By the mid-late seventeen century the British Empire was flourishing, owning colonies in all major continents; a grand empire on which the sun never set. The most prolific and illustrious colonies of England were the thirteen American colonies. These colonies got a taste of freedom that they will never forget during the Glorious Revolution, which launched the tradition of salutary neglect. Robert Walpole believed that if the colonies were not heavily taxed and had the opportunity to engage in illegal trading all the extra money these colonies will make will inevitably come back to England, since the Americans had a tendency of shopping their money away. Brittan neglected their colonies in the Western land until the French and Indian War, the first time in which British troops battled in North America. The minute Brittan won the war the American colonist realized that they might not enjoy the presence of their mother (country) after all. After seven years of war Brittan invested most of its capital into winning this war, thus remaining with nothing but more Western land that needed to be managed. The end of the French and Indian War meant an empty treasury for Brittan, and the only way to refill it was by enacting laws that enabled the mother country to overtax its colonies.
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The British Empire saw the American Colonies as one of the primary causes of this war, thus making them responsible for its reimbursements. As soon as George Grenville got hold of the prime minister seat he wrote the Grenville Acts, five pieces of law that aimed to heavily tax the thirteen American colonies. Four of these Acts were considered by the western colonist as legitimate, external taxes and accepted them even though it left them with a bitter taste. However, when it came to the Stamp Act of 1765, the Americans reached a crisis point that will not end until the American Revolution. The colonists shouted: “Taxation without representation is tyranny!”, but what they truly meant was a little bit more complicated. As libertine colonies which have enjoyed salutary neglect they were able to create and instill democracy not only in their government but in their daily beliefs, far different from what England had done with any other colony. The English Parliament was poorly represented for even England itself, autocracy still floating in the air. Only seven percent of the entire population of England could actually vote for an elected men in parliament. For the British system the entire empire was virtual represented by these men which were elected in Parliament by only seven percent of England, not the whole kingdom. This was very different from the town meetings the Americans have accustomed with for decades; where every head of the family, every freemen could vote for a selectmen and a depute to represent them in the General Court. The Americans called for an actual representation that required an election consisting of the majority if not the entire population’s vote, while the British laughed at these colonist’s nonsense. Another very different mentality between the royal country and its colonies was the common-law regarding taxation that became part of the American philosophy. The colonists divided their taxation and affairs in two different groups: internal and external. The Americans believed that internal taxations were to be settled by the government of each colony which would collect such taxes in order to deal with any internal issues that may arise; for example Virginians were internally taxed by the House of Burgesses in order to repair the roads of Virginia. On the other hand, external taxation was to be handled by England; any tax on trade, defense, etc. could be endorsed by Parliament as long as the money collected were later used to help the colonies’ trade, defensed, or deal with any “Indian Affairs” that the colonies might confront with. Such things were never associated with the imperialistic thinking, and the Parliament never settled to the democratic terms in which the colonists strongly believed in. What created the Stamp Act Crisis was the fact that this piece of law neglected both of the common laws by which the
The British Empire saw the American Colonies as one of the primary causes of this war, thus making them responsible for its reimbursements. As soon as George Grenville got hold of the prime minister seat he wrote the Grenville Acts, five pieces of law that aimed to heavily tax the thirteen American colonies. Four of these Acts were considered by the western colonist as legitimate, external taxes and accepted them even though it left them with a bitter taste. However, when it came to the Stamp Act of 1765, the Americans reached a crisis point that will not end until the American Revolution. The colonists shouted: “Taxation without representation is tyranny!”, but what they truly meant was a little bit more complicated. As libertine colonies which have enjoyed salutary neglect they were able to create and instill democracy not only in their government but in their daily beliefs, far different from what England had done with any other colony. The English Parliament was poorly represented for even England itself, autocracy still floating in the air. Only seven percent of the entire population of England could actually vote for an elected men in parliament. For the British system the entire empire was virtual represented by these men which were elected in Parliament by only seven percent of England, not the whole kingdom. This was very different from the town meetings the Americans have accustomed with for decades; where every head of the family, every freemen could vote for a selectmen and a depute to represent them in the General Court. The Americans called for an actual representation that required an election consisting of the majority if not the entire population’s vote, while the British laughed at these colonist’s nonsense. Another very different mentality between the royal country and its colonies was the common-law regarding taxation that became part of the American philosophy. The colonists divided their taxation and affairs in two different groups: internal and external. The Americans believed that internal taxations were to be settled by the government of each colony which would collect such taxes in order to deal with any internal issues that may arise; for example Virginians were internally taxed by the House of Burgesses in order to repair the roads of Virginia. On the other hand, external taxation was to be handled by England; any tax on trade, defense, etc. could be endorsed by Parliament as long as the money collected were later used to help the colonies’ trade, defensed, or deal with any “Indian Affairs” that the colonies might confront with. Such things were never associated with the imperialistic thinking, and the Parliament never settled to the democratic terms in which the colonists strongly believed in. What created the Stamp Act Crisis was the fact that this piece of law neglected both of the common laws by which the