By 1763 the British North American Colonists Were Known as the Freest People in the WorldEssay Preview: By 1763 the British North American Colonists Were Known as the Freest People in the WorldReport this essayAccording to Samuel Elliot Morrison, “By 1763 the British North American colonists were known as the freest people in the world”. This was mainly due to the fact that England lacked the experience of trying to govern the colonist from afar and especially during the transition of greater distractions in the British Empire. Morrisons statement can be justified by the colonists religious, political, and economic movements.
In the 1600s many people began moving to the American colonies to experience religious freedom. Personal voices were beginning to knit together kindred and blending of religious beliefs. One such group, the Puritans, settling in Massachusetts, enjoyed religious freedom for themselves but persecuted others who refused to follow their religious beliefs. The Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692 is a common example of one of many religious movements taking place in the British Colonies. Nineteen women lost their lives after being convicted of practicing witchcraft. Another religious group included the Quakers, with their own desire for religious freedom.
The Mayflower Compact signed on November 11, 1620, by forty one of the one hundred and one passengers aboard ship was a self-governing document known to have created the first form of a civil government in the new world. This government pledged loyalty to the king but also stated that the purpose of the compact would be to build “just and equal laws” for the general good of the colony. The Mayflower Compact was also a document agreeing to accept the decisions of the majority rule. Citizens decided to have a form of self-government with survival being there first concern. This placed a wedge between the monarchy and the people.
Economically the colonists especially in Jamestown and in the Carolinas stabilized their government and began expanding along the inland. The colonies started early expansion largely because of a highly profitable cash crop known as tobacco. By the time of the late 1620s the colonies had exported over 1.5 million pounds of tobacco to England yearly. The income from the tobacco attracted more colonists whom upon their arrival brought with them healthy new workers and vital supplies. Another high profit crop was hemp. Hemp was valued because of the hempen fibers it produced. Not only did these crops benefit them economically but also brought about socialization with the Native Americans; who taught the colonist how to cultivate the hemp. Later controversy over hemp would lead the colonists into the American Revolutionary.
The colonists in this context also developed the concept of a “federal system of public administration” that continued the progress of the colonists in the Revolution; it continued the colonists’ “economic program” of taxing and spending which provided the initial impetus for the expansion of the government, while at the same time maintaining their “civilized spirit.” The colonial system was later expanded by the creation of the Continental Congress and subsequently the Presidency of the US Congress. However, the political changes as they came to be seen by others as a form of slavery and oppression, did not stop the colonization of North America and the development of slavery as a form of the national character. As the US began to take control of the territory of the British Empire in a period of relative peace, as part of the Treaty of Paris, the colonists made a conscious effort to stop this development. However, the gradual decline in both their economic performance and the amount of money they could extract to meet all of the social and political needs of the time, prompted them to try to maintain the balance of the economy and the federal system of government, resulting in a significant increase in property values and increased profits as well as a decline in the wealth of the colonists, who found that their gains were in direct violation of their Constitutional and government of law rights (Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson: The Revolution and the Constitution, 1704–1815).
The colonists’ continued struggle against the federal government continues to this day
At the same time, however, the colonists’ continued struggle against the federal government continues to this day. For example, some historical parallels take place between slavery and slavery-in the American South which involved the early federal system of government. In that case, the federal government had only limited resources and had limited control over the domestic political system. But in slavery, the federal government had limited resources. This is because in the early 1900s the first large-scale emancipation program began, which had a large number of slave owners and slaves, including many of the former slaves who had been freed in exchange for freedom from their former masters. Once the program began, the slave owners were allowed to work without pay and the government began working the laws of their property. In the case of slavery however, the government controlled the process, and the slaves were allowed to come forward and speak out against enslavement in the United States. In this context, the fact that the slave owners could only speak out against slavery in the United States in the form of letters from the slave owner who was living in the colony indicates that it was very important for the government in the United States to control the process to take place. Since that time, the state’s role towards the slaves in the system of government has continued to the point in which state’s role becomes less relevant because the state’s role is now in the direction of the slaves being freed.
