What Was The Purpose Of The British Colony Essay

Superior Essays
The idea of the British Empire was reliant on it colonies from overseas, dependents, and other interest beyond the English Island. With this the people of the colonies were seen in different perspectives. From the start, the purpose of British colonies were to gain wealth, resources from those places and to mark Great Britain’s place in the world, what better way than planting the “Union Jack” in distant lands. Such as Ireland, India, the Americas, and other continents. The role of government for these ventures was of utmost importance. “After 1801, the kingdom-now consisting of Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England, together known as the United Kingdom-was governed solely and as one from London” (Levine 3). For the people of the English colonies …show more content…
So, how were these subjects treated? It depends on how important the site of the colony is and what it brings to the table for the British Empire. It was also depended on the fact that Great Britain was trying to compete and overtake its European rivals such as France and Spain. “Over the course of the seventeenth century, Britain steadily increased its hold in the West Indies…” (Levine 20). One consequence of this was the growth and promotion of slavery from Africa. The slaves taken from Africa were not really seen as people but as property. This a major issue in the British holdings in the Caribbean Sea. As the English were competing with Spain for control of that …show more content…
The “French and Indian War” also called the “Seven Years’ War.” Made it possible for the Americana Revolution to occur, just at an earlier date than expected. The British won victory in this conflict but at the cost of economic recovery and revenue gained from taxes. In the example from Patrick Henry’s Stamp Act Resolutions, 1765, at the Virginia House of Burgesses, which showed that the American colonist desired unique treatment to take care of their own local affairs. From the fourth resolution passed, “…that His Majesty 's liege people of this his most ancient and loyal colony have without interruption enjoyed the inestimable right of being governed by such laws, respecting their internal policy and taxation, as are derived from their own consent, with the approbation of their sovereign…” (Henry Resolution 4). One of the major reason why the American Revolution occurred was that the economic treatment of the colonies by the mother nation after the “Seven Years’ War” and the fact that the local colony government was being ignore on all sides. “Their elective assembles were frequently stonewalled by colonial governors loyal to the English and appointed by the Crown” (Levine 42). So the change of treatment we can see for the American colonists, at this time, would be that they were viewed as a source of revenue for the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    King George III and the British accumulated a massive debt after the French and Indian war. British Funds experience a dramatic shortage, so Parliament was forced to place taxes on the colonists to offset the accrued war expenses. Paying off the debt from the seven-year war was King George’s main concern. By taxing anyone who was neglected during the seven years’ war the British funds could add to their empire thus by strengthening it more. Taxation came in many forms, the first was the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765) and the Townshend Duties (1767).…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The British empire had to increase revenue in order to recover from the enormous debt it had accumulated and it also had to gain control over a recently doubled in size Empire. The answer to these problems came in the form of a series of taxes and acts on the colonists. However with every act or a newly imposed tax without representation, the colonist began to put their own differences aside in order to unite against a common enemy in the British. Most of the colonists had come to the west with the promise of self governance and having some separation from the Empire, however due to the social and economic constrains placed on them after the war, the colonists were left with no choice but to fight for their independence by means of the American Revolution, leaving England’s attempts at greater control…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Around the same time, Americans helped the British fight the Seven Year War. Once over, British placed multiple taxes such as the Stamp Act, and the Tea Act. The Tea is one of the primary examples of the Americans turning on the British because they fought to keep their guns and their tea while the British attempted to take them away. These acts angered the colonist and helped to justify their relbellion. Using their newly found voice they began to revolt against Britain…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The colonists were able to win the American Revolution against the British, even though they faced several detriments. The colonists were able to achieve victory against their dominant adversary; the British, attributable to numerous factors. However, Assistance from the French, the soldiers’ determination, and their battle tactics were the most influential events that occurred in determining the colonists’ victory in the end. The American Revolution wasn’t the effect of one particular event, rather a series of Acts that Parliament passed that eventually lead to the war.…

