CHAPTER SUMMARY

Mercantilism The Navigation Acts decreed that enumerated goods had to go directly to England and discouraged manufacturing in the colonies. Raw materials were shipped to the mother country to be processed into manufactured goods. These mercantilist laws were designed to curb direct trade with other countries, such as the Netherlands, and keep the wealth of the empire in British hands.

“Salutary Neglect” Lax administration by the mother country allowed the colonies a measure of self-government. The dynastic problems of the Stuart kings aided the New England colonists in their efforts to undermine the Dominion of New England. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 resulted in a period of “salutary neglect.” The American colonies pursued their interests with minimal intervention from the British government, which was preoccupied with European wars.

The French and Indian War Four European wars affected America between 1689 and 1763 as the British and French confronted each other throughout the world.

The Seven Years’ War (1754-1763), known as the French and Indian War in the American colonies, was the first world war and was eventually won by the British. A plan to unify all of Britain’s American colonies, including those in Canada, proposed by Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress, failed to gain colonial support.

The Effects of the Seven Years’ War At the Peace of Paris in 1763, France lost all its North American possessions. Britain gained Canada and Florida, while Spain acquired Louisiana. With the war’s end, Indians were no longer regarded as essential allies and so had no recourse when settlers squatted on their lands. The Treaty of Paris set the stage for conflict between the mother country and the American colonies as Britain tightened control to pay for the colonies’ defense.

British Colonial Policy After the French and Indian War, the British government was saddled with an enormous national debt. To reduce that imperial burden, the British government concluded that the colonies ought to help pay for their own defense. Thus, the ministers of King George III began to implement various acts and impose new taxes.

Road to the American Revolution Colonists based their resistance to the Crown on the idea that taxation without direct colonial representation in Parliament violated their rights. Colonial reaction to the Stamp Act of 1765 was the first intimation of real trouble for imperial authorities. Conflict intensified when the British government imposed additional taxes. Spontaneous resistance led to the Boston Massacre; organized protesters staged the Boston Tea Party. The British response, called the Coercive Acts, sparked further violence. Compromise became less likely, if not impossible.