Elizabeth T. Tiano
There have been imperialist nations that have allowed their own people to colonize conquered territories. For example, Great Britain allowed its citizens to settle in the New World. These New World colonies were not considered sovereign states by England. To the Crown, they were dependent territories who owed their allegiance to Britain. The British used the mercantilist system in the economic management of the colonies. The mercantilist idea maintained that the colonies existed for the Commercial benefit of the mother country. In most instances, colonists could only trade with England or other British colonies. They were not allowed to develop manufacturing of their own to trade outside their bounds because this would create competition for British home industries. Colonists were required to purchase finished products from the mother country and could sell their raw materials only to England. This created a favorable balance of trade for the mother country. Since the finished products were sold for a higher price than the raw materials, money flowed from the colonies to the mother country.
By about 1750, the British Empire controlled eight island colonies in the Atlantic and Caribbean; Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, Antigua, Nevis, St. Kits, and Montserrat, Barbados, Burmuda, and the Bahamas. The Empire also included fifteen provinces along the American seaboard. These provinces included Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Massachusetts (including present-day Maine), New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania with Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North and south Carolina, and Georgia.
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Thirteen of these American colonies, omitting Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, on the eastern seaboard of North America will be the focus of this discussion.
As we have indicated, the British were primarily interested in the commercial benefits they could derive from their colonies. Therefore, beginning in 1651, Parliament passed Navigation Acts and the Acts of Trade which were intended to control colonial trade, insuring a favorable balance of trade for England. On paper, these laws barred foreign vessels from colonial ports. All trade in the Empire was carried on by British and colonial ships. Colonists were not permitted, by law, to trade in all significant commodities, directly with Europe. European goods could be shipped to an American destination only from a British port. This ensured the collection of duties that raised prices above any similar goods manufactured in England.
The colonists did not strictly obey British trade laws. Colonial shipping engaged in smuggling by trading along routes prohibited by the Acts of Trade and the Navigation Acts. This illicit trade was conducted on the European continent, primarily French and Dutch ports, the coast of Africa and the Foreign West Indies. This smuggling also involved the failure to pay full duties, or none at all, on cargoes not in themselves illegal. A prominent example of this is molasses from the French Islands.
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However, certain colonial products were left uncontrolled and could be sold in any market. Examples of these products are foodstuffs, horses, fruit, vegetables, pig iron, and many forms of wood products.
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The continental colonies were important for providing products for the British West Indies and the mother country. The southern colonies exported tobacco, indigo and rice. By the 1760’s Virginia and Maryland exported considerable quantities of wheat to England. The Middle and New England colonies traded primarily with other American continental colonies and the West Indies. Iron, an important raw material, was provided by the colonies to foundries in the mother country. New England was the center of the shipbuilding industry in the New World. This region’s shipyards produced vessels at far less cost than shipyards in England. In fact, about one-third of all British merchant vessels were built in colonial shipyards by the outbreak of the Revolution. However, the colonies were most important to England as markets for British goods.
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Because the colonists imported more than they exported, British wealth increased.
The original thirteen colonies were founded by individuals, or corporations who obtained charters from the king granting permission to colonize and govern the colony. There were three types of colonies. They were proprietary, owned by one man; corporate, owned by a group of men; or royal, owned by the king. The colonies were basically self-governing. They were governed by a single executive, or governor, and an assembly composed of delegates elected from towns and counties who represented the people in the legislative process. In the charter colonies of Connecticut and Rhode Island the governors were elected. In proprietary colonies (Penn. ., Delaware, Maryland; and South Carolina) the proprietors appointed the governors and in royal colonies the governor was appointed by the Crown.
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The colonies had to obey trade laws enacted by Parliament, but as a rule internal matters were left to the discretion of local legislatures. At the end of the 17th century, England was involved in conflicts with the French, who also claimed land on the North American Continent. Because of these conflicts, the crown wanted to strengthen the Empire. One way it sought to do so was to tighten its control over the American colonies by bringing all the colonies under the direct control of the king. Therefore, colonies were required to surrender their original charters to the Crown and had to accept royal charters. After 1752 all the colonies were royal colonies with the exception of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The royal charters required all the colonies, except Connecticut, to send their laws to England for confirmation or disallowance. If the Crown found the law acceptable, the colonies could continue to enforce it. If it were found unacceptable, it had to be removed from colonial legislation.
For the most part, the colonists accepted their subordinate role in the economic and political system of the Empire. Economically, the colonies prospered because they shared generously in the profits of the dominion.
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Politically, the colonies were free of internal imperial control as long as the colonists obeyed the Navigation Acts and crown appointed officials.
At the end of the Seven Years War, known in America as the French and Indian War, the British began to increase imperial control in the colonies. At the end of hostilities, in 1763, England had a large war debt. British officials reasoned that since the Crown had expended large sums of money fighting the war and colonists were going to benefit by the opening of the frontier formerly under French control and the clearing of the North Atlantic for colonial fishermen, that the colonists should help pay the war debt. England was also maintaining troops on the frontier to protect settlers from Indian raids. This added to the already heavy financial burden of the British government.
The colonists, on the other hand, felt that they had made significant contributions to the war effort by providing supplies to the British and serving as soldiers themselves. They argued that these sacrifices ought to relieve them of any responsibility for the war debt. They also argued that they did not need British troops to protect them because their participation in the war had proved their ability to protect themselves.
Ultimately, the British government decided to raise money to defray the cost of the war by levying internal taxes on the colonies. Until this time the only levies colonists paid the Crown were customs duties. This was external taxation and the colonists had no quarrel with paying these taxes. The imposition of internal taxation, however, created a storm of protest in the colonies that eventually led to independence.
