Rising Tension During The American Revolutionary War

The British men gathered full control of the trading center present in the Americas, and created the Navigation Acts to help aid them in their tactics to take control over all trade within the Americas. The Navigation Acts were passed under a mercantilist system, and was used to regulate trade in a way that only benefitted the British economy. These acts restricted trade between England and its colonies to English or colonial ships, required certain colonial goods to pass through England before export, provided subsidies for the production of certain raw goods in the colonies, and banned colonial competition in large-scale manufacturing. This lowered the competition in the trading world for the British and caused the British to have a major surge in power, that greatly attributed to the growth of their rising empire. The British’s ambitious motives in the trading world help portray a way that the British took control of an important piece in the economy of all of the other nations present in the colonies in the time period, and shows another leading factor in the growth of the British empire.

The French and Indian War left England with a debt of £130,000,000. To help pay off the debt Britain set up taxes, to collect money, on frequently used products by the colonists. The Molasses Act put a six pence tax on every gallon of molasses. The colonists thought this was a lot of money to pay so they did everything to avoid it. This act was not really enforced and the colonists did not really obey this act.

In 1689, the British and the French entered a long period of frequent warfare known as the Second One Hundred Years’ War. The British government had to start directing its focus towards the French rather than its colonies in the New World. Due to the constant warfare, the British did not enforce the Navigation Acts that regulated and controlled trade going to and from the colonies. This sort of political and economic strategy was called salutary neglect. The Americans enjoyed minimal interference in their trading and the American economy grew and developed under this salutary neglect.

The war of independence was fought from 1775-1782. In the beginning, it was largely believed that Britain would be successful. However, the Americans proved to be victorious in the end, overcoming many challenges that were thrown their way. The biggest threat to their independence was simply the strength of the British.

Since trade was boosted, Americans came to accumulate a large amount of debt to the British creditors. (Henretta & Brody, 2010) In order to extract money from the colonist to repay their debt, the British then began to place tariffs on many common items that had no reason to be taxed. The colonies felt the same way and even though they had an underlying debt, they felt that this was the improper way to go about

At the commence of the War England had a National Debt of 72,000,000 Pounds in 1754. By 1763, England had a National Debt of 135,000,000 Pounds, which equivalent to $10,000,000 today. With this economic collapse, England had to find newer ways of paying this money and a way of paying this off was by making tax and putting them on the Colonies. Mercantilism was employed to give/buy from England the manufactured goods and other items that will keep its economy stable. The British Council in 1763 Complained saying, “ We find that the revenue arising therefrom is very small and inconsiderable, ….

As a result, the limited amount of seamen disrupted American imports, exports, and increased the need for seamen. Americans no longer considered themselves as Englishmen and wanted no part of the British nation. Americans

Since there was debt because of the war, the economy was already very bad in Britain – therefore they taxed the colonies. When the colonies started boycotting British products and threatened to stop trading with them all together, it was successful because Britain’s economy wasn’t strong enough to handle those things. The merchants in Britain couldn’t afford to have trade with America end. If the British merchants were hurt, this would thus hurt The economy as a whole in Britain. In later decades, in the War of 1812, America would try to stop trade with Britain again using a method called embargo, which would not be effective because they did not have the debt that the War had caused.

During the colonial era of America, Great Britain was able to reek the benefits of this royal colony’s success. This was in large part due to the fact that Britain was able to integrate this society into its imperial system. English leaders understood that the American colonies represented a marketplace for goods, a safety valve, and a place in which competition flourished with other leading empires. One of the most important reasons why Great Britain established colonies in America was to create another form of revenue.

As a result of this tax, colonists in Boston rioted and destroyed the house of the stamp distributor. News of the protests spread and inspired other colonies to protest. As the taxes angered more of the colonists, they began to boycott all British goods. Boycotting of British goods and ending trade with the colonists would greatly hurt the economy in Britain. When the colonists started to boycott, Britain's economy was not strong enough to sustain itself without trade with the colonies.

From the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, the British Empire was the biggest power in the world. Some said that the sun never set on the British Empire because of its greatness, and Britain wanted to continue growing. To do this they tried to regulate trade to favor them. This principle of creating a favorable export and import balance is mercantilism. Mercantilism shaped the life of eighteenth century Colonial America by regulating their trade, by economically weakening them and putting them in debt, and by socially creating the tensions that led to the Revolutionary War.

The war was a result of the French and British’s desire to expand their influence and territory in the

(Doc.1) Along with all the diverse raw materials, Britain would have a large market to sell finished goods, fueling Imperialism. (Doc. 1) The island had obstruct waterways so it was well protected. (Doc.4) Great Britain had good ports and access to the Atlantic Ocean.

Although the British proved to be triumphant in the war, they lost a lot of money and a lot of soldiers. During the course of the years, Britain wanted economic relief and turned to the colonies. After the War, amplified British taxation on the colonies ruined the relationship that they had with the colonies. The British said the taxation

Much of the population became farmers which provided imports to England. This helped to build a strong bond between Britain and America. The British relied strongly on colonial imports. Macmillan Learning states, “Despite the many differences among the colonists, the consumption of British exports built a certain material uniformity across region, religion,