Why Did The British Laws To Keep The Colonies By 1763

By 1763, Great Britain was already one of the most powerful countries in the world, owning territory from the Hudson Bay to the Caribbean Sea and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. With such extensive land to control, the British turned to intimidation and regulations to establish their dominance over the colonies. Throughout the next decade, the British Parliament would implement strict laws to keep the colonists in their place—under the authority of the government across the ocean. Although Britain thought that these acts would be accepted by Americans, they had actually initiated a war for independence. Both elite and common people recognized the injustices happening in their country and decided to fight back against the

Lawrence. Because of this, the British worried that French people and the Indians living in America would side with France if another war ever broke out. Britain was also concerned with managing imperial authority over the colonies. To keep the colonies in control, the British government resolved to position 10,000 troops in America to defend the colonies and maintain peace with the Indians. However, conflicts with the Cherokee Indians turned violent, leading to the Cherokee War. In order to appease the Indians, the King issued the Proclamation of 1763 which prohibited white settlers to colonize anywhere west of the Appalachian Mountains. Although it was accepted by the Indians, colonists resented the King’s orders to leave their homes. Some colonists were forcibly removed from their settlements, but many just ignored the regulation, causing Britain to adjust the boundary line within years of its establishment. With the placement of 10,000 troops in their towns, colonists became suspicious that the soldiers were being used to intimidate them, not protect them. This fear was further intensified when Parliament passed the Quartering Acts, requiring colonies to provide supplies and housing for the

In order to help pay off the debt the war had caused, they implemented two laws to extort money from the colonists. The first was the Currency Act of 1764, which prohibited all colonies from making and using their own paper money. This allowed creditors to demand payment in gold and silver, which was needed in the colonies. The second law was called the Sugar Act, which lowered the tax on imported molasses from six pence to three pence per gallon. Parliament hoped that this law would stop merchants from bribing customs officers to certify their French molasses as British by making it a lower price to begin with. This law also required ships to have complicated documentation of all its cargo, making it legal for officials to seize ships for trivial problems. As you can probably imagine, colonists in New England were furious with this new legislation because it could severely damage their rum industry. The colonists were also starting to recognize that the British were controlling their money, their products and even their homes. Many colonists began to see republicanism as a better form of government compared to the aristocracy and Parliament system of Britain. The republican ideals were based on the government having power, but not too much to overrule what the people wanted. It also focused on civil liberty, which gave people the right to actively participate in the decision-making. In the