What did the British policy of salutary neglect of the American colonies in the early 18th century mean?

What did the British policy of salutary neglect of the American colonies in the early 18th century mean?

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What did the British policy of salutary neglect of the American colonies in the early 18th century mean?

This is a List of Available Answers Options :

  1. The British relaxed their supervision of the colonies’ internal affairs while concentrating on defense and trade policies.
  2. Britain ignored Americans’ hopes for independence instead of suppressing them violently.
  3. The English failed to enforce nearly all the laws that Parliament passed regarding the colonies.
  4. Britain refused to defend the colonies and instead expected colonial taxpayers to assume the entire burden.


The best answer is A. The British relaxed their supervision of the colonies’ internal affairs while concentrating on defense and trade policies..

Reported from teachers around the world. The correct answer to ❝What did the British policy of salutary neglect of the American colonies in the early eighteenth century mean?❞ question is A. The British relaxed their supervision of the colonies’ internal affairs while concentrating on defense and trade policies..
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What did the British policy of salutary neglect of the American colonies in the early 18th century mean?

Lesson Plan

What did the British policy of salutary neglect of the American colonies in the early 18th century mean?

Rhode Island Colonists led by John Brown burn the British revenue cutter Gaspee

The British had an empire to run. The way that they kept their economy healthy was through a system called mercantilism. Mercantilism was a popular economic philosophy in the 17th and 18th centuries. In this system, the British colonies were moneymakers for the mother country. The British put restrictions on how their colonies spent their money so that they could control their economies. They put limits on what goods the colonies could produce, whose ships they could use, and most importantly, with whom they could trade. The British even put taxes called duties on imported goods to discourage this practice. This pushed the colonists to buy only British goods, instead of goods from other European countries.

The distance from Britain and the size of the British Empire was an advantage for the colonies. It was expensive to send British troops to the colonies. For many years, the British government’s philosophy was one of “salutary neglect.” This meant that they would pass laws to regulate trade in the colonies, but they did not do much to enforce them. The British knew that the colonies were benefiting from goods from the Dutch, French, and Spanish, however. Eventually, in 1763, they began to enforce many of the trade restrictions and even passed new ones.

The Navigation Acts and the Sugar Act were two of the laws enacted to restrict colonial trade. Acts like these led to rebellion and corruption in the colonies. Colonists, particularly in New England, rebelled against these acts by illegally smuggling goods in and out of the colonies. Ships from the colonies often loaded their holds with illegal goods from the French, Dutch, and Spanish West Indies. The smugglers would pay bribes to British customs officials who were hired to regulate trade in the colonies. These officials also made a modest salary from the British, so they were benefitting from all sides. The American juries that tried smugglers, in times when they were actually caught, rarely found them guilty. Because they were gaining so much power, smugglers increased their secret trade to almost every port in the colonies. It is estimated that over 700,000 British pounds were brought into the American colonies each year at this time.

Trade and Taxation

What did the British policy of salutary neglect of the American colonies in the early 18th century mean?

Boston Harbor, circa 1746, was home to a successful colonial merchant fleet.

England continued to tax the colonies. But since trade and taxation were difficult to control from far away, England made an agreement with the colonies. They would continue to regulate trade but allow colonists the right to levy their own taxes.

You are marching in protest against having to buy goods imported only from Britain, regardless of where they originated. What does your poster say?

The French and Indian War put this delicate agreement to the test. Because the war was expensive, the British believed that colonists should help pay for it. They argued that they had protected the colonists from French and Indian threats. As a result, new taxes were levied by the British, which horrified the colonists.

Between the taxes they imposed and the measures the British Navy took to arrest smugglers, colonists were becoming increasingly angry. American shippers became more and more rebellious against trade restrictions with other countries. All of these actions served as stepping stones to the Revolution.

  1. What is the concept of mercantilism?
  2. Why were the Navigation Acts so important to the British and why did they generally alienate the colonists?
  3. What is meant by the term “salutary neglect” and what did it mean for the colonies?

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Beginning with the foundation of Jamestown in 1607, Britain lacked a true policy of economic control over their colonies in America.  Instead English parliament operated under the guidelines of mercantilism throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Mercantilism was an economic policy designed to take advantage of the natural resources, raw materials, and the collection of gold and silver of colonized lands in order to consolidate economic power and wealth for the home country.  While mercantilist policies vary by country, the basic premise is to collect gold and silver, import raw materials while exporting finished goods, and regulate the trade of your colonies goods to the home country in order to maximize their benefits.

