Salutary Neglect in the US Colonies
Because of Britain’s salutary neglect policy, the colonies enjoyed a lot of freedom, which in effect led to the development of American society. The colonies benefited from a lack of heavy British political or economic rule, so they established their own legislative assemblies, maintained their own commerce, and became a religiously mixed nation. The neglect of Britain forced the colonists to develop a system of self-government, including colonial legislatures, town halls, and a social hierarchy. These establishments managed the nation’s commerce which consisted of the Triangular Trade, trade with foreign countries, as well as trade amongst themselves. This salutary neglect also guaranteed a large extant of religious freedom.England was deeply involved in civil wars, and hence the colonists were left with their own resources to provide themselves with a form of self-government. One of the earlier examples of self-government was the New England Confederation. Its primary purpose was for protection against the Indians, the French, and the Dutch that the busy English could not provide for them. Although a weak organization, the confederation was the first milestone towards a strong, independent g . . .
The political power was given mainly to the First Families of Virginia, which had the most land. After time, the colonists adopted a new culture, different from the customs of the mother country. In New England, perhaps the most well known people are the Puritans of Massachusetts. England’s lack of attention to its decision proved most useful to the colonists. For example, sermons were shorter, hell was less scorching, and amusements like fox hunting were no longer frowned upon. The Puritans not only recognized themselves as separate from the Church of England, but they also had the blessing of the British crown to practice their own religion. These forms of government were made possible because England hadn’t become too involved with the colonies’ political affairs. Although the British passed the Navigation Acts in 1650, they were poorly enforced and gave the colonies a chance to engage in foreign trade. This was overcome by the use of bribing and smuggling their way around the law. In the period of time prior to 1750 when Britain’s policy of salutary neglect was in order, American benefited in developing its political, economic, and religious society. The benefits of the neglect can further be seen in the fact that British government refused to pay the royal governors with their own expense and forced local legislatures to pay the salaries of their own governors. To make another futile attempt to stop this illegal activity, Parliament passed the Molasses Act. The southern colonies operated almost entirely on self-government. The New Englanders were accustomed to this neglect, so they were struck hard when the Dominion of New England was created by royal authority. The middle colonies were also involved in this illegal trade.
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