Could America not have fought the British

Could America have gradually and peacefully developed independence within the British Common wealth, as Canada later did, rather than engaging in a violent revolt? Soon after England’s victory in the Seven Years’ War, England struggled with the financial costs of the war. England’s Parliament tried to establish power in the New World by issuing a series of laws. England attempted to have the colonies help pay for the cost of the war that would later help lead to revolt in America. Prior to the Seven Years’ War, the English rarely intervened with colonial business. It was during this time that the colonies began gradually to think and act independently of England. This scared England, and initiated a period in which they became more involved in the colony's growth. The passage of these laws undermined the Colonist's loyalty to England and stirred the Americans to fight for their freedom. What began as a fight over economic policies soon deteriorated into the difference in Americans and Britons political views, which help lead to the violence of the American Revolution (The American Pageant, pg 122). I believe a violent revolt could have been prevented only if England hadn’t pushed the Colonies past the point of non-violent resolutions.

Before 1763, the only British laws that truly affected the colonists were the Navigation Acts, which monitored the colony's trade so that it traded solely with England. As this law was not rigidly enforced, the colonists accepted it with little fuss. The colonies also accepted England's right to monitor trade. The change of course in 1763 was what really riled the colonists. England began to slowly tighten its imperial grip on the colonies by ordering the British navy to begin strictly enforcing the Navigation Laws (The American Pageant, pg 125). Additional problems began when. This was a powerful weapon against smuggling, but most importantly to the Colonists; it allowed the invasion of their privacy. This was crossing the line and violating the rights of an English man.

During the Seven Years War, the British sent over ten thousand troops to America to deal with property problems at the frontier. This cost a large amount of money, and Britain did not want to see the sum come out of its own pocket. To pay for some of the expense, Britain began to pass acts to tax the colonists and lighten the severe debt the empire was in.