While mercantilist policies vary by country, the basic premise is to collect gold and silver, import raw materials while exporting finished goods, and regulate the trade of your colonies goods to the home country in order to maximize their benefits.

England developed an official trade policy concerning North America in 1651 with the passage of the Navigation Acts. The Navigation Acts were some of the first parliamentary laws to more strictly regulate trade with the American colonies. Originally aimed at controlling the influence of competing European influence, cutting down on colonial smuggling, and tightening control over its imperialistic ventures, the Navigation Acts served as a protection of British business interests in North America. European competition from the French, Dutch, and Spanish challenged English opportunities on the continent. Colonial goods of sugar, indigo, rice, and tobacco were specifically targeted under the series of Navigation Acts due to their popularity and profitability to the mother country.  However, despite passing the Navigation Acts the British government rarely enforced these regulations resulting in a period of time known as ‘salutary neglect’.

Despite passing the Navigation Acts the British government rarely enforced these regulations resulting in a period of time known as ‘salutary neglect’.

Salutary neglect was an unofficial policy of non-enforcement of the trade regulations passed by British Parliament. Along with the economic freedoms experienced by merchants came access to greater political freedoms through the development of local legislatures. This was done with the long term goal of controlling the imperial colonies in America through granting access to limited freedoms. British Prime Minister Robert Walpole (1721-1742) believed the American colonies should be let alone to export raw materials and import various manufactured goods from England. American goods such as timber, fish, tobacco, and rice were highly valuable to England and Warpole believed that American merchants should be free to export raw materials to England for needed finished products. Warpole believed that a certain degree of non-intervention was necessary to ensure the cooperation and obedience of colonists much to the benefit of England.  If the colonist believed that they were able to practice some level of self-determination, then it would serve to keep them more loyal to the crown. Unlike those that may see the crown as being too authoritarian in their governance of the colonies.

However, the policy of ‘salutary neglect’ was seen as a necessary way of easing the fears of colonial merchants who were themselves afraid of royal overreach and looking to maximize economic opportunities.

Though often avoided due to increased smuggling and non-compliance, the regulations imposed by the Navigation Acts became increasingly important to the economic strength and stability of the British Empire because of the access to raw materials found in North America; resources desperately needed in England.  However, the policy of ‘salutary neglect’ was seen as a necessary way of easing the fears of colonial merchants who were themselves afraid of royal overreach and looking to maximize economic opportunities.  Salutary neglect was essential in allowing merchants to independently and freely determine the path of their businesses, which in turn kept them satisfied.

Salutary neglect was essential in allowing merchants to independently and freely determine the path of their businesses, which in turn kept them satisfied.

During this era the colonists began to sow the seeds of economic and governmental self-determination that would eventually set the stage for the American Revolution. Local colonial assemblies formed throughout America. The House of Burgess in Virginia, Delegates in Maryland, or Representatives in Massachusetts were chosen by popular votes. Access to the right to vote was often time restricted to land holding whites, but there was elected representatives none the less. Determining local political and economic policy due to the absence of British influence thanks to salutary neglect shaped American beliefs in self-rule and self-governance.

Following the events of the French and Indian War (1754-1763) the British Empire was left in tremendous financial debt and the continuing practice of salutary neglect was no longer an option.

More frequent conflicts with local Indian tribes due to the colonists’ efforts to push west in an attempt to acquire more land once again put Berkeley at odds with Bacon and his followers. Conflicts with local tribes were expensive and destructive and didn’t support the policies of the emerging planter elite who made up Berkeley’s base of power in Virginia. The established wealthy planters wanted to protect their interests by restricting access to land that would allow for the creation of forced labor camps to rival their own. Bacon and his followers saw these actions as corrupt because Berkeley did not allow them to pursue their own economic interests as others maintained a stranglehold on the tobacco profits.

The established wealthy planters wanted to protect their interests by restricting access to land that would allow for the creation of forced labor camps to rival their own.

Bacon and his followers saw these actions as corrupt.

Bacon and his followers levied charges of political corruption against both Governor Berkeley and the House of Burgesses. These charges ultimately led to a battle for political control between the two strong-willed men. Bacon wanted swift and harsh action to be taken against the native tribes for their attacks on local settlements which Berkeley refused. Berkeley urged for a more cooperative relationship with the natives and a restriction of expansion plans by those in the west. Neither of those options was satisfactory to Bacon and simply furthered the divide between the two men.

By 1670, the Virginia House of Burgesses had restricted the vote of landless free white men who now made up more than half of the population in an effort to quell the growing voices of dissent.