Salutary Neglect In America

Right before the Stamp Act, the Indian Chief Pontiac attacked the colonist trying to drive them from the land for the last time. The rebellion resulted in Britain passing the Proclamation of 1763 after realizing they did not have the means to protect the vast amount of land they had acquired. The Proclamation stated that no one could settle past the Appalachian Mountains. This law angered the colonist because they believed that the land was rightfully theirs.

The problem with the Plan was that the leadership community of the American colonies was more conservative and it was a small government, as well as the fact that the British were not ready to give up such control during a time of war to their own colonists. The British began to tighten their grip on the American colonists with the Proclamation of 1763 and the increase in troops that were present in the colonies. The Proclamation of 1763 dealt with the “Indian” problem, essentially ignoring the native people and restricting colonial ventures to all territory east of the Appalachian Mountains.

Before 1750, the undocumented British policy of salutary neglect greatly impacted the methods through which American colonists regulated their daily lives. Through mercantilist thought processes, Britain created the colonies merely for gain of the mother terrain itself. Therefore, it did not give them any specific attention and allowed them to simply rule itself by personal means—and this idea makes up salutary neglect. The colonies used their own assemblies, such as the House of Burgesses, to govern themselves.

The British had sent more than 10,000 troops to North America by the end of the French and Indian War. The British felt like they had spent a great deal of money in protecting the American colonists. They were in debt around 140 million pounds. To pay off all of their debt the British decided to increase the enforcement of existing taxes on the Colonists and impose additional taxes. The British issued The Proclamation of 1763 which meant the colonists couldn’t cheat the Indians out of land. They also establish a border in where they could not buy land. This made the colonist mad because it made them feel like the British were interfering and trying to limit their economic growth.

This made the colonists get very angry that they had to take care of more people that they didn't even know! This was madness. The proclamation line came into play in 1763 right after the French and Indian War ended. The British had to repay the Native Americans who helped them during the war. So, the Proclamation of 1763 gave the land between the Mississippi River and the Appalachian Mountains to the Native Americans that helped the English during the war (doc 5). The Proclamation Line was the western border of the English colonies. Unfortunately, some colonists already lived past the proclamation line and the colonists didn't want to go back to the squished colonies. Also, the border was so long that it was very hard for the English to enforce. That's why Great Britain passed the quartering act. This made the colonists feel like they were being spied on by the British.

This enraged the colonist and made them rethink their political views. The Proclamation of 1763 also had a significant effect on the attitudes of the colonials towards the British. After the war and the Treaty of Paris, the Proclamation of 1763 was one of the first documents issued to govern the colonies. This proclamation simply stated that no further settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains would be allowed. The colonists looked at the proclamation as putting an off limits sign on the Ohio River Valley which the whole war had started over. The Proclamation was actually misinterpreted by the colonist and Britain’s failure to clearly identify its intentions began the chain of events that led to the American Revolution. Each political step taken by the British after the French and Indian War drew Americans closer and closer to revolution.

The biggest reason that colonists were becoming disgruntled with their mother country, Britain, was Britain’s heavy debts that Britain had accumulated while fighting wars with France which needed to be alleviated. As with all governments, Britain had to tax its people to procure the funds needed to pay these debts. Britain saw their colonies as thousands of British citizens that they had not taxed satisfactorily. After realizing this, Britain imposed several new taxes on goods imported and exported to and from the colonies. The colonists were livid over the new taxes. After all, Britain had practiced salutary neglect for almost 100 years. Salutary neglect is the practice of leaving one’s foreign acquisitions to their own devices with little to no interference of their government, social, or economic aspects. The colonists immediately began to petition these new taxes. Their logic: “No taxation without representation.”

Due to the British tightening their control over the colonies to pay off the huge debt after the French and Indian War, patriots rebelled and started a revolution that would lead to great things. These were colonists who believed that the right to govern themselves belonged to the colonies. Britain had recently gotten into a war in the Americas against France and the Native Americans. Although they won and expanded their American empire, the debt they were in was just about up to their necks. To help solve this problem, they took more control over the colonies. Before the Proclamation of 1763, Britain did not pay much attention to the colonies. However Prime Minister George Grenville needed help to pay off the debt, and the British people were already paying taxes on several of their

On October 7, 1763, the Proclamation of 1763 was signed, and the spark of rebellion started. The Proclamation of 1763 angered many of the colonists, as the land that had been promised to them for when the British won the French and Indian war was taken away from them in order to appeal the Native American allies of the British. In fact, anyone already settled on the land when the Proclamation was passed was kicked out, with the people who refused to leave having their houses burnt by British officials. In addition, the colonists felt like their rights as British citizens were not being acknowledged by Parliament. However, Parliament was very much in debt from the war, so anything that would result in less fighting was very good at least to them.

Self-Government or “Salutary Neglect” was the third factor that contributed to the American Revolution between 1619 to 1776. Salutary neglect allowed the colonists to experience self-government. When it ended, the colonists were upset because they wanted self- government. Self government was very important because it would serve as a future blueprint for the constitution of the United States of America. Salutary neglect ended in 1763 because they needed money to pay for the expenses of the French and Indian War.

The Iroquois Confederacy, also known as Five Nations or Six Nations after the 1720 inclusion of the Tuscarora, was a collective of tribes that occupied the upper region of New York state around Lake Ontario, Pennsylvania, and Southern Ontario and

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

Before the Seven Years war Salutary Neglect was a lax rule for British, and it allowed the colonists to develop their own way of life.

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.

This adjusted the amount of land the Indians got and the colonists were allowed the Ohio River Valley, but the colonists were still angry at Britain because they had just fought and died for their right to that land. The Proclamation of 1763 was the first stepping stone in a long and rough road to revolution.