Summarize the political, economic, and social developments from 1763 Essay

Summarize the political, economic, and social developments from 1763 to 1775 that led to the war between the American colonies and England - Essay Example The annihilation of the Stamp Act and unpopular taxes in 1765-1766 have improved the relations between American provinces and Britain but the American agents have felt that they are able to claim greater economic and political independence in creating and controlling the inner market. When William Pitt became the head of administration the tensions decreased to some extend in summer 1766, especially taking into account his Declaratory Act in which the American colonies were granted freedom in terms of inner taxation. Business and politics in England during the 18th century was based on the personal relations, such bonds as amity and marriage were of high importance in developing the trading community. For example, the religious beliefs tied men in economic ventures - Quakers dealt only with co-religionists. The Currency Act of 1764 was introduced by the Board of Trade and it was less severe than intended by the commission. Unlike the Act of 1751 which established the rules for bills, the new Act of 1764 was more a compromise among the merchants, agents and commissioners of trade. Such bill of credit was beneficial for the colonies because the money was already retiring and in the years 1766-1768 the amount of cash circulating was continuously decreasing. When the French and Indian wars were at the concluding stage, the protection of American colonies was perceived as the major task - the British government has sent 10,000 troops to North America in order to defend the new territories1. It has led to the constitutional disputes. The Grenville ministry realised that the price for protection was too high - the debt increased while the participation of American troops in colony protection was minimal. As the result, the colonial assemblies had devoted all their efforts to limit the agent's freedom of action and challenged their political authority in America. The arrival of the British troops caused the constitutional and political debates about the rights and freedoms of colonies. The Mutiny Acts were regularly passed as the part of the Revolutionary Settlement of 1688 while when there was an attempt to extend these acts to America, the questions regarding the personal freedoms of individual and the questionable power of Parliament in colonies were raised. Moreover, the troops had no permanent facilities and the local population was expected to support them with food and housing, however, in many colonies the civil authorities refused to provide any services to the British troops. In addition, very little was done to reduce the three-pence duty - the tax the Americans believed was prohibitive and slowed down the development of the Northern colonies. The ministry did not accept this analysis and passed the duty into practice, as the result, many of the officials executing this law were seized and imprisoned by the local authorities. Weakness of the British Administration During the winter 1765-1766 the British colonial policies were influenced the most both by the colonial agents and British merchants2. The Stamp Act was annihilated, the taxes on imports were reduced and the trade laws became less strict. Even though these changes seem to be not important and small, they became the beginning of separation from the motherland - Britain. The American Whigs have boycotted the British goods and managed to put