Chapter 1

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Chapter 1 The North American Colonies

• 4 British Colonies ---- Political Economic

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• Essential Question
• What was government like in the British North
  American colonies?
• How did the trans-Atlantic trade influence the
  development of the British colonies?
• Warm-Up Questions
• Examine each of the documents provided and
  explain how each relates to the British colonies

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Political Characteristics of the British Colonies
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Government in the British Colonies
To pay little attention to

• The British colonies were governed with a policy
  called Salutary Neglect
• British Parliament the king controlled the
  colonies, but did not enforce its policies as
  long as Britain profited from the colonies
• This loose control allowed the colonists to
  create their own colonial assemblies in America

Beneficial or favorable
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Technically, the Parliament king had absolute
authority over all parts of the British empire
In practice, the British government rarely
exercised this control over the colonies
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Almost all the British colonies had royal
governors who were appointed by the king who
oversaw trade, approved laws, appointed judges
But, governors salaries were paid by colonial
assemblies so governors rarely overturned local
laws or taxes
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Colonial assemblies were made up of colonists who
made their own laws taxes (self-government)
Colonists were elected to the assembly by other
colonists Typically, the assemblies were ruled
by the elite
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Two Examples of Colonial Govt
Massachusetts Town Meetings
The Virginia House of Burgesses
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Economic Characteristics of the British Colonies
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Trans-Atlantic Trade

• America became an important part of the
  trans-Atlantic trade network
• The colonies produced profitable raw materials,
  such as tobacco, wheat, fish, indigo, whale oil
• Britain sold manufactured goods back to the
  colonists, such as clothing, tea, guns,
  tableware
• African slaves were brought to America via the
  Middle Passage

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Trans-Atlantic Trade Patterns (Before 1660)
Colonial raw materials helped drive British
manufacturing the colonies presented a new
market for the British to sell their finished
goods
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What were the top 3 colonial exports?
South
South
Middle
South
New England
New England
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Trans-Atlantic Trade Patterns (Before 1660)
The increased demand for colonial raw materials,
increased the demand for African slaves
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This pattern of trade between Europe, the
colonies, and Africa became known as the
Triangular Trade
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Trans-Atlantic Trade Patterns (Before 1660)
When the British colonies were first founded,
there were few restrictions on who the colonists
could trade with
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Mercantilism

• By the 1650s, the British govt began to embrace
  the economic policy of mercantilism
• The colonies exist to generate wealth for the
  mother country
• Promoted a balance of trade (more exports than
  imports)
• Meant that colonial trade must be regulated
  controlled

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Mercantilism
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The Navigation Acts
However, colonists soon realized that these
restrictions gave them a monopoly on British
trade led to steady profits
Initially, the colonists protested the loss of
Dutch, French, Spanish trade partners

• Starting in 1660, the British govt imposed a
  series of Navigation Acts designed to restrict
  colonial trade increase British wealth