Salutary Neglect
The British left the colonists alone, they didn't enforce their laws upon them, but they also didn't help the colonists either. This ignoring of the colonists was later named Salutary Neglect. The Salutary Neglect led to British citizens seeing the colonists as a different people, not British.
Image: http://www.nndb.com/people/948/000068744/george-iii-sm.jpg
Image: http://www.nndb.com/people/948/000068744/george-iii-sm.jpg
Pontiac's Rebellion
The British victory in the French and Indian War began to cause problems for the Native Americans. As colonists moved west the Native Americans were being pushed west into the territory of other tribes. In 1763 Native Americans in old French territories united under an Ottawa chief known as Pontiac. Pontiac wanted to take over British forts that were previously held by the French. They then hoped to return the forts to the French so that the French would return and the British would leave. This all led to Pontiac’s Rebellion, a bloody war where many died. The Native Americans won some frontier battles but they could not take back the two largest forts.
The Proclamation Line
The end of the French and Indian War gave Britain all land East of the Mississippi River. Native Americans living in the Ohio Valley were afraid that there would be another war like Pontiac’s Rebellion if the British settlers kept moving west. To prevent something like this King George III declared the Proclamation of 1763, which said that colonists could not move west past the Appalachian Mountains. Britain sent 10,000 troops to ensure that nobody passed that point, called the Proclamation Line.
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Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/The_Victory_of_Montcalms_Troops_at_Carillon_by_Henry_Alexander_Ogden.JPG/300px-The_Victory_of_Montcalms_Troops_at_Carillon_by_Henry_Alexander_Ogden.JPG
King George III
King George III was the king of Great Brittain and Ireland from October 1760 until January 1801, when the two countries united to form the United Kingdom. He then ruled the United Kingdom until his death in 1820. His reign was longer than that of any previous British monarch. King George III is widely believed to have tried to keep the British at war with the colonists.
Image: http://www.laura-cenicola.de/brithist2/britmedia/site_media/uploads/king-george-iii.jpg
Image: http://www.laura-cenicola.de/brithist2/britmedia/site_media/uploads/king-george-iii.jpg
Stamp Act
The British began to place taxes on the colonists to pay for the French and Indian War. The most significant new tax was called the Stamp Act. Passed in 1765, the Stamp Act put a tax on all printed paper materials. The colonists would have to buy stamps and put them on all of their documents, including legal documents, newspapers and even games and cards.
Because of the Stamp Act many colonists began to boycott products made by the British.
http://www.theworldsgreatbooks.com/Acts%20of%20Parliament/parliament%20stamp%20act.jpg
Because of the Stamp Act many colonists began to boycott products made by the British.
http://www.theworldsgreatbooks.com/Acts%20of%20Parliament/parliament%20stamp%20act.jpg
More British Acts
The British continued to put more taxes and burdens on the colonists, theses included:
The Sugar Act: Halved the tax on molasses, but began enforcement of taxes
Currency Act: Prevented colonies from using their own form of currency
Quartering Act: Required colonist to make a home for and feed British troops
Townshend Acts: Taxes on imports and said that goods could only be imported from Britain
The Sugar Act: Halved the tax on molasses, but began enforcement of taxes
Currency Act: Prevented colonies from using their own form of currency
Quartering Act: Required colonist to make a home for and feed British troops
Townshend Acts: Taxes on imports and said that goods could only be imported from Britain
The Boston Massacre
The more acts the British implemented the angrier the colonist got. In March of 1770 there were 700 British troops stationed in Boston, Massachusetts. Citizens began to tease the troops. While they were teasing the troops a crowd began to gather and the taunting escalated. By the evening there were about 400 citizens crowded throwing snowballs at the troops. One troop fired his gun in the out of anger and after hearing the shot the other troops began to fire into the crowd. The troops were tried for murder, two of the soldiers were punished for lesser cases of murder and their punishment was to have their hands burned by a hot iron. Samuel Adams decided to make this event into a campaign against the British. He dubbed this event the Boston Massacre and had Paul Revere, an artist in the area, create and pass out a print of an image of the Boston Massacre, causing the colonists to became more upset with the British.
Image: http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/winter96/massacre.html
Image: http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/winter96/massacre.html