How strong was British hegemony in America by 1763?

Question 1

Political - STRONG

Answer 1

• colonial charters and royal governors bound each colony to the crown
• crown, privy council and the board of trade could review colonial laws
• Franklin’s Plan of Union was rejected by the colonies at the Albany Congress (1754)

Question 2

Political - WEAK

Answer 2

• salutary neglect created a sense of autonomy
• colonial legislatures were well-established
• less than 5% if colonial laws were vetoed
• colonists had a keen sense of ‘English’ rights and liberties

Question 3

Social/Cultural - STRONG

Answer 3

• colonists were proud of their British heritage
• aspired to emulate British culture
• colonists loyalties were with their colony first and then Britain
• no sense of being ‘American’

Question 4

Social/Cultural - WEAK

Answer 4

• migration was diluting the colonists’ sense of ‘Britishness’
• the Great Awakening aroused an egalitarian and democratic spirit

Question 5

Economic - STRONG

Answer 5

• mercantilist system made the colonies economically dependent on Britain
• enumerated commodities could only be exported ti England in ships built or owned in England or the colonies
• European goods bound for the colonies had to be landed in England first

Question 6

Economic - WEAK

Answer 6

• mercantilism was not strictly enforced, was resented and widely ignored by the colonists
• smuggling was rife
• by 1763 the colonies were developing rapidly due to the economic stimulus from the Seven Years’ War

Question 7

Military - STRONG

Answer 7

• Seven Years’ War (1754-1763) and Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763) showed the colonists reliance on British military protection from French colonists and Native Americans

Question 8

Military - WEAK

Answer 8

• Seven Years’ War provided military experience
• it caused tensions between colonists and their British officers
• the Peace of Paris (1763) ended the colonists’ reliance British protection from the French threat