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3.pptxMercantilism
Mercantilism was the dominant economic policy of the 17th and18th century.
Mercantilism dictated that exports must exceed imports, markets at ports should be monopolized, and colonies should not trade with foreign nations.
Britain’s plan was to pay off its debt by following these policies
Navigation Acts
This policy was instituted officially with the passage of the Navigation Acts in 1651, which restricted colonial trade solely with Britain, requiring all goods shipped to and from the colonies to be transported on British ships.*
*Period of Salutary Neglect: Definition & Effects. Study.com
Navigation Acts
While the Navigation Acts became the backbone for this mercantilist policy, they proved difficult and costly to enforce.
Most colonial merchants found it easy to bypass these laws and rampant smuggling occurred. The colonies traded frequently with the French, the Spanish, and the Dutch.*
*Period of Salutary Neglect: Definition & Effects. Study.com
Salutary Neglect
Not surprising, the illicit trade made New England merchants very wealthy, and much of that wealth was used to purchase tremendous amounts of British manufactured goods.
Britain's first Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, assumed his position in 1721 and quickly realized that Britain was benefiting economically from this illegal trade.*
*Period of Salutary Neglect: Definition & Effects. Study.com
Salutary Neglect
Salutary neglect was the unofficial British policy of lenient or lax enforcement of parliamentary laws regarding the American colonies during the 1600s and 1700s.
This policy was followed to keep colonial allegiance while allowing Britain to focus its attention on European policies.
*Period of Salutary Neglect: Definition & Effects. Study.com
Paxton Boys
on December 14, 1763, when a group of armed men from Paxton, Pennsylvania, attached the Conestoga Native Americans, living on the small reserve of land.
A few weeks after the original attack, 50 or 60 armed men on horseback attacked the surviving Conestoga Indians who had been placed under protective custody in the jailhouse at Lancaster.
Paxton Boys
By early1764 nearly 250 "Paxton Volunteers," gathered and headed for Philadelphia intending to kill several hundred Indians under the protection of the Pennsylvania government.
Benjamin Franklin and a small militia force stopped the group before anything further happened. but a pamphlet war quickly ensued that explicated the grievances of the frontier inhabitants
Regulators
In 1764, several thousand people from North Carolina, mainly from the western region, were extremely dissatisfied with the wealthy North Carolina officials, whom they considered cruel, arbitrary, tyrannical and corrupt.
Regulators
Local inland agricultural community suffered from a deep economic depression because of severe droughts throughout the previous decade, thereby losing income.
As income was cut off, the local planters often fell into debt. The merchants, in turn, relied on lawyers and the court to settle disputes.
Regulators attacked lawyers and the courthouse
French and Indian War
In the mid-18th century, both the British and French wanted to extend their control into the area west of the Appalachian Mountains, called the Ohio Territory.
Both already had fur traders doing business with Native Americans there and pioneers living on the frontier.
The French believed they had exclusive rights to the land since their explorers had been there first.
They tried to force the English out by capturing several of their trading posts and destroying an Indian village that supported English traders in 1752
French and Indian War
When the French built Fort Duquesne in 1754 near present-day Pittsburg, Britain let the colonists form a militia.
The Virginia militia, under the command of Major George Washington, was mobilized to ask the French to vacate the Ohio territory peaceably.
They refused, but Washington didn't have a large enough force to overpower Fort Duquesne.
Source: French and Indian War Causes and Effects, study.com
French and Indian War
Washington returned the following year with more men and proceeded to build his own stockade nearby, called Fort Necessity.
The French captured the new fort in 1756, and when word reached England, King George II declared war.
France and Britain would fight until 1763
Source: French and Indian War Causes and Effects, study.com
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty called for
France to give England all of Canada and the eastern half of Louisiana.
In exchange, France kept control of a few Caribbean sugar islands and two fishing islands along the Canadian coast.
Spain gained control of the western half of the Louisiana Territory. Spain also traded Florida in exchange for Cuba. The Mississippi River was left open to all of the nations.
Source: French and Indian War Causes and Effects, study.com
Pontiac’s Rebellion
To complicate matters, the Ottawa tribe, under the leadership of Chief Pontiac, mounted a rebellion in 1763, against the British at Detroit.
This attack encouraged other tribes in the Great Lakes to also rebel, leading to a larger conflict known as Pontiac's Rebellion.
