Which best describes the perspective Britain had regarding its relationship with the American colonies in the latter half of the eighteenth century?
1. The Colonies: 1690-1715 Show
It does not seem difficult to find out the reasons why the people multiply faster here than in Europe. As soon as a person is old enough he may marry in these provinces without any fear of poverty. There is such an amount of good land yet uncultivated that a newly married man can, without difficulty, get a spot of ground where he may comfortably subsist with his wife and children. The taxes are very low, and he need not be under any concern on their account. The liberties he enjoys are so great that he considers himself as a prince in his possessions.It is fitting to begin this toolbox on the British Atlantic colonies from 1690 to 1763 with the theme GROWTH. From 260,000 settlers in 1700, the colonial population grew eight times to 2,150,000 in 1770. (In comparison, the French colonial population grew from 15,000 to 90,000 in 1775, i.e., just 4% of the English total.) In fact, the English colonial population doubled almost every 25 years in the 1700s.2 If the U.S. population had doubled since 1983, it would be 468 million (not 300 million) in 2007. In this section we capture a snapshot of the British Atlantic colonies around the turn of the 18th century. In 1700 Jamestown was 93 years old, Charleston 37 years old, and Philadelphia only 19 years old. There were two Jerseys but only one Carolina, and Georgia wouldn't be settled until 33 years later. Note that all the readings in this section, except the travel journal, were written to inform a European audience to promote emigration, provide status reports, or, in one case, to accuse the governor of abuse of power. What overall view do they give of the colonies at this time?
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NOTE ON THE SCOPE OF THIS TOOLBOX: In American Beginnings: 1492-1690, the first toolbox in the Toolbox Library, we study all the peoples who settled North America—Native Americans, Norse, Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, Dutch, Swedish, and Russians. In this toolbox, Becoming American, we narrow our focus to the British Atlantic colonies from 1690-1763, especially those that became the United States of America. Listing the colonies as of 1690 reveals how fluid were the boundaries and political dynamics of the British Atlantic colonies. In that year, the colonies that would become the United States of America 86 years later were:
One final note on the names "England" and "Britain." In 1707 England and Scotland united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, so we will use "England" when referring to pre-1707 texts and events, and "Britain" for texts and events from 1707 forward. 1 Peter Kalm's Travels in North America: The English Version of 1770, revised from the original Swedish and edited by Adolph B. Benson (Wilson-Erickson, 1937); reprint edition (Dover, 1966), p. 211.
2 T. H. Breen & Timothy Hall, Colonial America in an Atlantic World: A Story of Creative Interaction (New York: Pearson/Longman, 2004), p. 257. Image: Philip Lea, map, North America divided into its III principall parts, 1685, details. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Geography & Map Division, #G3300 1685 .L4 TIL Vault. *PDF file - You will need software on your computer that allows you to read and print Portable Document Format (PDF) files, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this software, you may download it FREE from Adobe's Web site. What was the relationship between Britain and the American colonies like?Relations with Britain were amiable, and the colonies relied on British trade for economic success and on British protection from other nations with interests in North America. In 1756, the French and Indian War broke out between the two dominant powers in North America: Britain and France.
What was the relationship between Britain and the colonies leading up to the American Revolution?The American Revolution was principally caused by colonial opposition to British attempts to impose greater control over the colonies and to make them repay the crown for its defense of them during the French and Indian War (1754–63).
What was the British perspective on the American colonial rebellion?Like their king, the British public initially hardened against the rebels in the colonies. After the Boston Tea Party, King George III wanted stronger more coercive measures against the colonists, perceiving that leniency in British regulation as the culprit of the escalating tension in North America.
How did the British government view the North American colonies in the first half of the eighteenth century?During the first half of the eighteenth century, England's administration of the colonies: Was loose, decentralized and inefficient. During the first half of the eighteenth century, royal officials in America: Contributed to England's overall lax control of the colonies.
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