Throughout most of the history of the American colonies up until the mid-
eighteenth century, the colonists had been allowed to live in relative
isolation under a policy called salutary neglect. Britain's hand was only
felt lightly in the government of the individual colonies, each of which had a
legislature that passed laws and taxed the colonial citizens as it saw fit.
Despite this political isolation, the overwhelming majority of colonists
remained loyal to the king, and recognized British
Parliament as the ultimate source of
governmental authority. Relations with Britain were amiable, and the colonies
relied on British trade for economic success and on British protection from
other nations with interests in North America.
In 1756, the French and Indian War broke out
between the two dominant powers in North America: Britain and France. Basically
an imperial struggle for land, by the end of the war in 1760 the British had
effectively driven the French out of America, gaining control of the territory
from the east coast to the Mississippi River. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ceded
all French lands to Britain, and decided the colonial fate of the continent.
Shortly after the end of the war, the British government dropped its policy of
salutary neglect and attempted to gain tighter control over its holdings in
North America. Further, the British wished to force the colonies to share in
the responsibility for the monumental debt built up during the French and Indian
War.
Heightened interaction between the colonies and mother country led to a steady
decline in the relationship between the two parties. During the period from
1763 to 1773, Parliament and the colonies grew increasingly antagonistic. The
issues that would continue at the fore throughout the
revolution were first brought to light
during this period, and the lines of political battle were drawn. The ideology
of revolution was built upon the principles that inspired the colonists to act
during the decade leading up to the revolution. Most notable was the cry of "no
taxation without representation," and later "no legislation without
representation," which, raised by the colonists, defined their primary quarrel
with the British government.
Also during this period of antagonism, opposition to parliamentary meddling in
colonial affairs developed into organized political action. The colonies, which
up until now had lived not only in isolation from Britain, but also in isolation
from each other, began to communicate and unify. Groups such as the Sons of
Liberty, who coordinated massive demonstrations throughout the colonies,
transformed the initial anti-parliament opposition from disorganized rabble into
well-directed, militaristic forces. The committees of correspondence kept
the colonies informed and coordinated a united front of political action. The
1773 Stamp Act Congress was the first pan-colonial meeting of political
leaders. All of these organizations were key in the development of the
political unity and efficient communication among colonies that was necessary
for the undertaking and winning of the
Revolutionary War.
The period from 1763 to 1773 mobilized political actors in the colonies and gave
them the issues on which to base a rebellion. This period set the stage for the
rapid descent into the revolution that ended with the colonies breaking free
from the grasp of the British king and parliament. Once the war was finished
the newly formed United States undertook a long period of state
building, during which the offenses of the British
government in the period leading up to the revolution were very much on the
minds of political leaders. 1763 to 1773 was both prelude and forge to the
birth of a nation.
