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Britain began to tax in order to pay off the war which led colonists to look at their mother country different. In return, they tried to split and gain independence. “Peace” remarked by the Prime Minister Pit, “will be as hard to make as war. ” After the French and Indian War, the British ministry sent out new taxes on the American colonies to pay off the debt. Britain’s debt soared from $75 million to $133 million In 1763 consuming 60% of the national budget.
The only solution to this problem was the raise the taxes, and that’s Just what prime Minster Lord Butte did beginning with England. Of course there were many complaints with this leading to his decision to only tax the poor and middle classes. The question was still hanging in the air for them, should they tax the American colonists? A new prime minister came into play in 1763. British taxpayers were paying five times as much taxes as the people in America were and Britain was still in debt.
He finally decided that the new revenue would have to come from the colonies. In the British Order in Council of 1763 it claims to read, “We, the commissioners of your majesty’s treasury beg leave humbly to represent to you and your majesty that having taken into consideration the present state of the duties of the customs Imposed on your majesty’s subjects In America and the West Indies, we find that the revenue Orleans therefore Is very small and Inconsiderable And Is not yet sufficient to defray a fourth part of the expense necessary for collecting It. He made a new two part plan, The Currency Act of 1764, which extended the ban on paper money as legal tender, and the Sugar Act of 1764 to replace the ignored Molasses Act of 1733. From these acts set off many more acts to increase taxation which leads to a rebellion. These acts brought back the fear to Americans of British control once again. The Stamp Act of 1765 arose which sparked the first great imperial crisis. This tax required to have stamps on all documents. Then came the Townsend Act, the Restraining Act, the Tea Act, and the Coercive Act.
Although it was tried out before with the reigns of George I and George II, salutary neglect was praised by Edmund Burke in 1775 -allowing the rise of self-government. Salutary neglect was Just a by-product of Sir Robert Walpole. He was the one who won approval for his policies but they ended up backfiring. The American Independence Movement was formed to preserve American liberty. The economic relations between Britain and the American colonies mix In with the ad to raise taxes to everyone including the colonies.
American colonies were forced to send over there raw materials to Britain only to later buy the finished product from them which highly angered them. The colonists decided to fight back there mother country especially when the Stamp Act came out. As Benjamin Franklin states they wanted to “get it repealed” as soon as possible. They ended up harming the relationship between them and their mother country in return for their rebellion. They went on a riot against the act and royal officials knew that they had officially lost he support for their empire that had held them up for three generations. What can a governor do without the assistance of the governed? ” During the French and Indian War, the American colonies had different ideological thinking compared to the British. The existence of colonial legislatures meant that the colonies were in many ways independent of the crown. The legislatures were allowed to levy taxes, muster troops, and pass laws. Over time, these powers became rights in the eyes of many colonists. The colonies were very independent and wanted to remain that way, they had no thought of the British coming back into power in heir own country.
They believed in salutary neglect when Britain believed in mercantilism. Robert Walpole believed this enhanced freedom would stimulate commerce. The enlightenment played a role in their thinking as well. The philosophers implied reason in what they did politically and economically. They believed what John Locke had presented as “natural rights” which were life, liberty, and property and said that the government must protect those rights. Just like the Indians, colonists came from the seven years’ war with a much heightened identity. Before the war, the colonies were isolated from one another.
The Albany Plan of Union created in 1754 by Benjamin Franklin had envisioned a Grand Council with delegates from each colony which would lead to the power to levy taxes and deal with the Indians and defense mechanisms. It was rejected by the colonies though and never sent to London for approval. During the war, colonists and the British actually fought alongside each other against the French. Although they didn’t always agree and get along, they ended up making bonds between them both. After the war ended, the British became a neither a catholic, protestant, or free country.