Before reading the article, please click "Follow", which is convenient for you to discuss and share, and can bring you a different sense of participation, thank you for your support.
Wen 丨 Xiu bamboo scholar
Editor丨Xiu Bamboo Scholar
Preface:
Ever since Britain developed its colonies in North America, the British authorities have tried to maintain their own monopoly interests and ensure that the colonies provide them with cheap raw materials and dumping markets for goods.
Over time, however, the North American colonies gradually demonstrated their economic potential and were eager to reduce their dependence on the British mainland and seek to develop independently.
Navigation regulations and trade restrictions
This desire for independent development contradicted British monopoly interests, leading the British authorities to adopt a series of high-handed policies to curb the free development of the colonial economy, in which navigation regulations and trade restrictions became the first and most important link.
The Navigation Ordinance was a series of decrees implemented from the mid-17th century onwards, the main purpose of which was to restrict trade in the North American colonies and ensure a British monopoly on trade in the colonies.
According to navigation regulations, trade can only be carried out using British ships, and most goods must be shipped to the British mainland.
This trade monopoly severely restricted the colonies' direct trade with other countries, preventing them from choosing their trading partners and obtaining more favorable terms of trade.
The British economy benefited from this, while the economic development of the colonies was hindered, and in addition to navigation regulations, the British authorities restricted the autonomous development of the colonies through other measures.
In order to control conflicts with the Aborigines of the West and prevent the colony from expanding westward, the British issued a decree after Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763 that prohibited the colony from expanding westward.
This limited the colony's expansion and resource exploitation, further weakening the potential of the colony's economy.
At the same time, the British authorities also issued a decree prohibiting the colonies from issuing their own paper money, which led to the fact that the colonies could not independently control the money supply and had to rely on the currency provided by the British.
This restriction caused the colonies to lose their autonomy in monetary policy and hindered economic development.
Over time, Britain's repressive policy toward the North American colonies intensified.
In order to increase taxes, the British authorities enacted the Stamp Duty Ordinance in 1765 and the Townsend Tax Act in 1767.
These tax laws imposed heavy taxes on printed matter, documents, letters, glass, lead, tea, and other goods, which directly affected commerce and life in the colony.
As a result, the colonists faced greater economic pressures and escalated dissatisfaction with Britain, and the implementation of these high-handed policies led to tensions between the North American colonies and the British mainland.
The colonists gradually realized that their economic interests conflicted with British monopoly interests, and they no longer wanted to be controlled by Britain itself.
Calls for resistance and independence spread in the colonies, setting off a series of protests and uprisings.
The most famous of these was the American Revolutionary War, which broke out in 1775 and lasted until 1783, eventually leading to the independence of the North American colonies from British rule and the independent United States of America.
Britain's heavy-handed policies toward the North American colonies, especially navigation regulations and trade restrictions, seriously hindered the economic development of the colonies.
These restrictions aroused the sense of resistance of the colonists and became an important driving force for the North American independence movement, and in the end, the North American colonies successfully freed themselves from the shackles of Britain and entered a new era of independence and independent development.
Western expansion was forbidden and colonial development was blocked
Since the British colonies in North America, the development and expansion of the colonies has been an important issue.
However, over time, British authorities began to take measures to restrict the westward expansion of the North American colonies, which hindered the development of the colonies.
These restrictive policies caused dissatisfaction among the colonists against the British monopoly interests and were one of the reasons why the North American colonies sought independent development.
British restrictions on westward expansion stemmed primarily from Pontiac's Rebellion of 1763, a resistance movement made up of several indigenous tribes against large swathes of territory acquired by the British after the Franco-Indian War.
The rebellion spread throughout the North American continent, causing many British personnel and settlers to be attacked, causing heavy losses, and in order to control the conflict with the indigenous peoples of the West and protect the security of the colony, the British authorities took measures to prohibit the expansion of the West.
After 1763, the British government issued the Proclamation of 1763, declaring the western lands Aboriginal reservations and prohibiting colonists from settling on them.
This meant that the British government no longer granted new land ownership to the colonists and restricted their further development of the western lands.
The settlers of the colonies were unhappy because they saw great opportunities for westward expansion, and this policy deprived them of their freedom of pioneership and economic benefits.
The policy of prohibiting westward expansion had a direct impact on the economic development of the North American colonies, and the demand of settlers and population growth gradually crowded the original land, but they were unable to travel to the new territory in the west in search of more opportunities.
Many colonists saw such restrictions as an obstacle to their economic autonomy and to their quest for a better life.
In addition, the ban on westward expansion also sparked a series of disputes related to land rights and land use rights, and many colonists already had land use rights in the west.
However, the new policy has led to violations of their rights. Disputes over land ownership and use rights led to tensions with the British government and heightened the colonists' dissatisfaction with the British authorities.
While restricting the westward expansion, the British government also tried to restrict the independent development of the colonies through other means, for example, the British government prohibited the colonies from issuing their own paper money, resulting in the colonies unable to control the money supply independently and rely on the currency provided by the British.
This restriction caused the colonies to lose autonomy in monetary policy, causing further obstacles to economic development.
All these restrictive policies led to an escalation of dissatisfaction among the colonists against British monopoly interests, believing that the British government was only concerned with the economic interests of the homeland and turned a blind eye to the development of the colony.
These restrictions not only hindered the economic prosperity of the colonies, but also violated the freedom rights of the colonists, and the independence movement in the North American colonies gradually arose.
The colonists began to unite for autonomy and independence, which eventually led to the American Revolutionary War, and the North American colonies eventually freed themselves from British rule and became the independent United States of America.
