Salutary neglect why is it important

The problem was the mega colony was too large to run effectively and it quickly came to an end in after news of the Glorious Revolution in England prompted the rebellious colonists to overthrow the Dominion officials. The new King and Queen of England, Mary and William of Orange, made the Massachusetts Bay Colony a royal colony in and issued it a new charter with stricter rules than the original charter.

These changes caused a lot of unrest and anxiety in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and many historians believe it was one of the many underlying factors in the Salem Witch Trials of After Robert Walpole took over as the Lord of the Treasury in , a major change happened regarding colonial trade regulation and the government began to avoid enforcing trade laws.

It is believed that Walpole, who served from to , and the Duke of Newcastle, who served as the secretary of state for the southern department from to were the creators of the salutary neglect policy. Walpole and Newcastle had three main interests in colonial governance, according to the book An Economic History of the United States:. A source of patronage to help maintain a majority of supporters in Parliament 2. Thus, from through the s, the American colonies were virtually de facto independent of British imperial control, an independence bolstered by a libertarian spirit and ideology eagerly imbibed from the radical libertarian English writers and journalists of the period.

The Board of Trade, the body principally responsible for enforcement of mercantilist legislation, was in an institutionally weak position from the end of the seventeenth century, becoming weaker in policy decisions especially after , and it would only become an effective enforcer of the law when reorganized in Newcastle, as Secretary of State Southern Department , came to the post without preparation on the details of the system, resulting in a suspension of much administrative activity while he learned the duties of his office after Both of these events contributed to the end of salutary neglect.

In addition, Grenville decided to increase the number of British troops in North America to help defend them from any continued threat from France. The town of Boston in New England and British ships of war landing their troops! Grenville decided that since the colonists directly benefited from this defense of the British army, they should help pay for the cost of the army.

To raise revenue, Grenville mandated that the British government should shift some of the cost of the war to the American colonies by restructuring colonial governance and increasing national revenue. Grenville proposed a series of new taxes on top of the Navigation Acts and the Trade Acts: the Sugar Act of , the Currency Act of and, later, the Stamp Act of , which all came to be known as the Grenville Acts. In reaction to the boycott, Parliament passed a new tax law: the Stamp Act of , which placed a tax on all paper used for printed materials in the colonies.

Parliament also passed the Quartering Act of , which forced colonists to personally house and feed the British soldiers sent to the colonies. The British policy of salutary neglect toward the American colonies inadvertently contributed to the American Revolution. According to the book, Divided Loyalties, it was the years of salutary neglect and self-governing that actually helped American colonists develop their sense of independence and self-sufficiency:.

With a minimum of interference from London they had for years been exercising the mechanics of self-government, learning as they went, discovering through trial and error what worked and what did not, while growing ever so slowly into entities capable for the most part of running their own affairs.

Salutary neglect was essential in allowing merchants to independently and freely determine the path of their businesses, which in turn kept them satisfied.

During this era the colonists began to sow the seeds of economic and governmental self-determination that would eventually set the stage for the American Revolution. Local colonial assemblies formed throughout America.

Access to the right to vote was often time restricted to land holding whites, but there was elected representatives none the less. Determining local political and economic policy due to the absence of British influence thanks to salutary neglect shaped American beliefs in self-rule and self-governance.

Following the events of the French and Indian War the British Empire was left in tremendous financial debt and the continuing practice of salutary neglect was no longer an option. The established wealthy planters wanted to protect their interests by restricting access to land that would allow for the creation of plantations to rival their own. Bacon and his followers saw these actions as corrupt because Berkeley did not allow them to pursue their own economic interests as others maintained a stranglehold on the tobacco profits.

Bacon and his followers levied charges of political corruption against both Governor Berkeley and the House of Burgesses. These charges ultimately led to a battle for political control between the two strong-willed men. Bacon wanted swift and harsh action to be taken against the native tribes for their attacks on local settlements which Berkeley refused.

Berkeley urged for a more cooperative relationship with the natives and a restriction of expansion plans by those in the west. Neither of those options was satisfactory to Bacon and simply furthered the divide between the two men. By , the Virginia House of Burgesses had restricted the vote of landless free white men who now made up more than half of the population in an effort to quell the growing voices of dissent.

Strong colonial voices sprang up to defend colonists against perceived British transgressions, Samuel Adams and John Hancock were some of the first to take up the mantle of independence. Debates over taxation policies, representation in government, and the ever growing presence of British soldiers knows as redcoats in the colonies, ultimately led to the formation of resistance groups like the Sons of Liberty and events such as the Boston Massacre in and the Boston Tea Party in British reaction to the Tea Party were swift and harsh resulting in the passage of the Intolerable Acts.

This legislation would send a clear message that England would no longer engage in any sort of hands off approach with the colonies as they attempted to reign in colonial resistance. Salutary neglect was no longer a policy that England would tolerate.

While still wishing to reconcile differences with England, the lessons and freedoms of self-governance experienced during the era of salutary neglect ran deep within the delegates to the Continental Congress. The King and Parliament believed they had the right to tax the colonies. They protested, saying that these taxes violated their rights as British citizens. The colonists started to resist by boycotting, or not buying, British goods.

The King has attempted to suppress the colonial rebellion through violence and military means. He sent the British military to attack colonists, burn their towns, attack their ships at sea, and destroy the lives of the people. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search.

Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home What is salutary neglect and why did it end? Ben Davis May 14, What is salutary neglect and why did it end? What was the importance of salutary neglect? What did salutary neglect cause?

What is salutary neglect in history? How did Britain first violate salutary neglect? What are some examples of salutary neglect? Who created salutary neglect? How did the end of salutary neglect affect the colonies? How did the end of salutary neglect increase tensions?