Even though the British put down this rebellion, King George III felt uneasy about the turbulent circumstance in this area.
Source: Proclamation Line of 1763: Definition & Explanation, study.com
Proclamation Line
After the French and Indian War, settlers thought that they would have access to the Ohio River Valley.
However, King George III issued the Proclamation Line of 1763, which prevented this.
Britain already had a large debt following the French and Indian War and could not afford to take on more financial burdens, including protecting settlers on the frontier.
They also preferred having the colonists settled close to the coast to watch them.
Source: Proclamation Line of 1763: Definition & Explanation, study.com
Proclamation Line
Thus, settlers were forbidden were prohibited from moving into the area to the west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Moreover, any settlers who already purchased lands from the natives in this area had to leave.
The British treasury had been drained by years of war that had taken place across the globe, but most potently in Europe and North America.
Source: Proclamation Line of 1763: Definition & Explanation, study.com
Financial Problems
Britain needed to money to pay for the war, so they started to impose mercantilist policies on the colonies
Britain restricted the colonies to only using goods produced within the British Empire.
This was done through the passage of a series of laws that directly targeted the colonies, but did not ask for the consent of the colonies to pass laws affecting them.
List of Economic Policies Put into Effect
Sugar Act (Apr 1764)
Currency Act (Sep 1764)
Stamp Act (Mar 1765)
Quartering Act (May 1765)
Declaratory Act (May 1766)
Townshend Act (June 1767)
Tea Act (May 1773)
Sugar Act
Seeking to make their taxation more effective and stamp out smuggling, Parliament passed the Sugar Act.
This law lowered the tax on molasses to 3 cents/gallon but also improved the process of tax collection.
In spite of the lower costs, the Act actually increased state revenue by collecting tax from sources that otherwise did not pay.
It also established a system of courts in Nova Scotia to prosecute smugglers -- the burden of proof rested on the defendant and cases were decided by a judge instead of a jury.
Currency Act
The Currency Act outlawed the use of colony specific currency in lieu of imposing a singular currency throughout the British Empire. In effect, this caused considerable deflation in many colonies whose currency became useless.
Stamp Act
The Stamp Act required that all legal documents, newspapers, playing cards, and other papers to have a government issued stamp, for which there was a charge.
This was the first new tax actually imposed on the colonies by parliament. It also required that taxes be paid in specie (gold and silver.)
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act attempted to cut upkeep costs facing the army by shifting the burden from the crown to the locals.
The law required colonies to provide housing for the soldiers in barracks, taverns, and vacant buildings as well as providing them with firewood, candles, beer, and other items.
Declaratory Act
Boycotts against British goods in the colonies successfully undermined business enough that Parliament was inclined to repeal the Stamp Act.
However, looking to save face in the wake of the Stamp Act’s defeat, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act.
The Declaratory Act stated Parliament’s right “to legislate for the colonies in all cases whatsoever.”
Townshend Acts
Named after the chancellor of the exchequer, Charles Townshend, the Townshend Acts were passed 1767.
Seeking a way to pay for imperial officers without relying on colonial assemblies, Townshend proposed a series of taxes on goods that were only produced in Britain, such as tea, papers, paint, lead, and glass.
A new customs headquarters was likewise established in Boston. This new institution also had expanded power to search houses and ships for goods suspected to be smuggled.
Response to the Townshend Act
John Dickinson published his famous critique of British tax policy in the colonies, specifically aimed at the Townshend Acts, known as “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania” in June 1767.
Dickinson argued that since the purpose of the tax was to pay the salaries of government officials, it should be the role of colonial government assemblies to raise the money needed and not a tax imposed by parliament.
Boston Massacre
One of the most noteworthy and sensationalized events of the break from Britain was the Boston Massacre.
Following months of rising tension between colonists and British officials, a mob gathered around a garrison of British troops, cursing at them, throwing snowballs, and rocks.
In response, the soldiers fired into the crowd, killing five men. Most of the soldiers were later put on trial and acquitted, being ably defended by John Adams.
Tea Act
On the same day of the Boston Massacre, Parliament voted to repeal the Townshend Act.
Parliament still insisted on retaining the right to tax the Americas in some fashion; thus in 1773 the Tea Act was passed.
The Tea Act established a monopoly over tea sales by the British East India Company, allowing them to cut the price of tea to the point were it was unprofitable to smuggle Dutch tea.
