairs. The British government wanted to protect the American colonies from future Indian and other attacks.

The British had control of the thirteen colonies for many years prior to the French and Indian War. After the war Britain took sole possession of the thirteen colonies. The French and Indian War had put Britain in debt so they began taxing the colonists. Britain also began to enforce laws made by the King of England. This led to the phrase "no taxation without representation". The colonists had no other choices but to try and settle their differences with Britain or attempt to break away.

As many American businesses engaged in credit sales with Britain, they were crippled when several financial crises gripped London in the 1760’s and 1770’s. These forced Britain merchants to call in their debts. Unable to generate any liquid form of currency, American businesses were frequently ruined and the colonial economy damaged. Outraged by these new laws and the Quartering Act which required colonial citizens to house and feed British troops, the American colonies began to systematically boycott British goods.”(1)