Introduction
The 16th century marked the height of mercantilism in Britain and the rest of Europe. Britain’s extensive expansionist strategy saw its acquisition of colonies in North America besides those in other continents. Although mercantilism was not cohesively applied in all British colonies, they had similar characteristics.
The state was to control human behaviour within the territories and regulate a number of economic aspects. The purpose of the acquired territories was solely to satisfy economic needs of the colonial master.
This paper shall critically examine the events leading to the acquisition and eventual loss of the thirteen British colonies in North America. We shall analyze reasons for British interest in North America, the course of colonization, and reasons for their defeat during the war for independence.
Discussion
Initial Contacts
British fishermen were the first people to have discovered North America as a rich fishing ground worth exploiting. Full invasion of the newly found lands was difficult at the time of King Henry V111 because of political and religious wrangles that involved Britain in Europe.
Interest in these lands was to control of the flourishing Spanish trade. Initial colonies that were formed by the likes of Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585 and Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583 received strong opposition from the Spanish (Tuveson, 1980).
Permanent Settlements
A peace treaty was signed between England and Spain in 1604 that resolved the long standing disputes and rivalry between the two countries. With the peace agreement, England directed its resources and ambition fully to the acquisition of North America.
North America was in 1906, divided into two by the Englishmen. All of Atlantic sea –board was referred to as North Virginia later to be called New England. This area was reserved for merchants and fishermen from south of England (Merrill, 2004).
The remaining part, south Virginia, was reserved for the English who wished to settle and invest in the country. The thirteen colonies included New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Acquisition of colonies in America was partly prompted by the English civil war. The reigning kingdom, the Stuart monarchy, was in favour of Catholicism over the Anglican Church.
Religious refugees sought haven in New England, an act that the king was too pleased with, and eager to encourage as a way of reducing opposition in his rule. He, therefore, granted them charters to establish colonies in the new lands across the Atlantic.
In the same year, king James of England chartered a group of entrepreneurs from London to settle in Chesapeake, North America. The settlers were to seek gold and a route to Orient through the Atlantic.
Research shows that these early settlers were ill equipped with the right knowledge and intentions for their task. The group arrived at the island of Jamestown and established the English colony of Virginia in1607 (Levine, 2007).
The settlers faced opposition from the native Algonquian, prompting them to build a fort for protection. The group continued to suffer from diseases, famine, and the continued attacks from the Algonquian.
The Powhatan Indian trade, however, aided the group with food that was offered in exchange for glass beads, copper and iron tools. By 1609, only 60 of the 214 original settlers were alive. Before the remaining settlers could leave the town, Lord De La Ware arrived in with more colonists who continued to occupy the town (Blanco & Sanborn, 1993).
In 1619, a representative general assembly met in the town and agreed to form laws that would uniformly govern all peoples in Virginia. Another significant event in the colonial developments in America was the arrival of black African slaves in the town.
These became servants for the Englishmen and traded their labour for the free passage they had gained into America. In 1622, the native Algonquians attacked and killed over 300 settlers, leading to the king’s decision to revoke the charter of Virginia Company, thus making Virginia a crown colony in 1624.
The decision to revoke the charter by the king was mainly informed by the weak and disorganized nature of the Company.
The first English colonists to settle in Massachusetts were the pilgrims in 1620. Among the settlers were a Christian puritan group known as the Leiden group. These had been at exile in Holland for many years and were seeking a new and hopefully better life in America. Among their aims was to find religious freedom from English church (Armitage, 2004).
Before settling in the new lands, the group signed the Mayflower agreement that would guide their stay, especially during the hard times. This agreement would serve as the constitution for the Plymouth colony for a number of years.
The earliest British settlers to arrive in New Hampshire established a fishing ground in the land in 1623. The colony was a propriety colony that later became a royal colony in 1679. The settlers too, signed the Exeter Pact, a peace and governance agreement that formed the basis of the city’s constitution.
This colony was occupied by the Dutch in 1623 and referred to as new Netherlands. New York, originally known as New Amsterdam, was occupied by the Dutch also in 1624. In 1626, Peter Munit, together with other Dutch settlers bought the island from the native Indians for $24.
The initially propriety colony became a royal colony in 1685. In 1633, a group of settlers led by Leonard Calvert set sail to establish a colony in Maryland. This remained a propriety colony until 1788 when it ratified the constitution.
