Competition for Empire and Economic Expansion

Question 1: Explain how and why British economic policies in North America shifted after 1763.

Answer 1: The end of the Seven Years’ War resulted in Great Britain’s gaining control over most of France’s North American lands. Britain was facing huge war debts and needed to raise revenues. Prior to the war, Britain had largely taken a hands-off approach to the North American economy. So long as the colonies were bringing in wealth, British officials did not try to enforce its mercantilist policies too strictly. After 1763, however, Parliament passed a series of new laws designed to increase cash flow from the colonies and decrease colonial trade with other nations. From Parliament’s perspective, the colonists, as British citizens, were required to do their part to support the Great Britain’s economy. Many colonists resented these laws, which led to conflict that eventually resulted in the American Revolution.

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Question 2: List the major British economic laws affecting the North American colonies between 1763 and 1774 and the colonists’ responses to them.

Answer 2: 1764 – Sugar Act: imposed tax on sugar and other imports from non-British colonies; colonists complained1765 – Stamp Act: imposed tax on written documents, signified by a stamp; colonists boycotted British goods, organized Stamp Act Congress1767 – Townshend Revenue Act: imposed taxes on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper, and tea; colonists signed non-importation agreements, which effectively cut off trade for British merchants; protests by colonists led indirectly to the Boston Massacre1773 – The Tea Act: gave the British East India Company a monopoly on tea shipping to the colonies; colonists threw the Boston Tea Party, tossing British tea into the harbor1774 – Intolerable Acts: a series of laws intended to punish colonists for protests, included the closing of Boston Harbor; colonists organized First Continental Congress; tensions ultimately led to outbreak of war in 1775

Question 3: Summarize the events that led to the Peace of Utrecht.

Answer 3: The Peace of Utrecht refers to a series of individual treaties that brought an end to French wars for expansion and settled the issue of Spanish succession. The negotiations primarily involved representatives from France, Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, Savoy, and the Dutch Republic. The negotiations were long and arduous, reflecting general distrust among most of the participants. Negotiations began in October 1711 between representatives of Great Britain and France. One major issue involved the monarchy of France and Spain; Britain and its allies insisted that France and Spain agree never to have a unified monarchy. When, in July 1712, Spanish King Phillip V agreed in writing to renounce any link to the French monarchy, Britain and France signed a formal peace agreement to end fighting between them. The following year, the nations signed the first Treaty of Utrecht.

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