AC History Government
Notes: Rising Tensions
I. Theory of Mercantilism
A. 2 ideas on how nations could increases their power and wealth
1. obtain large amounts of gold and silver
2. establish a favorable balance of trade
B. Colonies important in this process because they provided
1. raw materials not found in the mother country
2. new market in which to sell goods
C. English colonies
1. were fulfilling the roles above
2. but were also trading with France, Spain and Holland in the mid 1600s
3. England felt economically threatened by this action and passed a
series of measures known as the Acts of Trade and Navigation,
collectively known as the Navigation Acts
II. Navigation Acts
A. Passed by Parliament beginning in 1651
B. Said:
1. No country could trade with the colonies unless the goods were
shipped in either colonial or English ships
2. All vessels had to be manned by crews that were at least threequarters English or colonial
3. The colonies could export products, including tobacco and sugarand later rice, molasses, and furs- only to England
4. Almost all goods traded between colonies and Europe first had to
be unloaded at an English port, giving jobs to English dockworkers
and money to the English treasury in the form of import taxes on
the good.
C. was actually good for both England and the colonies
D. Still many resented the trade restrictions and smuggled goods illegally
in and out of the colonies
E. for many years England did not enforce the restrictions
F. 1684, King Charles II punished the colonists he thought most resisted
English authority- Massachusetts
1. tensions never really settle between Massachusetts and Englandreason we see a lot of protests and such in Massachusetts and
the New England colonies
IV. Effects of England and French tensions
A. England and France competing for control of Europe since around
1688 and thus less focus was on the colonies
1. colonies were still responsible for exporting raw materials and
importing manufactured good
2. as long as colonies doing this- no real reason for Parliament saw
little reason to devote large amounts of money or soldiers to
enforce its laws in the colonies
B. Tried to increase control on paper though by strengthening the
Navigation Acts by
1. moved smuggling trials from colonial courts to admiralty courts
where the crown appointed the judges
a. colonial courts were usually sympathetic and often found
colonial smugglers not guilty
2. created an advisory board with broad powers to monitor colonial
trade; called the Board of Trade
C. English officials tried to tighten control but really loosened it
D. Salutary Neglect being felt
E. English appointees in the colonies
1. English appointees ran the colonies, in theory
2. In reality, colonial assemblies initiated and passed laws and raised
money through taxes
3. Governor stronger on paper than in reality
a. colonists paid salaries of Governors
b. Governor could veto any law but typically did not because
wanted to be paid and thus needed to make colonists happy
c. colonists used this power to influence a variety of matters
from approval of laws to appointment of judges
F. Colonists becoming VERY accustomed to self-rule
V. Aftermath of the French and Indian War (French and Indian War, (17541763)
A. Native American Relations
1. Pontiac, an Ottawa leader, led many allied tribes into battle
against the British called Pontiac’s Rebellion
a. captured 8 British forts in Ohio River Valley and laid siege
to others
b. angry, British officers gave small-pox infected blankets to
two Delaware chiefs during peace negotiations; virus
spread quickly
c. tired of fighting and weakened by disease, most Indian
groups negotiated treaties with Britain by end of 1765
B. Proclamation Line of 1763
1. issued by British to avoid further conflict with the Indian tribes
2. said no colonies could settle west of the Appalachian Mountains
and those already there had to come back East of the Mountains
3. said area between Appalachian Mountains and Mississippi River
reserved for the Indians
4. Pontiac’s Rebellion put down soon after Proclamation Line issued
C. Colonists Reactions
1. colonists ANGRY about the ban on moving to the newly gained land
2. British could not enforce the line so colonists continued to move
onto Native American lands
3. Line convinced colonists England did not care about their needs
4. Cost of war brought new laws which reinforced this feeling
VI. Going from bad to worse…..
A. Other
1. British soldiers stationed in new territory to keep Native
Americans and French under control
a. England saw as protection for colonies
b. colonists saw as a standing army that could turn on them if
the expressed too much liberty
c. maintaining the troops costly; added to the rapidly growing
debt of England
B. George Greenville becomes Prime Minister, 1763
1. to combat the growing debt, King George III appoints finical
expert Greenville
2. Greenville noticed customs duties (import taxes) were losing
money and assumed the colonists were smuggling goods in to avoid
the tax- takes action with the Sugar Act
C. Sugar Act
1. Greenville prompted Parliament to pass in 1764
2. did 3 things
a. halved duty on foreign-made molasses (hoped colonists
would pay lower tax than risk arrest
b. placed duties on previously untaxed imports
c. strengthen enforcement of laws- allowed prosecutors to try
smugglers in a vice-admiralty court as opposed to a colonial
court
(1) one judge, no jury
(2) judge received 5% of any cargo the court
confiscated from convicted smugglers
3. Colonists’ Reactions
a. complained the Act would decrease profits
b. felt Britain was violating their rights
c. claimed Britain had no right to tax because they had no
representation in Parliament
4. Really only effected merchants and traders