Furthermore, only 5 men in all the colonies were authorized to sell tea, allowing the East India Company to further track the sale of tea.
Sons of Liberty
Fearing that the Tea Act was just another way to get tax money from the colonists indirectly, many protested by avoiding to drink tea.
As the radical opposition group known as the Sons of Liberty grew in influence, it became increasingly common for tea ships to leave port before unloading their goods, due to pressure from the Sons.
Not wishing to concede to the Sons of Liberty, Boston governor Thomas Hutchinson barred the ships from leaving.
Boston Tea Party
The immediate response to Hutchinson’s decree ensuring the tea reached its destination was vandalism by the Sons of Liberty.
In the midst of the December cold, a band of men from the Sons of Liberty gathered together dressed as native Americans, boarded the tea ships at harbor and threw the tea being transported into Boston Harbor.
Post-Townshend Acts, cont’d
Outraged, the British government passed the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts. The Coercive Acts included;
The Boston Port Act- Closed down Boston's port until the East India Company was paid for the tea lost. This punished all Bostonians for the crimes of a few.
The Massachusetts Government Act- Changed the Massachusetts government structure so that all of the elected officials were put in place by either the governor, parliament, or the king. This effectively eliminated any self determination within the colony.
The Administration of Justice Act- Allowed the governor to try royal officials outside of Massachusetts should they be accused of a crime there.
The Quartering Act- In order to more effectively house soldiers in the colonies, Parliament passed a law requiring the colonies to provide housing for troops garrisoned in their towns.
Quebec Act
The 1774 Quebec Act dictated that the area of Quebec and the Ohio River Valley could rule in a traditional French style and foster the growth of Catholicism in their territory.
This angered colonist from New England and the Central Colonies, since they had already begun settling the Ohio River Valley.
Grievances in NJ
It was a crime to cut down any white pine trees on lands not enclosed by fences
English men of money owned millions of acres of forests, and they were making profits from cutting down the white trees and using them for masts;
They didn’t want competition, so it was illegal to cut down any pine trees on unenclosed lands, as most of the lands in New Jersey were.
Grievances in NJ
England passed a law making it a crime for colonists to make any article of iron.
The law was passed in the interest of the iron manufacturers of England.
Nevertheless the mines at Charlotteburg and Ringwood continued to be worked; the iron was taken by wagon through Paterson to the river at Passaic where it was loaded on vessels and taken to England.
Continental Congress
The first meeting of the Continental Congress occurred in 1774, with it being comprised of 55 delegates from the thirteen colonies.
The Congress aimed to establish self determination within the colonies, though only some of the more radical members actively sought confrontation (and eventually succession) from Britain.
Lexington and Concord
Having gained information that rebel munitions were being stored by the militia at Concord, British soldiers were dispatched to confiscate them.
En route, they were confronted by local militiamen. When the British ordered the militia soldiers to break formation, confusion in the ranks broke out and a shot was fired (source conflict whether an American or British soldier fired first.)
This “shot heard around the world” turned out to be the first in a prolonged conflict between the British and the colonies.
Lexington and Concord
The battles of Lexington and Concord were the first of the American Revolution.
The militia forces retreated from the superior British forces initially. However, as the British continued on their way to Concord, they were regularly harassed by ad hoc bands of militia “minutemen” who showed up along the edges of the road and fired on the British troops.
The British mission was ultimately a failure, with them suffering relatively heavy casualties and being unable to procure the Concord munitions since they were moved ahead of time.
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress added Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Hancock to a roster of delegates which already contained John Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and George Washington from the First Continental Congress.
Reacting to the growing mass of militia men surrounding the British encircled at Boston, the Congress eventually adopted the militiamen as the Continental Army and on July 8th 1775 declared the need for the colonists to take up arms against Britain.
The also elected George Washington to act as commander in chief to the Continental Army.
Common Sense
In January, 1776, Thomas Paine published “Common Sense.”
This seething critique of the British monarchy argued that there could be no reconciliation between the colonies and the crown, with independence being the only option.
Paine likewise went to great lengths to strip the monarchy of its traditional justifications for power, claiming they had no right to rule since only the people could decide where power comes from.
July 4th, 1776 the Congress passes a declaration of secession from the British government: the Declaration of Independence.