In the Civil War, the slave owners sought to change the policies of the government by placing the state in charge of public affairs. This led to the abolition of slavery-like policies, which further undermined the government’s authority as a free people with the rights to decide over our national law. The abolition of the slave system became the primary goal for which the slaves in the Union government fought hard. In addition, many of the slave owners who fought to end slavery did so in an effort to
The colonists in this context also developed the concept of a “federal system of public administration” that continued the progress of the colonists in the Revolution; it continued the colonists’ “economic program” of taxing and spending which provided the initial impetus for the expansion of the government, while at the same time maintaining their “civilized spirit.” The colonial system was later expanded by the creation of the Continental Congress and subsequently the Presidency of the US Congress. However, the political changes as they came to be seen by others as a form of slavery and oppression, did not stop the colonization of North America and the development of slavery as a form of the national character. As the US began to take control of the territory of the British Empire in a period of relative peace, as part of the Treaty of Paris, the colonists made a conscious effort to stop this development. However, the gradual decline in both their economic performance and the amount of money they could extract to meet all of the social and political needs of the time, prompted them to try to maintain the balance of the economy and the federal system of government, resulting in a significant increase in property values and increased profits as well as a decline in the wealth of the colonists, who found that their gains were in direct violation of their Constitutional and government of law rights (Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson: The Revolution and the Constitution, 1704–1815).
The colonists’ continued struggle against the federal government continues to this day
At the same time, however, the colonists’ continued struggle against the federal government continues to this day. For example, some historical parallels take place between slavery and slavery-in the American South which involved the early federal system of government. In that case, the federal government had only limited resources and had limited control over the domestic political system. But in slavery, the federal government had limited resources. This is because in the early 1900s the first large-scale emancipation program began, which had a large number of slave owners and slaves, including many of the former slaves who had been freed in exchange for freedom from their former masters. Once the program began, the slave owners were allowed to work without pay and the government began working the laws of their property. In the case of slavery however, the government controlled the process, and the slaves were allowed to come forward and speak out against enslavement in the United States. In this context, the fact that the slave owners could only speak out against slavery in the United States in the form of letters from the slave owner who was living in the colony indicates that it was very important for the government in the United States to control the process to take place. Since that time, the state’s role towards the slaves in the system of government has continued to the point in which state’s role becomes less relevant because the state’s role is now in the direction of the slaves being freed.
In the Civil War, the slave owners sought to change the policies of the government by placing the state in charge of public affairs. This led to the abolition of slavery-like policies, which further undermined the government’s authority as a free people with the rights to decide over our national law. The abolition of the slave system became the primary goal for which the slaves in the Union government fought hard. In addition, many of the slave owners who fought to end slavery did so in an effort to
The colonists in this context also developed the concept of a “federal system of public administration” that continued the progress of the colonists in the Revolution; it continued the colonists’ “economic program” of taxing and spending which provided the initial impetus for the expansion of the government, while at the same time maintaining their “civilized spirit.” The colonial system was later expanded by the creation of the Continental Congress and subsequently the Presidency of the US Congress. However, the political changes as they came to be seen by others as a form of slavery and oppression, did not stop the colonization of North America and the development of slavery as a form of the national character. As the US began to take control of the territory of the British Empire in a period of relative peace, as part of the Treaty of Paris, the colonists made a conscious effort to stop this development. However, the gradual decline in both their economic performance and the amount of money they could extract to meet all of the social and political needs of the time, prompted them to try to maintain the balance of the economy and the federal system of government, resulting in a significant increase in property values and increased profits as well as a decline in the wealth of the colonists, who found that their gains were in direct violation of their Constitutional and government of law rights (Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson: The Revolution and the Constitution, 1704–1815).
The colonists’ continued struggle against the federal government continues to this day
At the same time, however, the colonists’ continued struggle against the federal government continues to this day. For example, some historical parallels take place between slavery and slavery-in the American South which involved the early federal system of government. In that case, the federal government had only limited resources and had limited control over the domestic political system. But in slavery, the federal government had limited resources. This is because in the early 1900s the first large-scale emancipation program began, which had a large number of slave owners and slaves, including many of the former slaves who had been freed in exchange for freedom from their former masters. Once the program began, the slave owners were allowed to work without pay and the government began working the laws of their property. In the case of slavery however, the government controlled the process, and the slaves were allowed to come forward and speak out against enslavement in the United States. In this context, the fact that the slave owners could only speak out against slavery in the United States in the form of letters from the slave owner who was living in the colony indicates that it was very important for the government in the United States to control the process to take place. Since that time, the state’s role towards the slaves in the system of government has continued to the point in which state’s role becomes less relevant because the state’s role is now in the direction of the slaves being freed.
In the Civil War, the slave owners sought to change the policies of the government by placing the state in charge of public affairs. This led to the abolition of slavery-like policies, which further undermined the government’s authority as a free people with the rights to decide over our national law. The abolition of the slave system became the primary goal for which the slaves in the Union government fought hard. In addition, many of the slave owners who fought to end slavery did so in an effort to
Between the years of 1607 and 1763 British North American colonist certainly could have been known as the freest people in the world. The Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692 was a common example of religious movement groups. The Mayflower Compact, the first documented efforts of self-government, is an example of their political movements, and tobacco, a profitable cash crop exported