The history of the colonies combined with the British’s “divine neglect” made a conflict with between the inferior colonists and the superior British inevitable. From the very beginning, the British were using the colonists as economic pawns through the mercantilist theory. Mercantilists believe wealth was power, and that the amount of gold or silver in the treasury was representative of the wealth of the country. This idea, which was rampant throughout Europe, needed to amass the most amount of money possible by selling far more than the country purchased. Possessing colonies aided greatly in this due to the fact they could supply the mother country with goods and sell goods abroad. The British furthered their stranglehold on the colonists by enforcing the Navigation Laws, making the merchant marine a part of the crucial part of the Royal Navy. Animosity was mounting with the restrictions on creating certain products, causing the money supply to decreases greatly and rely solely on currency, a reality that hurt the colonists as they drained most of their gold and silver supply.

             Combined with the pains of mercantilism was the imposition of certain taxes imposed after the end of the Seven Years’ War in 1763. After the fighting ended, the British needed a way to pay off the debt from the war, a debt neither side was willing to claim responsibility for. Knowing they wouldn’t pay it off directly forced the British to impose the Sugar and Navigation Acts to help pay off the cost of keeping a garrison and troops in the colonies. Prime Minister Greenville reached the pinnacle with the Stamp Tax. By forcing them to sacrifice their money and more importantly their personal liberties, the colonists were beginning to lose their patience with the British. The Stamp Act Congress in 1765 brought together the colonies to address their rights and grievances. After great debate about the expediency rather than the justness of the act forced parliament to repeal it.

            Britain continued to force upon the colonists a sense of “divine neglect” through their reinforcement of the idea they were superior. Enforcing the Quartering Act exemplified this fact.  Forcing the colonists to feed and provide shelter for the British. The situation got out of control when the Boston Massacre occurred, as redcoats shot and killed “innocent” citizens. A situation, which construed from varying viewpoints, was just in the eyes of the British and a horrible attack as seen by the colonists. The Intolerable Acts, aimed at chastising the Boston area were the hotbed for disobedience was most evident. The Quebec Act, equating the French in Canada to the colonists began to put great strain on the situation. The colonists were now aroused to act on their grievances and rebel against the great empire. The difference between the Canadians and the colonists was the fact they weren’t given their citizenship; the colonists were British who had emigrated. They would not stand for this form of treatment-and they didn’t.

The thirteen colonies located in America were destined to have a revolutionary event; their creation and population was a revolutionary act in itself.  The British “divine neglect” only caused these revolutionary feelings to grow.  The American Revolution was inevitable because of the British’s lack of consideration in the methods used when dealing with the colonies.  The thirteen colonies could have never remained peacefully attached to Britain for too long.

            People who wanted to rid themselves of the ruling methods of the British first populated the thirteen colonies.  These people were a type of revolutionary leaders and could even be looked at as rebels.  They were willing to endure the lengthy and dangerous ship ride in order to reach this New World.  These rebels suffered through this trip in order to separate themselves from everything from the Old World.  These people who immigrated to America believed that they were simply different from the British.  They therefore believed that the British, who were so unlike the Americans, were not able to be in control of American affairs.  This common belief connected the Americans, also contributing to the revolutionary feelings that would take form during later years. 

            The British Empire was not considerate toward their American colonies.  The British officials paid close attention to the dealings of the colonial assemblies; the British wanted to make sure none of the reforms voted for by the colonists harmed the British motives of mercantilism.  The “royal veto” used by the British was greatly hated by colonists, since it went against their belief that the British were not fit to rule over the colonies.  The British placed different “acts” or taxes on the colonies.  Some of these taxes, or acts were the stamp tax, the Townshend Acts, and the intolerable Acts.  The Townshend Acts of 1767 included small import tax on items such as glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea.  These Townshend acts led to the Boston Massacre in 1770 and to the Boston Tea Party in 1773.  The Intolerable Act in 1774 was a collection of brutal measures, including the Boston Port Act.  This certain act closed the Boston Harbor until the financial damages of the Boston Tea Party could be paid for.  All of these acts were greatly hated by the colonists since they were yet more examples of the British attempts to enslave the colonies. 

            If the British had treated the colonies in a way that was similar to the way they treated the Canadian colonies, the American Revolution might have never occurred.  The Quebec Act, which came along at the same time as the Intolerable Acts, was a law that was placed on the French Canadians.  This act allowed the French to keep their Catholic religion, and many of their old customs and institutions.  However id did not allow a representative assembly or trial by jury.  The boundaries of the Province of Quebec were also extended because of this act.  The Quebec act was a very just law that should have been a model for how the British should have dealt with their thirteen colonies.

            The actions of the British and the American beliefs were both contributing factors to the American Revolution.  America had been a revolutionary place ever since the first colonists arrived to create a new life.  The British were not wise with their dealings in America, causing tension and more hatred from the American colonies.  The one way that the American Revolution might have been avoided is if the colonies had been treated as fairly as the French Canadians had been treated.        

