British Pov Pre-American Revolution Issues

British Pov Pre-American Revolution Issues

Gillian Swanson Debate: British
APUS Summary
The British and the colonist had many disagreements throughout time. Some of these conflicts include the Proclamation of 1763, representation and the rights of colonists, the Boston Massacre, and taxation on the colonists.
The Proclamation of 1763 was issued by King George III. His goal was to organize Great Britain’s new Native American empire and to stabilize relations with Indians by regulating trade, settlement, and land purchases. The Proclamation also set a boundary line between the colonies and the Indian Reserves. The reasoning behind this proclamation was to avoid war with the Indians and to ensure that all British colonies had the opportunity to be an active part of the the British mercantile system. The British did not develop any sympathy for the Indians, the finally realized that war was expensive and demanding. There were not enough soldiers in the west to keep the peace. The number one priority for the British was to make sure that their newly acquired land was populated and traded from. The proclamation line helped the British because any colonies west of the line would have to be highly self-sufficient and would not be able to trade with the British.
One of the issues was actual vs. virtual representation. Great Britain practiced virtual representation with the colonies. This means that a member of parliament virtually represents every person in the British Empire. The colonists felt that they were being misrepresented. But virtual representation was not unheard of in the colonies. In the Virginia House of Burgesses a representative was allowed to live in one county while representing another county. The colonists also refused to see that sending a representative overseas to London for every Parliament meeting would be extremely inconvenient.
Colonists also felt that the taxes imposed by Great Britain were unfair. But the British treasury needed money to support...

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