Britain And British Colonies History Essay Example

The Founding Fathers were justified in declaring independence from the British government because King George III was not treating the colonies fairly. There were many reasons for rebelling against the British because they were not treating them how citizens a country should be. Trade in the colonies was restricted, colonists had no representatives in Parliament, and King George III wouldn't negotiate peace with the colonies.

First of all, in the colonies, especially the New England colonies, trade is essential to their economy. At that time, Britain was competing with other European nations to build an empire, so they didn't want the colonies to trade with other countries. Britain believed in mercantilism, so their policies said that the colonies should only sell raw goods and buy goods from Britain. It might seem that it was enough to trade only with the British, but the colonies were not allowed to manufacture their own goods or buy from other countries, even if it was offered a lower price. This impacted their economy a lot. The colonies could have imported better goods at lower prices from nations closer to them, but Britain passed the Navigation Acts of 1651 to restrict trading with other countries. The Navigation Acts were unfair to the colonists because they made needed raw materials very expensive, colonial exports to other nations too expensive, colonial imports from other countries expensive, and lowered export profits. There were many ways that it affected the colonists, without any benefits to them.

Many other things were unfair to the colonists, but Parliament couldn't address these issues because the colonies didn't have any representation in Parliament. Britain was in debt from the French and Indian War, so they taxed the colonists greatly to pay off the debt. The British government enacted several unfair acts, such as the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts. After many protests that caused sales to drop, Britain repealed the Stamp Act. After some time, they enacted new taxes, the Townshend Acts. Besides protesting, the colonies couldn't do anything about it because they didn't have any representation in Parliament. Another unfair act was the Quartering Act. It forced colonists to provide food and housing for British troops. This cost time and money, but with the lack of representation in Parliament, they couldn't express their concerns. People might say that Parliament represents everybody, but they didn't do anything about the taxation policies until it started affecting Britain's economy.

Finally, there were many things wrong with how Britain treated the colonies, but when the colonies tried to make peace, King George III wouldn't cooperate. John Dickinson wrote the Olive Branch Petition to try to settle the conflict peacefully. It said that they wanted to remain loyal to the British crown. All they wanted in exchange for peace was for the King to address all the issues they had with their current situation. The Olive Branch Petition promised that the colonists would all lay down their weapons when their grievances were addressed. King George III didn't agree. Some might think that it's because he thought that the Olive Branch Petition was unfair to the British, but King George III rejected it without even looking at it. Then, he declared that the colonies were in rebellion. He proceeded to have Parliament pass the Prohibitory Act, which closed down all American ports.

In conclusion, the Founding Fathers had many reasons to rebel against the British government. Trade was restricted in the colonies. They were only allowed to trade with the British, so it only benefits Britain. This was unfair to the colonists because they could get better deals and better goods from other countries. There were unfair taxation and quartering acts, but the colonists couldn't do anything about it except for protesting, because they were not represented in Parliament. When the relationship between the colonies and Britain got even worse, John Dickinson wrote the Olive Branch Petition to try to negotiate peace, but King George III rejected it without even looking at it. Because of Britain's unfair policies and unwillingness to negotiate, the Founding Fathers were justified in declaring independence.