2. British Policies
Mercantilism
“Favorable Balance of Trade”
Major goal of Britain
More exports than imports to
bring wealth to the home
Britain controlled the balance
of trade by passing various
Navigation Acts
Salutary Neglect
British policy of avoiding strict
enforcement of parliamentary
laws, which was meant to keep
the American colonies obedient
to Great Britain
Salutary neglect ended with the
French and Indian War
3. French and Indian War
French areas of colonization
St. Lawrence River Valley,
Quebec, Great Lakes, Louisiana
Interest in trading not
colonizing hurt because British
outnumbered French 1 mill to
70,000
Better relationship with Indians
Traded furs with them; had
military alliances
English colonists wanted to
expand
Indians resisted and allied
with the French
4. French and Indian War
French and English were old
rivals
Multiple wars fought between
French and English in past
centuries
1754 conflict ignites again as
French begin building forts near
Virginia border
Virginia government sends
George Washington to lead
militia against the French
5. French and Indian War
The French and Indian allies
won many early battles
Albany Plan of Union
Colonies debate forming
central government
Idea came from “Benjamin
Franklin’s” observation of the
“Iroquois League”
Victory at Quebec gave the British
control
Turning point of the conflict
Treaty of Paris, 1763
France lost all land in
America
6. Tensions after the War
Indians in the Ohio Valley revolt
against British forts
Conflicts were becoming costly for
Britain – had to station 10,000
troops in its territories to control the
Native Americans
Proclamation of 1763
Stated that colonists could not
cross the Appalachian
Mountains in an attempt to
avoid further conflict with the
Native Americans
Colonists ignored the
law and continued to
provoke Indians
7. British heavily in debt because
of the war
Standing British Army in the
colonies
Trading restrictions established
to levy duties (taxes) on certain
products
Smugglers try to avoid paying
taxes
Tensions after the War
8. Tensions after the War
Writs of assistance
Allowed British customs
officials to search any ship or
building
Sugar Act
Affected merchants and
traders
Placed duties on certain
imports; allowed prosecutors to
try smuggling cases in a vice-
admiralty court (harsh)
9. Stamp Act, 1765
Placed a direct tax on the
colonists
Required stamp on all legal
documents, newspapers,
license, and cards
Affected many colonists rich
and poor
Quartering Act, 1765
The Act required that the
colonists had to supply British
troops with food, munitions and
barracks
Tensions after the War
10. Resistance Begins
Sons of Liberty
Boston
Samuel Adams
John Adams
“No Taxation Without
Representation”
Colonists were denied
representation in parliament
Believed they were denied their
rights as English citizens
Phrase 1st
coined by James
Otis
Protests and boycotts were
organized
Stamp agents were harassed
Law eventually repealed
11. Declaratory Act
Stated that Parliament had the
right to declare laws for British
colonies
Townshend Acts
New tax placed on imports
such as tea, glass, paper, paint
Colonists again reacted with
protests
British reacted by sending
more troops
Tensions Increase
12. AN ACT FOR THE BETTER SECURING THE DEPENDENCY OF HIS
MAJESTY'S DOMINIONS IN AMERICA UPON THE CROWN AND
PARLIAMENT OF GREAT BRITAIN
Whereas several of the houses of representatives in His Majesty's colonies and
plantations in America have of late, against law, claimed to themselves, or to the
general assemblies of the same, the sole and exclusive right of imposing duties
and taxes upon His Majesty's subjects in the said colonies and plantations; and
have, in pursuance of such claim, passed certain votes, resolutions, and orders
derogatory to the legislative authority of Parliament, and inconsistent with the
dependency of the said colonies and plantations upon the crown of Great Britain:
may it therefore please Your Most Excellent Majesty that it may be declared, and
be it declared by the king's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the said colonies and
plantations in America have been, are, and of right ought to be, subordinate unto,
and dependent upon the imperial crown and Parliament of Great Britain; and that
the king's Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, of Great Britain, in Parliament assembled, had, hath, and
of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of
sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of
the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever.
13. Boston Massacre
March 1770
Protests by colonists
British troops fire on crowd
5 colonists killed
Crispus Attucks
Most soldiers found not guilty
John Adams served as
attorney for the soldiers
Tensions Increase
14. Tea Act
Boston Tea Party
Tax on tea still remain in
effect
Monopoly on tea given to
British company
Dec. 1773 colonists raided
Boston harbor and threw the tea
overboard and burned the ships
Tensions Increase
15. Parliament passes Coercive
Acts in reaction
Colonist call it the
Intolerable Acts
Closed Boston Harbor
Suspended basic civil rights
Housed troops in peoples’
homes
Tensions Increase
