Why salutary neglect

The term salutary neglect stems from the colonial era. Even though England believed in a system of mercantilism where the colonies existed for the benefit of the mother country, Sir Robert Walpole decided to try something different to stimulate commerce. Walpole, the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, espoused a view of salutary neglect whereby the actual enforcement of external trade relations was lax.

In other words, the British did not strictly enforce commerce laws with the colonies. As Walpole said, "If no restrictions were placed on the colonies, they would flourish. Companies, merchants and independent corporations went about their business in these colonies on their own without a lot of overlook from the British government. The beginning of trade regulation started with the Navigation Act in This allowed goods to be transported to the American colonies on English ships and prevented other colonists from trading with anyone other than England.

While there were several renditions of these acts, the policy was expanded to include certain products that were only allowed to be transported on English ships, such as indigo, sugar and tobacco products. Unfortunately, the act was often not enforced due to difficulties with finding enough customs officials to handle the management.

Because of this, goods were often snuck in with other countries including the Dutch and the French West Indies.

This was the very beginning of the triangular trade between the North American colonies, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe. Britain had the upper hand when it came to the illegal triangular trade. Despite it going against the Navigation Acts , here are a few ways Britain benefited:.

The salutary neglect period ended as a consequence of the French and Indian War , also known as the Seven Years War, from years to This caused a large war debt that the British needed to pay off, and thus the policy was destroyed in the colonies. Many believe that the French and Indian War affected the relationship between the British and the colonists by leading to the revolution. This is because the colonists were not worried about France if breaking away from Britain.

Walpole and Newcastle had three main interests in colonial governance, according to the book An Economic History of the United States:. A source of patronage to help maintain a majority of supporters in Parliament 2. Thus, from through the s, the American colonies were virtually de facto independent of British imperial control, an independence bolstered by a libertarian spirit and ideology eagerly imbibed from the radical libertarian English writers and journalists of the period.

The Board of Trade, the body principally responsible for enforcement of mercantilist legislation, was in an institutionally weak position from the end of the seventeenth century, becoming weaker in policy decisions especially after , and it would only become an effective enforcer of the law when reorganized in Newcastle, as Secretary of State Southern Department , came to the post without preparation on the details of the system, resulting in a suspension of much administrative activity while he learned the duties of his office after Both of these events contributed to the end of salutary neglect.

In addition, Grenville decided to increase the number of British troops in North America to help defend them from any continued threat from France.

The town of Boston in New England and British ships of war landing their troops! Grenville decided that since the colonists directly benefited from this defense of the British army, they should help pay for the cost of the army. To raise revenue, Grenville mandated that the British government should shift some of the cost of the war to the American colonies by restructuring colonial governance and increasing national revenue.

Grenville proposed a series of new taxes on top of the Navigation Acts and the Trade Acts: the Sugar Act of , the Currency Act of and, later, the Stamp Act of , which all came to be known as the Grenville Acts. In reaction to the boycott, Parliament passed a new tax law: the Stamp Act of , which placed a tax on all paper used for printed materials in the colonies. Parliament also passed the Quartering Act of , which forced colonists to personally house and feed the British soldiers sent to the colonies.

The British policy of salutary neglect toward the American colonies inadvertently contributed to the American Revolution. According to the book, Divided Loyalties, it was the years of salutary neglect and self-governing that actually helped American colonists develop their sense of independence and self-sufficiency:. With a minimum of interference from London they had for years been exercising the mechanics of self-government, learning as they went, discovering through trial and error what worked and what did not, while growing ever so slowly into entities capable for the most part of running their own affairs.

When the government used this argument to begin buckling down on the colonies, the colonists resented it and, realizing they were powerful enough to fight back, they resisted. Groups such as the Sons of Liberty and the Daughters of Liberty, which formed in protest of the new taxes, sprouted up in Boston and then spread to other cities and colonies.

Riots and protests broke out in Boston, particularly the Stamp Act riots in August of , the Boston Massacre in March of , which began as a protest against the presence of British troops in the city, and the Boston Tea Party in December of This all created a very volatile situation in the American colonies and eventually sparked the Revolutionary War, which broke out after the Shot Heard Round the World was fired in April of Department of State, n.

The salutary neglect period ended as a consequence of the French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years War, from years to This caused a large war debt that the British needed to pay off, and thus the policy was destroyed in the colonies.

Salutary neglect was an unofficial British policy of non-enforcement of trade regulations on their American colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The purpose was to maximize economic output amongst the colonists while maintain some form of control. Salutary neglect was a large contributing factor that led to the American Revolutionary War. Since the imperial authority did not assert the power that it had, the colonists were left to govern themselves. These essentially sovereign colonies soon became accustomed to the idea of self-control.

Salutary neglect, policy of the British government from the early to midth century regarding its North American colonies under which trade regulations for the colonies were laxly enforced and imperial supervision of internal colonial affairs was loose as long as the colonies remained loyal to the British government ….

The British reversed their policy of Salutary Neglect to raise taxes in the colonies to pay for the massive war debt incurred during the French and Indian Wars. Woolens Act, ; Hat Act, Iron Act, Act specifying certain enumerated goods—principally tobacco, rice, and indigo—that the colonists could export only to another English colony or to England.

These were attempts to prevent manufacturing in the British colonies that might threaten the economy of England.

Salutary Neglect led the colonists to rebel against Great Britain because the colonists enjoyed the lax rule under salutary neglect and they did not want to be ruled strictly by Britain. It led to greater restrictions on colonial self-government. It led to an increased sense of independence from Britain. It led to political chaos, weakening the sense of an American identity.

The British policy of salutary neglect toward the American colonies inadvertently contributed to the American Revolution. The policy made it so the colonies were tied to Britain in terms of trade and the way they were governed. Colonial confrontations e.