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  • Essay / The origin of the conflict between Great Britain and the North American colonies

    "Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the essay original Throughout the 18th century, Great Britain was victorious in many wars across the world, leading to its emergence as a global superpower As Britain conquered lands such. than the majority of the North American colonies during wars such as the French and Indian War, it accumulated a considerable debt to the tightening of screws in the colonies. Great Britain and its North American colonies, the origin of their conflict is mainly economic The conflict between Great Britain and its colonies was mainly of economic origin due to the The acts imposed by Great Britain and their. vision of the role of the colonies adhered to the idea of ​​mercantilism: the wealth of a country was measured by the quantity of gold and silver it possessed. Thus, the colonies existed only to support their mother country. economically by providing goods and a market for British exports. After the French and Indian War, Britain implemented the policy of mercantilism. In general, the colonies' foreign trade was limited due to mercantilism, as all goods were reserved for the British. This is significant because the American colonists soon experienced many shortages and their economy was stifled. The value of the paper money they printed quickly depreciated. In addition, Britain also imposed economic measures that led to conflict. One of these laws was the Stamp Act, which required all "official documents" to be stamped and subject to a fee. Such an act, according to Document 2, was "extremely burdensome and distressing" and "the restrictions imposed... render them incapable of purchasing the manufactured goods of Great Britain". This act is important to the origin of their conflict because the British were tightening the screws on the colonists, inflicting a shortage of money on them while the British saw no reason why they should not also be burdened with debt. Document 2 issued by the Stamp Act Congress is significant because it was the first gathering of elected representatives from several American colonies to craft a unified protest against Britain's new taxation. The creation of this meeting shows how seriously the colonists considered taxation without representation. Finally, other atrocious acts imposed by Britain were the Sugar Act and Townshend Act, which added to the conflict. The Sugar Act was hated because once again the colonists did not see why they should pay the tax. The Townshend Acts were even more despised because they added a tax on tea, something everyone drank. As a result of such acts, the colonists rebelled, considering themselves slaves: "if Great Britain can order us to pay taxes... we are as abject slaves as France and Poland..." (Doc 4 ). This is significant because these acts, particularly the Townshend Acts, led to Britain placing two regiments in the colonies, further inflaming the conflict. The fact that the statements in Document 4 are taken from Letters from an American Farmer by John Dickinson is significant because it shows the extent to which farmers in the middle of the social scale considered themselves still inferior to the acts imposed by the British , to the point of comparing themselves to slaves. In total, the controversies"