How Did The British American Colonies Different From England

Between 1607 and 1754, many British North American colonies were formed. Many colonists migrated to the New World seeking profit. One thing that these colonists had in common was that they still had a British identity. However, as the colonists became more and more stable in their own ways, the resentment of England grew. Eventually, the British American colonists created a self identity distinct from that of the citizens of England. Environmental factors like the difference in land and political factors like the governmental structure contributed to a colonial identity that would one day lead to the colonial break with England.

Environmental factors, especially the vast difference in environment between North America and the profit to be made

Because the colonists were so far away from England, it was impossible to govern them. When the pilgrims first landed in Cape Cod in 1620, William Bradford, the leader of these colonist, wrote the Mayflower Compact to form a basic government to prevent the colonists from wandering off. More and more colonies eventually formed, each with their own form of contract and a rudimentary government. These governments all gave some rights, however basic, to the colonists’ ability of governing themselves. Back in England, the king ruled and the subjects had no say in how the country was run. The fact that the colonists (white, male, landowners) could have a slight say in how the government was run showed the beginning of political breakage of the colony away from Great Britain. In addition, the colonists’ victory in the French and Indian War taught them that they could unite in difficult times and triumph over adversity. However, when Parliament attempted to tighten control of the colonial governments and make the colonists pay for their fair share of the war, colonists were furious at the attack on their freedoms. Also, when Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765, the colonists were upset that the British government would bypass their own colonial system of taxation; they felt that they shouldn’t be taxed by an assembly in which they had no representation. Combined this with Parliament’s other acts like the Proclamation of 1763 and the Quebec Act, colonists became concerned about the increasingly hostile Parliament which designed to limit their rights and liberties. Parliament’s aggression towards the colonies reinforced the fact that colonist’s political ideas varied significantly with those of the