Restriction Acts

Formation of the North American nation

Growth of business and industrial activity in the colonies

In the middle of the XVIII century in the English colonies in America a single internal market began to form, trade links between the northern and southern colonies were strengthened. From the southern colonies cotton, tobacco were brought to the north, from the north to the south grain, industrial products, and fish were carried.

The number of people before the War of Independence in the 13 English colonies was about 2.5 million people (not including the local population - Indians). During life on American earth the colonists formed a kind of common culture and way of life, different from the European. English became a common language. The vast majority of colonists defined their nationality as not the country of origin, but as the new home, they spoke with pride about themselves: "We are the Americans."

The new nation was like a community of enterprising business people who have achieved success through hard work. There was a popular "American legend" about a man who arrived on the continent with a few coins in his pocket, worked hard, did hard work and finally succeeded - became rich and respected. Not every American, of course, turned into a rich man, but this was the legend of the young American capitalism.

The formation of a new ideology was due to the activities of the American Enlighteners. Relying on the ideas of the European Enlightenment, they created new ideals of the American nation. Life and work of the American Enlightenment - Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, became an example of the realization of these ideals.

Colonial era

Early settlers had a variety of reasons for coming to America. The Puritans of Massachusetts wanted to create a purified religion in New England. Other colonies, such as Virginia, were founded principally as business ventures. England's success at colonizing what would become the United States was due in large part to its use of charter companies. Charter companies were groups of stockholders (usually merchants and wealthy landowners) who sought personal economic gain and, perhaps, wanted also to advance England's national goals. While the private sector financed the companies, the King also provided each project with a charter or grant conferring economic rights as well as political and judicial authority. The colonies generally did not show quick profits, however, and the English investors often turned over their colonial charters to the settlers. The political implications, although not realized at the time, were enormous. The colonists were left to build their own lives, their own communities, and their own economy. Throughout the colonies, people lived primarily on small farms and were self-sufficient. In the few small cities and among the larger plantations of South Carolina, and Virginia, some necessities and virtually all luxuries were imported in return for tobacco, rice, and indigo exports.

Small local industries emerged as the colonies grew, such as sawmills, and gristmills (лесопилки,мельницы). Entrepreneurs established shipyards to build fishing fleets and, in time, trading vessels and built iron forges. By the 18th century, regional patterns of development had become clear: the New England colonies relied on shipbuilding and sailing to generate wealth; plantations (many using slave labor) in Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas grew tobacco, rice, and indigo; and the middle colonies of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware shipped general crops and furs. Except for slaves, standards of living were generally high—higher, in fact, than in England itself.

New England

The New England region's economy grew steadily over the entire colonial era, despite the lack of a staple crop that could be exported. All the province and many towns as well, tried to foster economic growth by subsidizing projects that improved the infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, inns and ferries. They gave bounties and subsidies or monopolies to sawmills, grist mills, iron mills, pulling mills (which treated cloth), salt works and glassworks. Most important, colonial legislatures set up a legal system that was conducive to business enterprise by resolving disputes, enforcing contracts, and protecting property rights. Hard work and entrepreneurship characterized the region, as the Puritans and Yankees endorsed the "Protestant Ethic", which enjoined men to work hard as part of their divine calling.

The benefits of growth were widely distributed in New England, reaching from merchants to farmers to hired laborers. The rapidly growing population led to shortages of good farm land on which young families could establish themselves; one result was to delay marriage, and another was to move to new lands farther west. In the towns and cities, there was strong entrepreneurship, and a steady increase in the specialization of labor. Wages for men went up steadily before 1775; new occupations were opening for women, including weaving, teaching, and tailoring. The region bordered New France, and in the numerous wars the British poured money in to purchase supplies, build roads and pay colonial soldiers. The coastal ports began to specialize in fishing, international trade and shipbuilding—and after 1780 in whaling. Combined with growing urban markets for farm products, these factors allowed the economy to flourish despite the lack of technological innovation.

So, before the War of Independence British colonies formed the North American nation. It had all the signs of a nation, except independence.

Restriction Acts

The British government, fearing a series of Indian wars, believed that the lands should be opened on

a more gradual basis. Restricting movement was also a way of ensuring royal control over existing settlements before allowing the formation of new ones. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 reserved all the western territory between the Allegheny Mountains, Florida, the Mississippi River, and Quebec for use by Native Americans. Thus the Crown attempted to sweep away every western land claim of the 13 colonies and to

stop westward expansion. Although never effectively enforced, this measure, in the eyes of the colonists,

constituted a high-handed disregard of their fundamental right to occupy and settle western lands.

More serious in its repercussions was the new British revenue policy. London needed more money to support its growing empire and faced growing taxpayer discontent at home. It seemed reasonable enough that the colonies should pay for their own defense. That would involve new taxes, levied by Parliament — at the expense of colonial self-government

1621 Virginia tobacco can be sold only in England. English tobacco crop prohibited.

1650-51 Navigation Acts forbid import of all goods except in English ships or ships owned by producing country (No third parties); foreign ships barred from the colonies. Acts are not anti-Colonial, but aimed at Dutch; Dutch War breaks out 1652; peace in 1654

1660 Provides for no goods in and out of colonies except in British ships or ships with 1/4 British crews; Certain goods (indigo, sugar, tobacco) may be shipped only to England.

1662 Goods may be imported in English-built ships only

1663 Staples Act: European goods bound for the colonies must go in English-built ships from England. Colonial governors may grant authority to naval officers.

1673 Duties are to be assessed at port of clearance to prevent plantation owners from evading laws; also, inter-colonial duties imposed on tobacco, sugar, etc.

1675 Charles II designates certain Privy Councilors as "Lords of Trade and Plantations"; seeks to make colonies more profitable; Lords of Trade handle virtually all colonial affairs.

1696 Act confines all colonial trade to English-built ships; toughens enforcement procedures to collect duties; voids colonial laws passed in opposition to the Navigation Acts; creates the Board of Commissioners for Trade and Plantations. The Board’s 15 members provide centralized control.

1698 Wool Act. Prohibits export of colonial woolen cloth—raw wool only.

1732 Hat Act—no hats exported from colonies. Danbury, Connecticut, hit.

1733 Molasses Act—Protects West Indian planters; imposes duty on rum; virtually unenforceable in the colonies because of smuggling-Americans very adept. Duty on rum is very high.

1750 Iron Acts ban iron finishing in colonies; ensures sufficient pig-iron supply to England.

1764 Sugar Act. The beginning of the pre-Revolutionary acts.

Although the colonists did not object in theory to these acts, they went out of their way to avoid the consequences of them by refusing to pay duties, smuggling, etc. Colonial governors could enforce these acts only with difficulty, and even though various levels of authority were granted to naval officers, enforcement was expensive and in the end impractical. Although the seeds of revolution do not begin to take hold firmly until the 1760s, tension grows between colonies and mother country throughout this period.

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