    • 1154 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you ever wondered why Great Britain’s colonies decided to separate from their mother country? Why did the colonists feel like Great Britain was no longer interested in what’s best for them? When the colonies were first settled in 1607 King James I assured the settlers that they would have all the rights and privileges of a natural British citizen; so what changed? Was it only because they raised taxes, or was there more to it than that? The American colonies felt that the British government was just taking advantage of them, and that they could better govern themselves than any king or parliament thousands of miles away.…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Following the French and Indian War, in which Britain was victorious, the American colonists began to react to Britain’s rule in an unruly and disorderly manner. As the colonists began to disobey the laws placed onto them by Parliament, English rule grew stricter. Despite the many benefits and protection given to the colonists by the English, they still behaved rebelliously. The colonists’ unpardonable actions resulted in stricter rules being placed on England established the Proclamation of 1763, which was issued to make sure the Native Americans and the British maintained a good relationship. After Britain’s victory in the French and Indian War, the Natives were fearful of losing their land to the British colonists.…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After The Seven Years’ War, Britain was left with an enormous debt and decided to help alleviate that expense through the taxation of the colonies in North America. Two acts of parliament, the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 began the dispute between Britain and America. Based on the current standard of “no taxation without representation”, the colonies disputed the impositions from parliament since they were not being represented in the British House of Commons. Parliament defended their taxes by stating that the colonists were being symbolically represented through the current members of parliament, because they had the best intentions for all the people of Britain. The colonies then began to petition these taxes which lead to new taxes being created.…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The outstanding overall British victory in the French and Indian War is considered to have had a lasting impact on the whole of the British Empire, resulting in the further expansion of the British territory within the New World, modern day America. In spite of the victory, it is realized the overall cost of the war greatly increased Great Britain’s growing debt crisis. All in all, it is realized that the minuscule military and financial help that the English leaders received from the colonists during the French and Indian War influenced their growing desire to further control the New World. Taking this factor into account, the English leaders forged plans to give the British government control over the colony. This triggers the colonialist’s resentment towards the entire British imperial policies.…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Seven Years’ War, or the French and Indian War, was a war between the French and the British over colonial land in the Americas. The British colonist helped Great Britain fight towards their victory. The war left Great Britain in a monstrous debt. Great Britain could not handle the amount of debt racked up by the war, so it was passed onto the colonists through taxes. Native people in Britain only thought it was fair for the colonists to have taxes because they were part of the British Empire.…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Describe each the three long-term effect of colonial settlement in Jamestown. Find a quote from the book that supports your response. Tobacco Huge cash crop, anyone could plant and sell it for profit. “A tobacco rush swept over Virginia, as crops were planted in the streets of Jamestown and even between the numerous graves.…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    With the victory of the French and Indian War, the British had a lot to celebrate over. There was a tremendous sense of nationalism throughout the colonies. The British had just obtained more land to grow and produce, new waterways for transportation to import and export goods allowing them to expand to be an even greater Nation. The war cleaned the British treasury out completely and they needed to come up with new ways to replenish those funds. With this sense of power in hand, the British wanted to focus on ending salutary neglect, by actually enforcing the laws that were created over 150 years prior.…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Sharon Wu Prof. West History 7A October 16, 2014 No Taxation without Representation The Seven Years War, a global conflict known in America as the French and Indian War, took place on May 15, 1756. This war brought to England more land in America and any English Subjects living in America had more land and more money. However, the outcome of the war was not only a victory to Great Britain but also debt to the country.…

    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Which then allowed for Britain to gain more than they would have been able in trade with Africa. While British laws were imposed, enforcement of them may be seen as a fault of the British system in these countries. British officials knew individuals were breaking the law, it was advantageous for Britain to ignore. Never the less Britain remained in control of the two counties and imposed laws as though they were a fellow British…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the Nineteenth century, Britain had the largest empire in the world that covered a quarter of the land surface of the universe. Empire is an essential power that country such as Britain aims to possess for distinctive reasons. Empire was also known as the country presided over or the authority exercised by a ruler who happened to be called an emperor or the territorial possessions of a state outside its strict national boundaries (Porter, 1996). The British Empire had expanded rapidly between 1870 and 1900 in which this expansion had brought a countless benefit to the state. This expansion gave an economic benefit to Britain Empire as it expanded the power of Britain outside their country by introducing free trade, new system and…

    • 1482 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “So also, it was not meant for the territories to live as common people with one destiny under a centralized or federal system.” According to Hembe (2005) cited in Musa and Hassan (2014) “In their attempt to justify colonial administration the British helped to articulate the so-called “ideology of tribalism” which placed undue emphasis on the things that divided rather than those that were common to the people they had brought…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays