Question

<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--> “British economic policies made life difficult for the people living in American colonies which in turn resulted in the American Revolution”. Explain.

Answer 1

Answer:

Introduction:
British economic policies are considered as the main cause of the American Revolution. The independence movement arose in the colonies following a series of critical decisions made by the British government after the end of the war with France in 1763. The majority of policies were discriminatory and thus were refuted by the American colonies.

Body:
British economic policies related to American colonies
Mercantilism
Mercantilism, an economic policy designed to increase a nation's wealth through exports, thrived in Great Britain between the 16th and 18th centuries. Great Britain enforced a wide variety of policies in an attempt to control its massive colonial empire. One of the economic policies it believed in was mercantilism, a policy that colonies exist for the benefit of the mother country.
As per this policy Britain felt it was important to keep the goods and materials from the colonies to themselves.
The Navigation Act
The British Navigation Acts began in 1651 and were designed to keep the benefits of trade confined within the Empire. The use of foreign ships for trade between the colonies and Britain was restricted, and the loss of gold and silver to foreign nations was minimized. The Navigation Acts set the rules for trade between England and its colonies and it prohibited the colonies from trading with France, Spain, the Netherlands or any of those countries' colonies.
Western Land Policies
The British decided to isolate the several areas from the rest of the colonies, where colonists were not allowed to settle or trade.
The essence of the policy was to maintain British control of the fur trade in the West by restricting settlement by the Americans.
Tax Policies
The British victory over the French had come at a high price with the rise in Domestic taxes total government debt had increased.
The British decided that the Americans should share the costs of the military buildup in the colonies.
A series of tax acts were passed by Parliament such as the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act, Quartering Act.
American opposition to these acts was expressed initially in a variety of peaceful forms.
Colonies did not have representation in Parliament, but the colonists did attempt to exert some influence in it through petition and lobbying.
However, Parliament had not given up what is believed to be its right to tax the colonies and the Parliament passed the Declaratory Act stating the British government had the full power and authority to make laws governing the colonies in all cases whatsoever including taxation.
The Tea Act
To assist the financially troubled British East India Company Parliament passed the Tea Act of 1773, which allowed the company to ship tea directly to America.
Impact of these policies on American colonies
Relative poverty in colonies: Due to these the colonies were not able to trade important raw materials materials to other countries and obtain any wealth for themselves. All of the profits went to Britain, and the colonists remained in relative poverty.
Divide between leaders of colonies and leaders of Britain: Though most of these colonists were British in origin, the economic policies led to a belief that the colonial leaders are inferior to homeland leaders even when they have the same rank and designation.
Feeling of resentment: The colonies for long have been trying to maintain peace with the natives of America so that they can have good trading relations with them. However,the economic fruit of their labour was denied to them by the British and this led to serious resentment among the colonists.
Feeling of Discrimination among youth: Many young colonists were not born and brought up in Britain and were intimately involved with persons belonging to other European nations. These young colonies believed that these economic policies existed to punish them for such. It led to a common feeling of discrimination.
Rise in American nationalism: Many of the young colonists have no patriotic feelings for Britain as they never went there. They considered America to be their country. It led to the rise of American nationalism which was consolidated by the feeling of common hardships,resentment and discrimination.

Conclusion:
The British economic policy had both internal and external impacts on the colonists. However, its internal impact was less compared to its external impact. Internally, it brought about changes in the governance system with the government controlling all the resources. It also saw the introduction of a capitalist system of governance. The colonies were made to pay heavy taxes to their colonial masters thereby enriching the British masters resulting in the fueling of exploitation among colonies which in turn resulted in the American Revolution.