The prohibition of westward expansion was one of the important means by which Britain restricted the independent development of the North American colonies, and these restrictive policies seriously hindered the economic development and population expansion of the colonies, and caused dissatisfaction among the colonists against the British authorities.
These grievances eventually prompted the colonists to seek independence and eventually the independence of the North American colonies.
The tax code was aggravated with the colonies seeking independence
In the British policy of repression against the North American colonies, the aggravation of the tax code was one of the important reasons for the escalation of discontent among the colonists, which eventually prompted the colonies to seek independence.
Beginning in the late 17th century, the British government enacted a series of tax laws in order to increase taxes and maintain monopoly interests at home, including the Stamp Duty Ordinance of 1765 and the Townsend Tax Act of 1767.
These tax laws had a direct impact on the business, life and politics of the colonies, stirred up discontent among the colonists, and fueled their determination to seek independence and self-determination.
The Stamp Duty Ordinance of 1765 was the first internal tax introduced by the British government directly against colonists, providing for stamp duty on printed matter, documents, letters, glass, lead and tea.
These taxes directly affected the commercial activities and daily life of the colonies, and the colonists saw this as a manifestation of the British government's disregard for their rights and interests, as they had no representation and could not have a say in the taxation process. This further deepened the dissatisfaction of the colonists with the British authorities.
The enactment of the Stamp Duty Ordinance sparked widespread protests and boycotts in the North American colonies, and colonists organized a campaign against stamp duty, refused to purchase tax-related goods, and resisted the implementation of the tax law by various means.
The move not only expressed their dissatisfaction with the high taxes, but also underscored their desire for freedom and independence.
As protests escalated, the British government repealed the Stamp Duty Ordinance in 1766. However, they did not abandon their intention to tax the colonies.
Soon after, the Townsend Tax Act of 1767 was introduced, which included glass, paint, paper, tea, and a number of other imported goods.
These tax laws were meant to support war and administrative expenses on the British mainland, but made life more difficult in the colonies.
The Townsend Tax Act further provoked anger among the colonists, who saw it as a British violation of their economic autonomy and denied them the right to choose trading partners and obtain more favorable terms of trade.
At the same time, these tax laws were also considered to be a manifestation of the British government's unfair treatment of the colonies, because they imposed taxes without giving the colonists the right to participate in politics.
In order to resist the Townsend Tax Law, colonists again launched a series of protests, the most famous of which was the Boston Tea Party.
During this incident, a group of angry colonists risked arrest on December 16, 1773, by throwing 342 boxes of British East India Company tea into Boston Harbor.
This was the most drastic response to the Townsend Tax Act and became an important trigger for the American Revolution.
The implementation of these tax laws further deepened the dissatisfaction of the North American colonies with British rule, prompting the colonists to seek independence more and more determinedly.
They began to realize that the pursuit of freedom and self-determination was the only way out against Britain's monopolistic interests, and these tax codes became an important factor in the colonists' determination to seek independence and establish a new nation.
The Stamp Duty Ordinance of 1765 and the Townsend Tax Act of 1767 became symbols of the irreconcilable contradictions between the North American colonies and Britain, and the colonists expressed their will through protest and boycott to seek independence and freedom.
This eventually led to the American Revolution, the North American colonies finally gained independence, and a new state, the United States of America, was established, an independence movement that had a profound impact on subsequent world history and became an important symbol of freedom and democracy.
The outbreak of the American Revolutionary War was not just a revolt against the aggravation of the tax code, but a pursuit of the liberal rights and democratic principles of the colonists.
The aggravation of the tax code was only one aspect of Britain's repressive policies, and the fundamental problem with these policies was that the colonists did not have representation and political channels to have a say in the taxation and policy-making process.
This sparked dissatisfaction among the colonists over British rule and fueled their determination to strengthen their unity and seek independence and self-determination.
When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, the resistance of the North American colonies gradually organized to form the Continental Army, commanded by George Washington.
During the war, the colonists showed great will and fighting spirit, and they constantly attacked the British army through guerrilla warfare and tactical flexibility.
The War of Independence lasted for nearly eight years, during which it suffered many difficulties and setbacks, but the colonists persevered and finally won the war.
In 1783, the American Revolutionary War ended, and Britain officially recognized the independence of the United States of America and signed the Treaty of Paris.
Epilogue:
To sum up, the new country established an independent federal republic with the Constitution as the cornerstone, and guaranteed the basic rights and freedoms of citizens, and the United States became the world's first constitutional republic at that time, and also opened a new era of freedom and democracy.
The economic and social order of the North American colonies was severely undermined by the aggravation of the tax code and other repressive policies, but these difficulties did not weaken the determination of the colonists to pursue freedom.
Instead, they drew a strong will from it, and the American Revolution became a great struggle for freedom and democracy, affecting not only the North American continent, but also the pursuit of freedom and human rights elsewhere.
bibliography
DAI Liwen. The evolution of British decolonization policy (1930-1945)[D].Anhui Normal University,2017
JIN Hae. The reaction of the British merchant class to the colonial problem before and after the American Revolutionary War[J].Historical Collections, 2018(1)
Jukura. British colonial policy and the rise of the North American independence movement[J].History Teaching, 2002(8)
YAO Xiaomei,LI Juan. Analysis of the influence of British rule policy on the development of North American colonies and the evolution of relations with the home country[J].Journal of Yibin University, 2006, 6(9)
LEI Fang. The Changing Image of the British King in the Colonies and the Formation of the Consciousness of North American Independence[C]//Studies in Modern World History (Second Series).2005