To what extent was the American revolution caused by the economic oppression of the colonies by the mother country Great Britain?
Review:
Mercantilist system ensured the nation’s supremacy by demanding its colonies to supply raw resources and provide a guaranteed market.
BAD THINGS ABOUT MERCANTILISM
* Were not allowed to buy goods from other nations
* Had to trade with Britain only
* Goods such as beaver hats, tobacco, cloth, etc. to Britain only even if prices in foreign markets were higher
* Laws passed such as navigation laws which restricted commerce to and from English ships only to strengthen britain’s economy and navy but was “loosely” controlled
* Export/import taxes
* America had to complement not compete with Britain
GOOD THINGS
* America learned to smuggle and avoid the restrictions placed by the navigation laws
* They did not have to pay taxes to support their own army b/c Britain already had a strong navy
* “prosperity trickles down” London worked for the benefit of the entire empire and these profits were shared among the colonies
* Had a monopoly over several markets esp Virginia and other southern states over tobacco
TAXES
* Because of the French and Indian war, Britain had a lot of debt and had to pay it off by raising revenue through the stamp tax (tax payed on mandated paper and other legal documents), quartering act, Townshend acts (import duty on tea, glass, paper, paint, etc.), intolerable acts after boston tea party
* Colonies believed that only their representatives could demand taxes within themselves, not from Britain in parliament
THESIS: According to Carl N. Degler’s Out of the Past, the American Revolution was more in part espoused by political rather than economic means as America began to come of age and assert her own authority. Although London’s tight control of its fiscal policies seemed unfair, the Americans were to a greater extent concerned about creating their own...