How Did The British Gain Control Over Colonial America

After the fall of Puritan rule in Massachusetts, Great Britain regained control over Massachusetts and expanded throughout North America, making it one of the greatest empires in the world. In order to maintain their power in the colonies they enacted rules and regulations regarding traded goods. However, most colonists resorted to smuggling and boycotting items. It was not until the French and Indian War did England begin to strictly enforce these restrictions due to a large war debt. The Sugar Act was one the first acts that had started a domino effect which led to the American Revolution.

Britain’s colonies in North America went from a society with slaves to a slave society. Owning slaves became a key part of everyday life for many plantation owners by the end of the period. Throughout the period, the focus shifted from indentured servitude to slavery because slaves proved to be more profitable. Slavery in the colonies stayed so popular because it was based on racial, social, and economic values. It changed the way that plantation owners did things, and they wanted to keep their own profits

As the French and Indian War ended, it left the British’s main focus to being the colonies. Controlling the colonies, ruling over the colonies, and taxing the colonies. Little did they know that the colonies had plans of

As generations grew up in America, nationalism within the colonies grew towards their new country. These settlers slowly lost their patriotic tie to Great Britain and it’s ruler, King George III. So when the French and Indian War ended in America, and the indebted England needed some compensation from American settlers in the form of taxes, the colonists questioned the authority of England and their ability to rule them. British imperial policies such as the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Townshend Tea Tax caused uproar within the colonies against British rule without

Great Britain felt the need to deploy more troops to the US after French war. In doing so this brought the British into financial strain. With a number of huge debts to pay the Crown and Parliament focused its attention to the American colonies in seeking financial gain. Great Britain’s Crown and Parliament forced upon the American colonies laws in the form of Acts that benefited its own countries identity and not that of the American people. The American colonists were justified in declaring their independence from Great Britain mainly due in part from many acts unjustly instilled upon them such as the Sugar Act of 1764, Stamp Act of 1765, and the Townshend Acts of 1767.

The Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Act, and the Tea Act all made life in the colonies difficult. They were subjected to British control and were supposed to act like royal subjects. The colonists took it upon themselves to fight for their individual rights and get these taxes repealed by the British Parliament. This led to growing tensions between the British and the colonies. A tension which would soon erupt and cause a war that would allow for the colonies to gain their independence and become a great and powerful nation known as the United States of

During the years previous to the American Revolution, Great Britain increasingly asserted its dominance over the colonies. This assertive behavior caused tension between the colonies and Great Britain. Therefore, colonies debated the pros and cons of going to war with Great Britain in order to declare their independence. Increased British control led to revolution by the acts Great Britain forced upon colonists, colonists lack of representation, and Great Britain’s reaction to protests held by the colonists. Great Britain’s increased control led to the Revolution by the acts they forced upon colonists.

The British drafted acts such as the Stamp and Townshend Acts, which placed taxes on legal documents, supplies, glass paper and lead, the Quartering Act, which forced colonists to house and feed British soldiers; in addition, the British took the opportunity to raise taxes on sugar since the tariffs on that product had just been lowered by making the Sugar Act. Not only would the British take as much money as they could away from the British in taxes, but they would also ruin business for the colonists by drafting the Navigation Laws: this limited colonial trade and forced foreign ships to pay England a fee when headed to the colonies; since merchants didn’t want to pay the fee, the colonists lost many of their important

Britain created a lot of policies to keep the colonies under their rule. They also had these policies in place because it benefited their own economy. American colonies would give Britain supplies, and they would use these supplies to manufacture for a profit. The Navigation Acts were created so that trade would be more regulated.

“The Quartering Act forced colonists to provide British troops with living quarters, food, and supplies” (Doc G). Even though the colonists didn’t want more British troops living in the colonies in the colonies, they still had to use their own money to provide thing the soldiers needed. “The law stated that the colonies could not move westward over the Appalachian Mountains. Those settlers who were already living there were to return to the east” (Doc A). When the British defeated the French in the French and Indian war, they won all of France's land in America. But, the British would not let the colonists live passed the line they called, The Proclamation of 1763, because they thought it would help the colonists by preventing conflicts with the Native Americans, and the British would not have to station more British troops in the colonies. These Acts placed on the colonies, just created more and more tension and anger between the colonies and

Everyone traded so that they could get all of the essential goods that they needed to survive.

After the seven years war, Britain became the owner of the vastly wide open North America. The need to garrison over ten thousand troops among the colonies became a burden with all the financial costs. Britain began to tighten its control over the colonists over everything. Under the theory of mercantilism, Britain told the colonists they would furnish the products they made to the mother country and not export to other countries; resulting in limiting the colonists growth in their goal in self-sufficiency and government. Britain began to pass law after to law to force their hand even more against the colonists; which led to protests, animosity, and intense violence. The colonists had more than enough of Britain's control over their hard-fought liberties they earned from the previous seven years war and a revolutionary ensued. During the revolutionary war, there were many factors that led to the colonists winning and Britain losing.

In response to it, the British Parliament passed the repressive Coercive Acts, known in the colonies as the "Intolerable Acts." The Coercive Acts gave the British governmental, judicial, and military authority over the colonies. The acts that were passed and repealed had an ultimately great effect on the colonies, and the future of the soon to be “United States of America”. The colonists determination in seeking their natural rights and freedoms are inspirational and moving.

The British rule in the colonies was largely unquestioned before these major rebellions because of the enormous military and political power Britain had to quell any defiance. However, the British did underestimate the mounting tension in the colonies that resulted from the harsh treatment of slaves and inadequate government policies protecting Virginian farmers. As seen in both Bacon’s Rebellion and the Stono

It was easy for the colonists to work around the law, but England did nothing to stop it because trade deals were still happening, and everyone was still making money. This caused Americans to think of their government as equally as powerful as the British bureaucracy. England lost major control over the colonies during the Tradition of Neglect, but they didn’t do anything to stop it. Even though the colonies still considered themselves a part of the British Empire, people understood that they could lead themselves.