Ch. 3 The Colonies Come of Age
Ch. 3.1 England and Its Colonies
What are the colonies?
Ch. 3.1 England and Its Colonies
Section Objectives:
1. Explain the economic relationship between England and its
American colonies.
2. Describe how tensions arose between England and the
colonies.
3. Summarize how salutary neglect of the colonies after 1688
planted the seeds of self-government.
1. England and Its Colonies Prosper
• Real purpose of the colonial system was to enrich Britain.
A. Mercantilism
• Mercantilism- A theory that states
a nation could increase its wealth
and power by obtaining as much
gold and silver as possible.
• Also, by establishing a favorable
balance of trade, in which the nation
sold more goods than it bought.
B. The Navigation Acts
• Colonial merchants began selling
goods to Spain, France, and Holland
to increase their wealth.
• England viewed this as an economic
threat.
• Parliament- England’s legislative body,
passed a series of laws in 1651.
• Navigation Acts- A series of laws restricting
colonial trade.
How do you think this made the colonists feel?
2. Tensions Emerge
• Colonial merchants still traded illegally (smuggling) with other
countries, in 1684 King Charles II acted.
A. Crackdown in Massachusetts
• Believed they did not have to follow
English law.
• Their charter for self government was
revoked (royal colony).
B. The Dominion of New England
• King James II succeeded his brother
Charles in 1685 and created the
Dominion of New England.
• Dominion of New England- The area from
southern Maine to New Jersey controlled
by a single ruler in Boston.
• Sir Edmund Andros- A veteran military
officer chosen by King James to rule
New England.
C. The Glorious Revolution
• King James II was a Roman Catholic,
England preferred the Protestant
religion.
• Glorious Revolution- The transfer of
the British monarchy from James II
to William and Mary in 1688-1689.
• A bloodless rebellion occurred in New
England, Andros was arrested and the
colonies were restored.
3. England Loosens the Reins
• After 1688, England focused its attention on France for control
of Europe.
A. Salutary Neglect
• Salutary Neglect- An English policy
of relaxing the enforcement of
regulations in its colonies in return for
the colonies’ continued economic
loyalty.
B. The Seeds of Self-Government
• Governor (appointed by King), advisory
council (appointed by governor), local
assembly (elected by land-owning white
males)
• Salutary Neglect gave the colonists its
first real taste of self-government, and
helped plant the seed for rebellion.
• Salutary Neglect worked in the first half
of the 1700s because the colonists were
still loyal to Britain.