146 The Reform Movement, 1763-1765

I. Since the late 1740s leading members of the British Board of Trade had favored tighter controls over the colonies,
and by focusing attention on America, the Great War for Empire presented them with a golden opportunity.
A. As soon as victory over the French was ensured, British officials launched a concerted effort to reform the colonial
administrative system.
The Legacy of the War
I. The legacy of the Great War for Empire was a mixed one. By driving the French out of Canada, Britain had achieved
dominance over eastern North America.
A. The cost of triumph was high: a mountain of debt and the need to spend even more money to sustain troops in the
newly conquered provinces of Canada and Florida.
B. The financial crisis prompted the British ministry not only to impose new taxes on its American possessions but also
the redefine the character of the empire. Since 1689 Britain had exercised authority over the colonies indirectly,
through mercantilist regulations on trade; now it proposed to govern them more directly, through Parliamentary
legislation and taxation.
Disputes over Troops and Trade
I. The war made visible the differences between British and colonial society.
A. Before 1754 only royal governors and a few merchants and naval officers had experienced life in the American
provinces, but the fighting brought thousands of British troops to the mainland colonies. Few people liked what they
saw.
B. Americans were shocked by the arrogance of British officers.
II. The war once again exposed the weakness of British administrative control, especially the lack of authority exercised
by royal governors.
A. For decades royal officials had struggled with the colonial assemblies over salaries, patronage, and taxes, and the
war only heightened these conflicts.
B. In Virginia the House of Burgesses refused to levy additional taxes to pay for the war and resorted instead to deficit
financing, printing huge amounts of paper currency.
C. As the colony’s currency declined in value, the Burgesses passed another act that required creditors to accept money
at its face value, prompting British merchants to apply to Parliament for relief.
III. Other conflicts arose over military police. In theory the governors had command of the provincial militia, including
the authority to appoint officers and set military strategy. In reality they had to share power with the colonial
assemblies, which refused to support the war effort with taxes and troops unless they controlled military
appointments and operation.
IV. Imperial authorities began to strictly enforce the existing Navigation Acts.
A. Before the war American merchants had routinely bribed customs officials to circumvent the Molasses Act of
1733. To curb such corruption, in 1762 Parliament passed a Revenue Act that prohibited English customs
appointees from leasing their positions to deputies, who had often accepted bribes in order to pay their leases and
 augment their personal incomes.
B. The ministry instructed the Royal Navy to stop the American merchants who were conducting a flourishing trade
between the mainland colonies and the French islands.
V. Britain’s wartime efforts to curb American autonomy culminated in 1763 with the deployment of a large peacetime army.
The decision stemmed from a number of motives.
A. The ministry wanted to discourage rebellion by French residents in Quebec and also needed to safeguard its new
147 province of Florida, which Spain wanted back and could potentially invade.
B. The recent rebellion of the Ottawa chief Pontiac had underscored the need for a substantial military garrison
along the frontier.
C. The soldiers would intimidate the Indians and deter white farmers from migrating west of the Proclamation Line
of 1763 and thus prevent new Indian wars.
VI. Some British politicians feared that with the French gone from Canada, Americans would seek greater freedom and
imperial control. To prevent this outcome, British ministers on a show of force.
A. By stationing an army in America, the British ministry was indicating its willingness to use force to preserve its
authority.
The National Debt
I. A more immediate problem was Britain’s national debt, which had nearly doubled as a result of the war.
A. To pay the rising interest charges, Lord Bute, the prime minister, would have to raise taxes.
B. Treasury officials advised against increasing the English land tax. Bute therefore imposed higher imposed higher
import duties on American-grown tobacco and sugar, which manufacturers passed on to British consumers by
higher prices.
C. The ministry also increased excise levies—essentially sales taxes—on domestic goods such as salt, beer, and
distilled spirits, another measure that passed the cost of war onto ordinary subjects.
II. To collect these taxes, the government doubled the size of the financial bureaucracy and increased its legal powers.
A. Customs agents and informers patrolled the coasts of southern Britain, arresting smugglers and seizing tons of
European-produced goods on which import duties had not been paid.
B. The price of empire abroad had turned out to be debt, higher taxes, and a more powerful government at home.
III. These developments confirmed the worst fears of Country aristocrats in Britain and radical Whigs on both sides of
the Atlantic. Since the ministry off Sir Robert Walpole, these political factions had emphasized the dangers of a big
and expensive government and political corruption.
A. Now opposition politicians in Britain went on the offensive against the ministry. The bureaucracy, they
protested, had become even more bloated.
B. Distressed by higher taxes and administrative corruption, the most outspoken British reformers insisted that
Parliament be made more representative of the peoples’ interests.
C. In British domestic affairs as in American colonial policy, the Great War for Empire had transformed British
political life, creating a more active and more oppressive government.
British Reform Strategy
I. This political transformation in Britain had a significant impact on American affairs because it brought to power a
new generation of royal officials with a more expansive view of British authority.
A. Charles Townshend and officials at the Board of Trade had vowed to enhance British prosperity by closely