Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Essay --
It is difficult to ascertain the general view of an entire population towards another group of people. The opinion the British had for the American colonies was already negative as the colonists were generally viewed as second class citizens. The relationship declined after the Seven Years War. It was costly for Britain and they were forced to raise taxes in the colonies so as to financially recover. Many Americans were unwilling to pay and rebelled against the crown for it. King George III and majority of Britain viewed the Americans as ungrateful for their refusal and began to use force through their taxation. This would eventually lead to rebellious ideas forming in the colonies, but these ideas were treated as only belonging to a very small minority. Once the supporters for a revolution increased, it was falsely assumed that these ââ¬Å"Yankeesâ⬠were using bullying tactics to silence opposition. Another issue was that the damage from the war made it apparent to the British that a militia was not enough to protect their colonies from future enemies, so they had developed a large army to remain in America to protect their interests. However, maintaining an army can be costly, which is another reason taxes were so high for the colonists that most were unable to pay them. Their complaints were mostly ignored and taxes were collected through force. It was becoming apparent to colonists that they were nothing, but an economic resource to Great Britain, which would eventually lead to a revolution. This mentality that Americans are inferior to the British did not just sprout out of thin air. Although the colonies had become almost self-governing, many in Britain assumed this superiority complex due to the complete control they had over ... ...o this for the colonists. Instead, Americans were only able to exercise as much power as was granted to them by Parliament. There was no suggestion of colonial troops being developed to defend America. No leaders in Britain seemed to consider simply asking the colonists for financial aid, instead of just voting in taxes to forcefully place on them. A colonial government would only work with Britain if they could see a profit and there seemed to be no faith in colonial soldiers because they would operate under rules different to the British army. In fact, these prejudices were based on British interpretations of the early part of the Seven Yearââ¬â¢s War. Failure to cooperate between British commanders and the colonial governments was common and sometimes hostile. The contributions that the colonists provided were mostly ignored, such as their provision of many troops.
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