| Reading
Reading Notes & Questions
Sources
& Links |
OVERVIEW: By 1714 (the beginning of the
Hanoverian dynasty) the First British Empire still had
its characteristic contradictions. Its structure did not
conform to the consolidated
system suggested by
the mercantilist theory of Empire and
followed by Britain's imperial rivals. The British Empire in the 18th
century --- driven by the forces of commerce in an expanding world market
in which Britain would emerge as a dominant economic power and shaped by
mercantilist theory and policy [see Topic 2] --- was also shaped by:
 | British politics and
policies in the ages of Walpole and Newcastle |
| a colonial policy of "salutary neglect" and
decentralized government that accustomed colonists to considerable local
autonomy |
| political structures and
institutions in Britain and the colonies |
THEME:
During the first five
decades of the Georgian Age there was a growing division
between the theory of empire and the realities of
politics both in the mother country and its
colonies, a kind of discordance
between English
political and constitutional ideals and the realities of political life.
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| The
Whig Supremacy & A Policy of Salutary Neglect, 1721-1748
 | The Age of
Sir Robert Walpole as
Prime
Minister and the
Duke of Newcastle as Secretary of State
|
| Whig Patronage Politics: administrative
appointments, in England and the colonies, were used to maintain
Parliamentary majorities.
|
| Colonial elites consolidated their positions
using networks to politicians in London.
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Rise of colonial assemblies
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Institutions of Imperial
Governance
|
| Walpole's policy of salutary neglect
gave colonists considerable effective power. Even though
England used a system of Mercantilism, Sir
Robert Walpole espoused a view of "salutary neglect". This is a system
whereby the actual enforcement of external trade relations was lax. He
believed that this enhanced freedom for the colonists would stimulate
commerce. Colonists came to
see this arrangement as the true imperial constitutional structure
 | Light interference from the Board of Trade,
Secretary of State, and royal governors.
|
|
| Walpole's position begins to weaken
| Excise Crisis, 1733- provoked by Walpole's
failed attempt to replace duties on tobacco and wine by internal
duties (sales taxes) - weakened Walpole. In maneuvering
for support, he made concessions that affected the
Empire [Note
in the following examples the use of political brokering in England's
parliamentary system to maintain power by doing favors for various
group
|
| Powerful Irish lobby got the direct
import of some colonial products |
| English hatters got the Hat Act, 1732,
prohibiting the colonial export of hats |
|
Molasses Act, 1733: West India sugar
lobby got a restriction of trade between the colonies and
the French West Indies. It allowed the importation of French
molasses but with a duty higher than on products of the
British empire. The result was greatly increased
smuggling.
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| Transition from Salutary Neglect to Unwelcome
Attention, 1748-1760
| Walpole left office in 1742; Newcastle
continued his policies while Newcastle's brother (Henry Pelham)
served as Prime Minister.
|
| But in 1748 the Duke of Bedford
(John
Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford
[1710-1771] became
Secretary of State for the Southern Department (in charge of colonial
affairs.) He was one of the political figures who
had attacked Walpole . He was a leader of a faction of Whig politicians,
known as the Bedford group, and had considerable electoral power.
|
| and the
Earl of Halifax became President of the Board of Trade
(1748-1761). A more vigorous attention to colonial affairs
ensued. These new officials contested Newcastle's Walpole-like
attitude to the colonies. They took a more aggressive stance towards
the French in North America.
|
| The Seven Years War (French
& Indian War) or
here
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Political Structures: Contradiction
between theory and practice also marked political life in both Britain and
America.
| Theory and Reality of Politics in Britain
|
| Theory and Reality of Politics in the Colonies
| Colonists argued that their own
colonial assemblies should regulate the internal affairs of the
colonies, not Parliament in which they had no voice; the
Parliament argued that it represented all the people of the empire [virtual representation].
|
| Colonists in America:
| pushed against Governors' instructions |
| asserted Assembly rights and powers |
| criticized royal vetoes of colonial laws
and attempts to revoke colonial charters |
| resisted the use of Writs of Assistance to
search for smuggled goods |
|
| The Parsons' Cause, a focus for
contradiction between theory and political experience
| Background:
| Established Church in Virginia |
| Two-Penny Act of 1758 changes "tobacco
currency". Bad harvests had raised price of tobacco, making it
expensive for planters to pay debts expressed in poundage of
tobacco. The Assembly passed law that all debts, contracts, and
salary due in tobacco be paid with money instead at the rate of
two cents per pound of tobacco. The market price of tobacco was
six pence a pound, so this act devalued the currency. The governor
approved the law though it did not contain the usual statement
suspending its application until the Privy Council approved it. |
| Clergy were usually paid in fixed
rates of tobacco poundage. The new law would mean they get only
about a third of their wages. They petitioned London and the
Privy Council disallowed the act. Since the Council did not
clarify whether the act was void from the start, clergy had to sue
for back pay in county courts. There were five law suits and not
one awarded back pay to the clergy because the juries consisted of
hostile planters. |
| The Rev. James Maury of Fredericksville
Parish was one of the plaintiffs. Since his parish vestry
were also judges of the county court, he sued instead in Hanover
in April, 1762.
| Many dissenters in that location |
| The judge, Col. John Henry, found in
favor of Maury, ruling that the act was void from the start.
When the defense lawyer quit the vestry hired the judged son,
Patrick Henry, a self-taught lawyer.
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| Source:
The
Reverend James Maury to the Reverend John Camm, December 12, 1763
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| Sources
and Links Magna Carta, 1215
Bill of Rights, 1689
Mass Assembly on Governor's salary, 1728 *
Governor Burnet on salary, 1728 *
Petition for Iron Making, c1750
Petition against Iron Making, c1750
Mayhew, A Discourse, 1750
*
Gov Glen on Indians in Imperial Rivalries,1761
Oconostota, Portrait by Francis Parsons, 1762
Otis, Speech on Writs of Assistance, 1761 *
Rev. John Maury to Rev. John Camm, 1759 *
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