During the years 1754 – 1765 many, significant changes took place which is important in the history of the British Empire. A vast expansion of the Empire was witnessed by the people during this time. The Empire was made up of various heterogeneous colonies with different economic institutions etc. The British government failed to adopt a policy of colonial taxation resulted in a war with France and led to devastating results. This paper will throw light upon the national image of the colonization of North America especially focusing upon two states namely Virginia and Massachusetts.
The people from England founded the first American colonies and they settled along the Atlantic coast which is better known as Virginia and Massachusetts these days. The settlers had many differences with the native people and did not settle down quite well. They faced conflict and as a result of this several deadly diseases broke out during this period which took away many lives. People did not have enough food and had to starve because of the same. The rise of Tobacco was seen during this period, it became one of the most luring crops for the farmers as it gave them huge profits. The southern colonies saw a rise in plantations, the warm climate and the soil provided an ideal condition to the farmers for large-scale agriculture. The farmers were slaves who were made to work on the farms.
The Mayflower Compact agreement was signed during this time and this took place in Plymouth. People wanted to practice religion in a place where they could find tranquility, so they decided to leave England and find a better place to live in. Puritanism was constantly on the rise during this time, people were offended by the corrupt practices adopted by the Church, the puritans wanted to leave England and settle at a better place where they could find peace and harmony. The French and Indian war broke out during this period. The year 1763 saw a peace treaty being signed by France, France lost all its land in North America. The effects of the War had both positive as well as negative implications; Britain had complete control of all land but at the same time the War had put Britain in a position of Debt. There was a proclamation signed in the year 1763 which restricted the colonists from settling down where they liked, this did not go down too well with the colonists and they tried to settle in various places but this led to further havoc when the colonists and Britain met, shots were fired at the Colonists and many were killed in this process.
“The first colonies in North America were along the eastern coast. Settlers from Spain, France, Sweden, Holland, and England claimed land beginning in the 17th century. The struggle for control of this land would continue for more than a hundred years.” (The Thirteen American Colonies, 23 October 2008). As more and more people came to settle in these colonies, the disputes constantly rose which resulted in various wars on the scale and the same disrupted the harmony of the colonies. This went on for a very long time and after everything got settled two countries emerged as powerful countries namely France and England. Each colony varied from one another, some people had settled in order to follow their own religion, some had come to England to make money but such people were less in number. One striking feature which was more or less common in these colonies was that the people had a good understanding of their family members and depended very little upon others for anything. People who settled in these colonies were very independent, they made sure that they did not depend on anybody; they were skilled laborers and made their shoes, clothes and other basic necessities themselves. In addition to this, they grew crops like corn, wheat, etc.
“The Pilgrims in Massachusetts and the Quakers in Pennsylvania were examples of people who had left England so they could practice the religion they chose. Maryland and Rhode Island passed laws of religious toleration (meaning that people couldn’t be harmed just because their religion was different from other people).” (The Thirteen American Colonies, 23 October 2008). The Pilgrims wanted to practice their own religion without any problems, it can be said that they were successful to some extent in following their own religion in spite of the fact that there was strong opposition about the same. Another big problem that the people of these colonies faced was huge taxes left on them by the British Government. They were burdened by the hefty taxes left on them. They felt that the decision of how much tax should be paid must be left to them as they were serving the British Government, Their service was of great use to the government because they helped in exporting crops which fetched the British Government Income at a huge level, they also contributed to the development of the country in more ways than one. The issue of high taxes grew among the Americans and they decided to take matters into their own hands, the British Government responded by shutting the Boston port, the Boston port was the most important port for the import and the export of goods. As a result of this a full-scale war broke out and the Americans won the war. The war was to have their own government which did not interfere in their lives as much as the British government did. The Americans won the war against the British and a new nation was formed. But all this came at a price, many lives were lost in the process.
The paper provides enough examples to show that everything was not in its place in the year 1754 in Virginia or for that matter in Massachusetts. There were diseases spreading among the people and they had to starve because of the availability of food. By this example and by the other examples in the paper it is quite clear that there wasn’t serenity present in the year 1754 in the English Colonies.