I wrote this one in advance for the first history exam...
Personally, I don't think this one is as good.

The question was something along the line of "What economic and political events led to the American Revolution. Was conflict inevitable?"



In the second half of the seventeenth century, England and her North American colonies began to grow increasingly alienated from each other. The adoption of new economic policies led to friction between the colonies and England, and many colonists began to resist English attempts to control them. The possibility of conflict loomed on the horizon.

Parliament's adoption of mercantilism sparked dramatic changes in the regulations England placed on colonial trade. Mercantilism is an economic system that assumes the total amount of gold and silver in the world remains fixed, and the only way for one nation to gain wealth was at the expense of another. Thus, in order to ensure a government gains wealth, it must exercise control of all its economic activities.

The Navigation Acts were England's first major steps in regulating trade in the colonies based on the fundamentals of mercantilism. The first act in 1651 was largely a response to the Dutch domination of colonial shipping and trade. It required that all goods imported to the colonies or England be carried only on English ships with a majority of the crew being English. In 1660, the rule was made even more strict, stating that the crew had to be at least three-quarters English, no longer just the majority. The Navigation Act of 1669 also established a list of "enumerated articles." These articles, which included sugar, cotton, and tobacco, could only be shipped to England or other English colonies. The Navigation Act of 1663 expanded the list of enumerated articles further, and also required all colonial goods bound for America to go through English ports, be unloaded, and have duty paid on them before they could continue to America.

The Navigation Acts gave England a monopoly over the tobacco and sugar produced in the colonies, channeled all colonial trade through English merchants, and increased the customs revenues collected in England. In short, the Navigation Acts helped England prosper commercially, while reducing trade profits for the colonies. Most colonists were willing to accept the decrease in profit, seeing it as a compromise: by letting England take some of their profit, the colonists gained the protection of the English navy, as well as other benefits. However, many other colonists were disturbed by England's new interest in their economic affairs. Many had grown accustomed to England's lack of involvement during the English Civil War from 1642 to 1649.

Over time, increasingly strict trade and political regulations occurred as England tried to reel in the colonists. However, each attempt by England to tighten the leash only made the colonists more resentful. Situations began to reverse after the death of Queen Anne in 1714. For a short time, England began to follow a policy of "salutary neglect." In addition to giving Americans greater freedom to pursue their economic interests, if also enabled them to pursue greater po0litical independence. Eventually, the idea of self-government became a "right" in the minds of the colonists, and any attempt to corrupt that right became a source of great anger to the colonists.

Although history shows us that conflict did indeed lay in store for the colonists and England, it was in no way inevitable. Th emain reason conflict arose was due to England's excessive posturing and lack of tact. England was so sure that the revolution was imminent that they caused it to happen. Until the Declaration of Independence, the colonists still considered themselves to be English subjects. Their only real desire was for home rule, and most of them wished to avoid conflict if possible. In the end, the colonists were more or less forced into open war by England.