The American Revolution was completely unavoidable. The settlers had been different from Old World denizens since they set foot on the boat that brought them to the New World. During the “divine neglect,” a period starting when settlers first arrived and ending in 1763, American colonists were able to govern themselves. But the colonies’ economic growth was stunted by mercantilism, which wasn’t fully enforced until the end of the period of “divine neglect.” Americans thought that the British government was exercising their powers too strongly, but this was only the beginning.

“Divine neglect” allowed for Americans to get a sense of self and establish themselves as a new people. They liked governing themselves and when the British began strictly enforcing their policies, a revolution became inevitable. Americans had felt democracy, and they weren’t going to let it go easily. They couldn’t just remain peacefully attached to Britain, they had to fight for their way of life and government.

Mercantilism was imposed on American colonists by the British government. The Mercantile theory was based on the belief that a country’s amount of gold or silver determined it’s power. This would be achieved by making more exports than imports, so empires with colonies had an advantage. The colonies sole purpose was “to help the mother country achieve its mercantilist goals.” (122) This limited the colonists trade market to Britain, which left them at the mercy of British merchants. Virginia became impoverished because of the system, and New England suffered as well.    

There was also an uproar when the British government began taxing the colonists for things like stamps. It was repealed after colonist’s devotion to nonimportation took effect. American colonists bought one fourth of English textiles, so when they stopped buying it hit hard and many laborers were thrown out of work. Some British Parliament members didn’t understand “why 7.5 million Britons had to pay heavy taxes to protect the colonies, whereas some 2 million colonials refused to pay for only one-third of the cost of their own defense.” (128)

These and many other things such as the Boston “Massacre,” Boston Tea Party and Intolerable Acts, made the rift between England and its American colonies much greater. They gradually became more annoyed and frustrated by each other. If England and the American colonies would have kept their ties any longer, the American Revolution probably would have been fueled more by determination and hate than anything else.

Considering these facts, one could make an assumption that the American Revolution was indeed, inevitable.  The way that the country was founded also led to the reason why it could not remain attached to it’s mother country for a long duration of time.  The frustrated colonists who felt restricted by the King and his religion sought after a new and better life.  Their new and better life happened to lie in the frontier of what is now the United States.  After shiploads of British citizens filed unto the new world, they started to think.  They formed 13 colonies, which could be considered separate nations in themselves.  Each colony continued to grow increasingly more independent.  A separate system of law was used as well as a separate economy.   The increasing rebellion among the colonies could not be bottled up and discarded among the thousands of other national issues.  The independence of the new world from England could not be neglected or avoided.  It would happen without doubt. 

The British were essentially stifling the Americans in the early sixteen-hundreds to mid-seventeen-hundreds.  They controlled virtually every aspect of American government, politics, and economy.  The Americans, however, were very frustrated with the British style of governing, and aroused an inevitable revolution.   The revolution was virtually unavoidable; the Americans were being taxed without representation, unable to develop an economy, and forced to have an unwanted monarchy for a government.

            The British repressed the freedoms of Americans, in that they disallowed them to have any say in the Parliament; they were taxed without representation.  All tax and government decisions were made thousands of miles away from America.  The Americans were forced to have such taxes as the Stamp Act of 1765.  This tax was imposed on colonists so that the British could pay their war debt.  All printed materials were taxed.  The colonists were outraged at the injustice of the tax, and displayed their anger toward the British by boycotting such materials.  This caused the British to suffer financially.  The British imposed a score of other taxes, including the Tea Act.  The colonists were forced to pay a tax on tea, and rebelled by boarding ships in Boston Harbor, and dumping boxes of tea into the harbor.  This historic event is known as the Boston Tea Party.   

            Because of the British, the Americans were unable to develop a thriving economy.  The colonies, which were immensely wealthy with raw materials, were forced to send the raw materials to the British by ship.  In turn, the British forced the colonists to pay money for finished goods which the colonists helped to produce.  This lack of economic advancement was detrimental to the colonists, because they were unable to expand as a nation, and ultimately, as a people.  They were not as wealthy as they should have been, and not nearly as industrialized, due to British intervention.

            The British monarchy was imposed upon the colonists, against their will.  The British believed that the colonists were an imperialistic undertaking, and that it was the right of the monarchy to impose whatever government that they felt was appropriate.  The colonies, of course, began to resent this, because they were not allowed to have a say in what transpired in the government.  They were virtually blind to all governmental proceedings, and even made to house soldiers in their homes during war time.  The colonists wanted out of the restrictive and oppression; they wanted it so badly, that they were willing to put up a fight in order to procure a form of government which they agreed upon.  This set the stage for war, as well as a worldwide revolution.

            The ways in which the British treated the colonists caused an inevitable revolution, or necessary change in the culture.  The colonists felt that they were being stifled in government, economy, and taxation without representation.  They felt that this was uncalled for, and desired a rapid change in government as well as ruling.  The British caused this inevitable revolution.