Rhode Island was permanently settled in 1636 by British colonists. This colony was formed Roger Williams, who had been persecuted from Massachusetts for his quest for political and religious freedom.
He, together with Anne Hutchinson, founded the colony that would serve to offer refuge to others seeking political and religious freedom. Rhode Island gained autonomy from the British rule and espoused great revolutionary ideals unlike other colonies (Games, 2006).
Connecticut was permanently occupied in 1633 by clergyman Thomas Hooker and his followers who were exiled from Massachusetts. North and South Carolina were occupied in 1653 and 1663 respectively. Pennsylvania was occupied in 1647, and Georgia, the last of the colonies, in 1732.
British Rule in the Colonies
Once the colonies were established, they were divided into three geographic areas: the New England, the middle England, and southern England. New England comprised the colonies of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. This region was good for fishing, ship building and lumbering because of the forests. Farming was done in small scale for basic subsistence (Ramsay 2006).
The middle colonies comprised colonies of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. The region had good harbours and was good for farming. They were involved in trading various raw materials.
The southern colonies comprised Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, the North and South Carolina. The region grew tobacco, rice, and Indigo in large scale, with slaves as the main source of labour.
The colonies were governed in accordance with the British law. Courts applied the common law as in England and the general assembly was elected by free men. Members of the governing council were appointed by the governor in England and were legitimized to act as the Supreme Court for the colony.
Voting rights were accorded to white wealthy men only. This meant that women, slaves, Native Americans and poor whites could not vote for members of the national assembly (Pole, 1962).
Although the colonies had the highest standards of living probably in the entire world, they hardly traded with each other. Because of this, the colonies were able to maintain their distinctive characteristics in terms of economics and social contexts.
Pennsylvania was quite prosperous and tolerant to a number of views, Massachusetts was quite intolerant to religion and superstition, southern states inherited the hierarchical social order just like in England, and New England was more balanced in terms of wealth distribution.
Population in the Colonies
By 1750, the thirteen colonies had over one million people. The threat of disease within the colonies reduced and general life expectancy increased compared to that of England. Infant mortality and fertility rates for women were high so that population within the colonies rose drastically.
Refugees resulting from political and religious persecution in Europe coupled with poor economic conditions also contributed to the growth of population in the colonies. Slave trade was yet another major source of the human numbers in the colonies thanks to the robust slave trade across the Atlantic (Greene & Pole, 2000).
Slaves were accumulated in the southern colonies, although they remained fairly distributed in the regions. In some districts in south Carolina, slaves out numbered white settles by as many as eight to one.
Because of the numbers, these slaves were able to retain their African culture more than those in Virginia and Maryland who were much fewer. In the northern colonies, slaves made up to 20% of the total population (Price, 1995). This population would later be an advantage to the Americans during the war for independence.
Events Leading to the Revolution
In the first half of the 18th century, most of the colonies began to resent the authority and legitimacy of Great Britain to govern them without them being represented. The colonies went ahead to expel all royal officials and replaced them with a provincial congress that governed the colonies.
The colonies accused the English monarchy rule of tyranny and brutality while exploiting the people. The Americans believed that they deserved all the rights as accorded to the Englishmen (Ramsay, 2006).
In 1754, Britain went to war with France. Even though Britain won, it was largely devastated and could not offer the colonies sufficient protection. The colonies began experiencing a feeling of independence as they relied more on themselves for protection.
As a strategy for Britain winning the war, William Pitt commanded that military ware be devoted to North America, making the British colonies a part of the British Empire. The war increased American unity and their urge to fight for their freedom. Americans were trained to fight in the war, gaining skills that they would use to fight in the revolution (Bernard, 1992).
In 1763, Britain prohibited its settlers from going past the Appalachian Mountains. Most British settlers took offence with this creed and developed resentment for their home government.
In 1764, the British parliament observed that colonial currency was causing the Pound to lose its value, a trend that would harm the British trade. To curb the situation, the house banned assemblies in the American colonies from issuing paper bills and credit.
The stamp act is one of the most significant events prior to the war. Tax stamps were to be put on a number of items that the people perceived too common to be taxed.
