The Between Britain And The Colonies

Charles Townshend- Townshend, also known as “Champagne Charley” was a brilliant speaker in Britain at the time. He convinced the Parliament to pass the Townshend act, where tax was placed on certain goods such as lead, paper, paint, and tea. This enraged the colonists because they were again being taxed without colonial representation.

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.

“Despite the view of some historians that the conflict between Great Britain and its thirteen North American colonies was economic in origin, in fact the American Revolution had its roots in politics and other areas of American life.” Great Britain and the American colonies had a relationship impacted with many hardships. I believe that there was a political struggle between the two groups, but that Great Britain and the American colonies used economics as a chance to show how much control they had. Multiple Acts written by Parliament, the colonies' Committees of Correspondence and Continental Congress created political friction between Great Britain and the American colonies.

Desperately for finding a solution to pay off the debt of the war, the British government signed the Townshend duties of 1767, formulated by Charles Townshend, chancellor of the Exchequer. The Townshend duties were new taxes for the American colonies pay on imported products: glass, paper, lead, and tea. Charles Townshend persuaded the British authorities signed the import items with the intention of not only pay the war’s bills, but also increase the British revenue and take back the Parliament’s authority over the American colonies.

During the time period of 1600 to 1776, the relationship between Great Britain and the colonies changed massively. The relationship between Great Britain and the colonies changed greatly because of three main reasons: the relationships that the colonies and Great Britain were built on, the struggles that the colonists faced because of their relationships with Great Britain, and the anger that the colonists expressed because of the ridiculous taxes that they had to pay. Once the colonists realized that they were suffering under British rule, most of the colonists became eager to be independent from Great Britain. The colonists’ Second Continental Congress believed that the acts and taxes created by the British Parliament were unconstitutional, unjust, and unfair towards the colonists and because of that belief, the Declaration signers forever changed our country.

Before the first battles in the colonies, America and Britain were united. Even though Britain was bombarding the colonists with taxes and laws --such as the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, and the Intolerable Acts-- Americans still preferred to be one with the British Empire instead of their own independent nation. The British and the Americans shared a sense of unity because they depended on each other due to the mercantilist system. These feelings of unity drastically transformed after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. For the first time, the colonists fought their mother country. Americans fired at the British and the British fired against Americans. Both sides discovered that they were no longer together. This realization was the point of no return because it demolished American-colonial British relations and eventually brought about

The extent to which the conflict between Great Britain and her North American colonies was economic in origin rather than rooted in political and social controversies and differences. For example, the imposement on trade and taxation on imports and exports.

The Townshend Act was passed on 2nd July 1776. The act involved a series of acts that imposed duties on paper, glass, lead, paints and all tea imported into the colonies. The series of measures were introduced by the Exchequer Charles Townshend into the English Parliament. Although many Americans viewed the extra taxation as slavery and abuse of power, its initiator, Mr. Townshend hoped the act would provide money for imperial expenses in the colonies. The act eventually lead to imports from America being limited. After the many complaints and dissatisfaction from the American, the English Parliament finally amended the act in 1770. All duties were scrapped except the tax on tea. This was the last harassment that

Though both are independent nations, the United Kingdom and the United States now share a close bond, and have even been allies during WWI and WWII in the 20th century. But when the colonies of the United States were under British rule, the relations between the Colonies and Britain were not so friendly. The views on government and taxation between the two became radically different and created a large disagreement between the American Patriots and those loyal to Britain. Cracks began to form in the relationship between Britain and the Colonies, and the differences between the two would inevitably result in the American Revolution.

The reasons behind the sudden transition of England and it’s American colonies from allies to enemies is still debated today. When the colonies were first created they had a somewhat dependent relationship with the British. Trade was regulated through the British homeland while the British provided structure for the developing colonies. As salutary neglect came into play, the colonies became more independent in their ways by developing their own governments and laws. After the French and Indian War, the British economy dropped due to war expenses. The passing of the Stamp Act and all the taxes to follow were an attempt to create revenue for the British. This created tension between the colonists and the British government. The British government caused rebellion by trying to tax the colonists in ways that had not previously been done and by trying to control the colonies more closely than it previously had. The colonies were justified in waging war and breaking away from the British due to the unfair tyrant, burdensome taxes, and the aggressive behavior of the British.

In the earlier years of the colonies life was a bit more difficult than it is now in the presant. People led simpeler lives without all the things we take for granted today. Times when our government was merely a puppet of mother England thousands of miles away. It was this government and its actions that brought out the anger in its subjects to the point of rebellion and eventual emancipation from the larger power. So what brought this small country to the boiling point? It seemed to be a serious of pushes from England that led to the eventual split of the colonies and the U.K.

The American colonies had good reason to suspect some other motives were at play in Britain and with their fears came more taxes. With their ever-growing belief that in some way Britain was devising a plan to seize their liberties, colonists started to boycott British luxury goods so Britain would have to stop the taxes since they would not be making revenue. However, this did not stop Parliament from adding new taxes to the list. In 1767, the Townshend Revenue Acts were imposed and set a new series of taxes on the colonists to offset the costs of administering and protecting the American colonies. Items taxed include imports such as paper, tea, glass, lead and paints. The restrictions Britain

Relationships between the colonists and the British Empire dwindled more after the seven years war in ended in 1763. The taxes of certain cargo and acts developed more occurrent with both the British citizens in England and the colonists in America. The colonists grew towards the idea of independence during the time period of 1763 to 1783, due to the British taxes and tariffs placed upon the colonists and the political influence from both legislatures on the people.

The relations between England and the British North American colonies could always be considered precarious. Prior to 1750 British essentially followed a policy of benign neglect and political autonomy in the American colonies. (Davidson p.97) The colonies were for the most part content with benign neglect policy, relishing in a “greater equality and representative government”(Davidson p.95) within the colonies. Competition among European Imperial nations began to effect British policy toward North America colonies causing rapid shifts from 1750 to 1776. During this period, the British Empire made a series of policy decision that sealed the fate of the British North American

Changes in British policies toward the colonies between 1750 and 1776 played paramount in the evolution of relations between British North America and Mother England. Tension between England and the colonies mounted from the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War to the signing of the Declaration of Independence as a result of the several implemented changes imposed by Parliament for the purpose of increasing income and tightening the grip on America.