By the first quarter of the 1600, the English had sent
their first settlers to the new continent. Following their
neighboring country Spain, they decided to try their luck as
well. The English were not the only ones who tried to settle this
new continent but for the purpose of this paper, we will learn
how the English have failed to operate their own operation
causing the colonies to rebel. The American Revolution was
inevitable because of the English lack of ability to make good
managerial decisions.
The English saw the colonies as a source of revenue. The English
civil war in the 1640, put the English in debt and they were
looking for ways to find a solution out of it. The first mistake
or bad attitude came shortly after when England discovered its
colonies. Trade and Mercantilism were introduced to the colonies
and to the English government. The colonists believed that their
power is hidden in free trade and were motivated by
self-interest, which they believed would help to develop a strong
economic strength. The English Government on the other hand, saw
the opportunity to limit the colonies trade and shift it to go
through them. Starting at 1660, the English government enforced 4
navigation acts. The 4 acts were dealing with the way to trade
and were limiting the colonist to choose a carrier for the goods,
transferring good from one colony to the other, receiving goods
from foreign ships and lastly creating a custom system which will
be regulated by England. Those acts were forced on the colonies
and therefore a black market was created and this was the first
act the England had put down on the colonies but maybe that was
the first act that helped the colonies to realize that they are
becoming an important economic power which will do much better on
its own.
The Stamp Act (1765) was the first act that really drove the
colonies into thinking that they might be better of without
England. The core of the act was that for the first time the
English government reached its hands into the heart of the
day-to-day life of the colonies. The act again was to bring more
revenue from the colonies to England. The act imposed that every
Legal document, passports insurance document, liquor license,
newspapers would have to be stamped or other wise be void or not
be able to be sold. The English believed that the colonies should
pay for the protection they are getting from Mother England but
with this attitude we can see that England and the colonies are
like Two separate entities therefore we can understand why the
colonies did not like this new act which was reaching into their
life and required them to pay more money without receiving
anything tangible for it.
Feeling desperate and hopeless against the Stamp Act, the
colonists turn to a violent response. The English government
assumed that they can just reach in and collect more money from
the actions and way of life of the colonists without providing
them with anything in additional to what they already were giving
them.
The colonies felt that the Stamp Act was really unfair and that
drove them into what we call today, the Boston riots. A group of
about 50 demonstrators went marching towards Andrew
Oliver’s house. Andrew Oliver was the Stamp officer.
They destroyed his Stamp office and his
house. A few days later after the success they had with
vandalizing Andrew Oliver’s house, they went to Governor
Hutchinson’s house and this time, they completely destroyed
his house. The Boston riots were an important retaliation from
the colonies side as well as for the English Government. The
colonists saw that although the Government in England is not
sensitive to their needs and would not try to come up with ways
to keep them happy under their wing, the colonists saw that there
is another way, fighting for what is good for them. The English
Government should have seen this coming and had they came up with
a more productive way to benefit themselves from the colonies,
the anger and desperation would have stopped there.
The Tea Act was enforced on 1773. The Tea was shipped from the
East India Company
to England and from England to America. The new tax was hitting
the shipment upon arrival to England and once again upon arrival
to America. From an economic point of view, this act resulted
with higher price for the tea, which led again to a market for
smugglers. Making the trade of tea more difficult just cause more
frustration at the colonies. Again the English Government saw an
opportunity to tighten the hands of the colonies while they are
making a profit out of it. The merchants in the colonies saw the
success of the Boston riots and now the solution was clear. In
order to change what they don’t like, they need to fight
for it! At the beginning they refused to buy the Tea from England
and they sent the ships back or just would not sell the Tea upon
arrival. Shortly after the Boston Massacre (a deadly
demonstration in front of Governor Hutchinson’s house)
Hutchinson order to seal the harbor so the colonists could not
sent the ships back to England. The patriots of Boston held a
meeting but due to the Governor action, they knew that the way
out of this situation is again to fight! A group of rebels went
into the Harbor that night and throw the shipment into the Boston
harbor. This was the first time that the colonists deliberately
destroyed English property that was intended to bring revenue to
mother England. At this point the English Government should have
looked at the situation and realize that they could no longer put
any pressure on the colonies. They should have found another way
to work with the colonies but as we know today, they did not.
The English Government was shocked with the way the colonies are
reacting to what they believed was good for the English crown as
a whole. The English parliament came up with the Coercive Acts
that were referred by the colonies as the Intolerable Acts. From
the way the two sides titled those Acts we can see that at that
point they were heading for war. The English parliament hoped
that the colonies will back off and except England as the ruler
of the new world and on the other hand, the colonies had just
enough of the English parliament throwing all those revenue
rising acts on them. The acts were as followed; the quartering
act enable English troops to stay at houses and get supply from
the colonies.
They closed the Boston port until the money for the lost tea will
be paid. They allowed British officials to be trail in a
different colony or if they wished, back in England. They gave
the Governor of Massachusetts the power to control the
town’s meetings. All of those acts were driving democracy
out and bringing
English anarchy in.
The colonies new that this situation is like a snowball going
down hill. They set up the first continental congress in order to
solve the problems that the Intolerable Acts were causing. This
congress meeting was also very important because for the first
time, 13 colonies got together as one unit to find a way to
present themselves as one. They decided that the parliament has
no right to tax them or regulate their trading habits. They
decided to stop trading with England until England will drop the
Acts. England did not back off.
Just before the war broke loose, the colonies set up the second
continental congress. The purpose of this meeting was to unite
against the English troops and get organized for war.
Nevertheless, the colonies felt really bad about how the
situation went so sour and they were also still loyal to King
George III. They came up with the Olive Branch petition. They
asked the King to get involved and get the parliament off. The
king’s response was that the colonies are rebelling and the
war started.
The war with England was inevitable. England was so successful in
becoming the strong power in the new world but on the other hand,
failed almost completely to govern its own people. All those acts
were presented to the colonists in a way that they could not see
the benefit for them, if there was any. The English government
slowly but surely pushed the colonies away. In a way, if it was
not for England bad decision-making policy, it is likely to
assume that the colonies would have stayed under the crown even
till today! The English government saw that the colonies are
becoming very productive and strong in trade but on the other
hand, they failed to see that the exact same colonies are upset
and are able to lift their head up and fight. If they were so
important to the English government then how come the English
government did not find a solution that will keep them (the
colonies) happy in the long run? Mistake after mistake caused the
English Crown to loose it’s most valuable asset and gave
liberty to the individuals who went over seas to find a better
place then home.
Work cited
John M. Murrin, et al. Liberty, Equality, Power. Concise Second
Edition, Volume I to 1877. Harcourt College
Poblishers.
Autor:
Shahar Alon