Submission
...independence and self-governance.
Under the British, the colonies were used to a great degree of self-governance and local control. System of absolute authority of the king was not in place in the colonies. Nor was there a rigid class structure (no formal aristocracy, hereditary titles), a guild system, or a national church.
—17th century: King James allowed colonies significant decision-making. System worked for about 140 years. There were colonial governors, but each colony had its own government.
1619: Virginia House of Burgesses: First representative assembly in N America. Elected representatives.
1629: Massachusetts Bay Colony: General Court elected.
By 1760s, each colony had its own written constitution.
French and Indian War, 1756†63; English versus French: Land east of the Mississippi River and west of the Alleghenies was in dispute.
When England needed money, in large part because of war with French and resulting debt, it started trying to raise funds by taxing the colonies in the 1760s.
(No income tax: Instead, taxes, fees, and tariffs were main source of revenue.)
—1763: Treaty of Paris: English told colonists: no westward expansion. You must stay where you are.
—British believed westward expansion into Indian territory would cost them more $. Americans were shocked. Southern planters in particular interested in expanding to west.
England also needed $ to administer and defend the colonies. While they had to a large degree left the colonists up to their own devices, the nation now they began to look to the colonies as a source of revenue. Protect colonies, but also add to English coffers.
Politics has to do with conflict and different interests:
There were various groups with different interests in America, but despite these differences they were agreed that treatment as inferior citizens was not acceptable. The...
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