Unlike previous taxes that were imposed indirectly, this was a direct tax inciting massive resentment from among the people. Delegates from nine colonies drew up a statement of grievances for all the colonies. This united all the colonies against the British rule (Merrill, 2004).
Reasons for Britain’s Defeat
The war for independence was lost by Britain due to a number of reasons (Bonomi, 1971). Geographically, the colonies were far from Great Britain. Reinforcements and troops took more time to arrive while direct legislation was impossible. The colonizing process, therefore, was more dependent on the effort of those willing to colonize the territories than the central government.
Colonial legislatures were an indication of the autonomous nature of the colonies. These legislatures were conferred with powers to collect taxes, pass by laws, and master their own troops. When the British government curtailed these powers, the legislators opposed the move and in some cases spearheaded the revolution (Bockelman & Ireland, 1974).
Prime Minister Robert Walpole’s view and understanding of mercantilism was detrimental to mercantilist expansion and success in the colonies. He believed that freedom in trade would fetch better returns than the restricted form of trade as pursued by mercantilism.
The enlightenment put to risk the concepts of colonialism. Leaders of the revolutionary studied the works of philosophers, especially the social contract theorists’ ideas on limited government separation of power.
This culminated republican ideas, which stressed values such as equal rights among all and stemming out of vices such as corruption. This provided the framework for the revolution as a reaction to taxation (Bernard, 1992; Christopher, 2008).
In 1774, congress met and demanded a repeal of colonial laws, failure to which it would block all imports and exports from and to Britain. Besides, it would instruct the people to stop paying taxes and resist British troops in the land.
Although the governor for Massachusetts detected a large-scale threat of war and sent for reinforcement from Britain in good time, the threat was not appreciated in England and reinforcement was not sent immediately.
War broke out in Massachusetts in 1775 with a minor skirmish. The British troops were outnumbered by the Americans, who were, however, disorganized and rebellious even to their own leaders. By the fall of 1775, it was evident that the revolution was more successful than the quelling.
In July 1776, the declaration of independence was signed, contrary to the motives of the start of the war, which did not feature a quest for independence. All states signed the declaration apart from New York, which was not in support of the ideas. It signed it later on the 15th of July 1776. The declaration provided for peaceful conciliation between America and Britain, which has maintained cordial ties since then.
Conclusion
Britain, in an attempt to increase its share of word trade and economic prestige, took colonies in North America as sources of raw materials and partners of trade. The Americans resented the monarchial rule imposed on them and their subordinated existence. They demanded equal rights and treatment by the British colonists.
This quest was supported by a number of British nationalities who felt mistreated by their government. Accumulated resentment led to the break of the war, a rebellious war with no intentions for independence, but which ended up conferring independence to the 13 colonies that form the present day United States of America.
Reference List
Armitage, D., 2004. Greater Britain 1516-1778: Essays in Atlantic History. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Bernard, B., 1992. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Blanco, R., & Sanborn, P., 1993. The American Revolution, 1775-1783: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing Inc.
Bockelman, W., & Ireland, S., 1974. “The Internal Revolution in Pennsylvania: An Ethnic-Religious Interpretation.” Pennsylvania History, Vol.41 (2):125-159.
Bonomi, P., 1971. A Factious People: politics and Society in Colonial New York. Columbia: Columbia University Press.
Christopher, W., 2008. Rousseau’s The Social Contract: a Reader’s Guide. London: Continuum Books.
Games, A., 2006. Atlantic History: Definitions, Challenges, and Opportunities.” American Historical Review, Vol. 111():741-757.
Greene, J., & Pole, J., 2000. A Companion to the American Revolution. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Levine, P., 2007. The British Empire: Sunrise to Sunset. Harlow: Pearson Longman.
Merrill, J., 2004. The Founding of a Nation: A History of the American Revolution. Cambridge: Hackett.
Pole, J., 1962. “Historians and the Problem of Early American Democracy”. American Historical Review, Vol.67 (3): 626-646.
Price, J., 1995. Tobacco in the Atlantic Trade: The Chesapeake, London, and Glasgow, 1675- 1775. Aldershot: Variorum.
Ramsay, D., 2006. The History of the American Revolution. Indianapolis: Library Fund.
Tuveson, L., 1980. Redeemer Nation: The Idea of America’s Millennial Role. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.