History: North America after 1763 (Essay Sample)

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Introduction
The year 1763 saw the end of the French and Indian war in the North America. This was as a result of conquest by the British Empire who now controlled North America in the areas east of Mississippi river and North of Florida. It also brought about the Royal Proclamation of 1763 by King George III. The proclamation was meant to oversee the organization of North America through regulation of commerce, settlements and land transactions. The proclamation separated the rival groups of the Native Americans and the colonists who moved to settle in the rich lands of North America after the war. It was also aimed at ensuring a good relationship was maintained with the natives of North America. Troops were stationed along the frontier to separate the two rivals and ensure that no conflicts arose between them. The events of 1763 are viewed by many as having catalyzed the American Revolution. This paper examines the various policies that were adopted in North America after 1763 and what was their influence in assisting the empire move towards attaining independence.
Analysis
The end of the French and Indian war brought about adoption of various policies which were carried on to 1776 when the nation was declared independent. After the war the territory required minimal protection from the British Empire and it was able to create a stable economy through agriculture and trade. One of the main objectives of the new policies that were adopted was to repay the debts that had been incurred during the war as well as its separation from the other colonies.
Tax policies
By the end of the war the British Empire was highly indebted and still needed more resources in order to protect the colonies that had been acquired. This meant that more funds were required to support the operations. The taxpayers back at home were however already raising concerns about the high taxation on their incomes to support the war and this meant that the British Empire had to come up with other means of raising resources to support its operations. This resulted to focus on the colonies that had been acquired in a move to raise more funds from them.
* The sugar Act
This was introduced in 1764 and was aimed at taxation of imported sugar and molasses into North America. A tax of 3 pence per gallon of molasses was imposed as compared to the previous regime where merchants imported sugar and molasses at not charge. However the Act faced a great challenge given the high level of smuggling and bribing that made it difficult to administer the taxes. As a result other mechanisms had to be arrived at which would help counter the challenge. This led to adoption of the stamp Act CITATION Eri98 \p 44 \l 1033 (Polisar 44).
* The stamp act
This was introduced in 1965 shortly after the sugar act. The reason for its introduction was the realization that the sugar Act was not raising sufficient funds as a result of smuggling and bribing. The stamp Act was a direct tax that was charged on any forms of documents ranging from legal documents, title deeds, academic certificates, newspapers and books among other printed documents. The stamp Act was however met with great resistance from the American colonists who felt that it was being levied on them without their consent. Protests against the Act became rampant with violence erupting in the summer season of 1765 when a mob led by a shoemaker approached the building of Andrew Oliver a stamp Act administrator who was only lucky to escape in time with his family. The Act was later repealed by the government in 1766 as a result of the increased pressure by the colonialists and the merchants who were after protecting their business interests. Purvis (86) stated, ‘Nobody could have imagined that such a large number of people would gather to turn against the policies of the parliament and blame it on a individual.’
Other tax policies included the imposition of import duty on common items in the market as tea, paper, glass and paint. These were also received by the colonists with great resistance but on realizing that the colonists were getting out of control, stiff measures to govern them were introduced which later came to be known as the coercive Acts.
Revolution of the minds and hearts of the people
The first revolution in North America came in the form of religion where churches were established and recognized legally. This was at the time of the Great Awakening when the state came up with policies that recognized the churches to an extent of funding them from taxation. Aptheker(244) pointed out that, ‘The Christian evangelists used the churches to preach and pass strong messages to the masses who gathered in the churches. Christian were taught on the need to work hard and become self reliant through agriculture and trade.’ This was seen as the best strategy to achieve liberalization of North America by becoming self reliant and achieving growth of the economy. The church was also used to enhance interaction of people in North America where they met and discussed the different issues affecting them. It is through this kind of interaction that the need for liberalization and development of North America was shared by the natives. The churches pushed for reduction in taxation as well as freedom of worship for all religions CITATION Her77 \p 245 \l 1033 (Aptheker 245).
The culture of the people also changed significantly with increased interaction and communication between the natives. Initially North America was an extended land where the Native Americans settled in far distances between each other. In his book Aptheker (254) states, ‘The land of North America was scarcely populated with extensive fields of idle land that was rarely used for agriculture.’ As a result there was minimal interaction between them expect in times of trade. With the establishment of a new colony there was increased interaction between the Natives as well as the colonists as they came together to form groups that enabled them overcome unfavorable policies by the parliament. The slaves that had been detained in North America took advantage of the confusion that came after the war to escape to the territories that were near North America. This however did not have any significant effect on the level of productivity of North America as the colonists came up with improved means of production.
In view of the onset of North American revolution Jensen (68) explained, ‘The revolution was already in the minds of the people even before the war begun.’ The colonists were aware of the actions of the government and the leaders and they saw it as a threat to their liberation. Before the end of the war most of the Native Americans were well aware of their position in the empire as well as their rights. Jenson (68) further examined that, ‘They had the motive of fighting for their rights and working towards an independent and liberalized nation.’ There was also the case with the colonists who observed closely the actions of the parliament and government especially in terms of taxation and other duties levied against them. The Native Americans were even opposing the tax policies that were imposed as well as challenging the interpretation of legislation that limited their chances for liberalization.
After the French and Indian was new polices were establis...