AP History/ British didn't have to lose the Colonies
Were it not for the oversights, mistakes, and misjudgments of British leadership, the American colonies would still be territory of Great Britain. Parliament had the power to declare the colonies exempt from taxation, increased colonial dependency on Britain, or given the colonies a form of government that while subject to the King's veto, would have been an equally powerful counterpart of Parliament that would have ruled over the colonies alone, circumventing the need for rebellion by allowing more freedoms.I. Parliament/King could have declared the colonies exempt from the taxes enforced on English merchants. A. Even if the British merchants complained, they were powerless.1. They relied on the colonies for a large portion of business. 2. The non-importation agreements proved the power of the colonies over the British economy.3. The repealing of the Stamp Act proved that mercantilism was a double-edged sword, forcing the economy to become dependent on the colonies for trade and material.B. Keeping on good terms with the colonial merchants proved important.1. There was a monopoly on tobacco and tobacco prices, an important and widely exported staple product.
England could have destroyed French holdings in the West Indies to prevent an abundance of trade with the French, and harassed Spanish shipping to the point where Spanish goods were too expensive to buy. If the citizens didn't feel pressured or misused, they wouldn't revolt. The "Colonial Parliament," could handle the federal taxes. American succession from Great Britain was avoidable had Britain not made critical political mistakes. Parliament/King could have increased colonial dependence. Instead of trying to leach money from the colonies, Britain could have made sure the colonies had an edge on trade by letting the colonies prosper, untaxed, which would "trickle down," to the merchants in Britain.
Common topics in this essay:
Stamp Act,
Colonial Parliament,
Britain Parliament,
III Parliament/King,
Native Americans,
Atlantic England,
West Indies,
,
Britain British,
stamp act,
2 colonists,
British Empire,
veto equally powerful,
own government answering,
british economy,
2 colonial,
1 colonists,
3 colonists,
equally powerful,
powerful counterpart,
2 colonial parliament,
represented controlling own,
non-importation agreements,
counterpart parliament,
government answering crown,
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