The British And The American Colonies

Parliament decided that the colonies should help pay towards the cost of the recent war debt and for future defense. The first step towards this was the Revenue Act of 1764, generally referred to as the Sugar Act. The Sugar Act was also known as “an Act with Teeth,”(Mass Historical Society) symbolizing that it was an act with depth or of importance. The Act itself was divided into two sections. First, it was intended to raise money from trade between the British colonies in America. It levied import duties on a list of raw materials including: sugar, coffee, indigo, wine, rum, lumber, and various cloths. The Sugar Act made the Molasses Act of 1733 perpetual. Although it cut the tax on molasses in half, from sixpence to threepence per gallon, to discourage smuggling and to make the tax attractive. Second, the Act revamped and reinvigorated the customs service, which managed the collection of these import duties. For the first time, colonists argued that Parliament was depriving them of a fundamental constitutional right to have these goods duty free.

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

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.

In 1761 the British began to reinforce writs of assistance, laws that granted customs officials the authority to conduct random searches of property to seek out goods on which required duties had not been paid, not only in public establishments but in private homes. The next step was the Sugar Act of 1764, and it quickly became apparent that the purpose of the act was to extract revenue from America.  The Molasses Act of 1733 had placed a tax of six pence per gallon on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies.  In 1764 the British lowered the tax to three pence but now eventually decided to enforce it.  In addition, taxes were to be placed on other items such as wines, coffee, and textile products, and other restrictions were applied, this upset the colonists.  Madaras L, SoRelle J (2011) & Wood S. G. (2003)

     In order to understand how the relationship between Britain and the American Colonies became so strained, we must first examine the nature of Britain’s imperial authority. Economic relations between the two entities were

On April 5, 1764, the Sugar Act was the first of many taxes to be placed upon the American colonies to help pay off Britain’s debt from the American Revolution. In the Sugar Act, products imported into the colonies were being taxed, such as coffee, textiles, and, of course, sugar. The colonists did not take too kindly to this, as the number of places that they could sell to was lowered, which led to the amount of money for them to buy things was decreasing, so their economy became weaker. And as they had less money to support themselves, the taxes were affecting them more than ever. In this way, the colonists became much more aware about how the British were treating them.

The sugar act also known as the revenue act was proclaimed in 1764 by parliament. After the first act was to expire this act was a tax on molasses also. It taxed people six pence per gallon of the imported substance. The goal of the act was to raise revenue to help pay for military costs.

Throughout the New World many British colonies were established for various reasons. A few of those reasons being for religious freedom, farming, and gold. The way that certain colonies would succeed and develop depended on geographical factors. Eventually some colonies would flourish through farming, seaport trade, or industry.

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.

Before the American Revolution, there are several British Colonies in the Americas. Not all of them participated in the revolution. There were 13 clones which ended up rebelling. These were Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Mary land,North Carolina, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island. The colonists wanted to be free from the England. They started to fight the soldiers of the English army in 1775. The Americans started a war with England. We call it the Revolutionary War. The American Revolution was on April 19, 1775 and is called the “shot heard around the world” It was named that because the hand draw action of the battles of Lexington and concord an the siege of Boston

Between 1754 and 1763, Britain and French were involved in the French and Indian War, which was a territorial dispute between Britain and France. With the help of the British-American colonists, Britain was able to maintain and increase its borders in America, but the funds needed to support the war caused Britain to go into debt (“French and Indian War/Seven Years' War 1754-1763” 1). Not willing to tax its own citizens any further, Britain decided to tax the American colonies more in order to generate revenue. Before the war, American colonists were paying a fraction of the taxes than those living in Britain, and even after the imposed taxes, the average American would pay less taxes than the average Englishman (“British Acts on Colonial America” 1).

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.

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.