HY 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter Chapter Seven: Quebec Act, Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben, Intolerable Acts
Document Summary
Because the british controlled more north american territory after the seven years war, they had to devote more troops and supplies to secure the territories. The british needed more money to support this, so they started levying taxes on the american colonists. Two ideas had taken root in the minds of the american colonists by the mid 18th century (not mutually exclusive): republicanism: all citizens willingly work towards the common good, which trumps their private interests. The stability of society and the authority of government depended on society"s capacity for selflessness, self-sufficiency, and courage. This school of thought opposed authoritarian institutions: radical whigs: the radical whigs was a group of british political commentators who criticized the monarchy"s corruption and encouraged citizens to be vigilant against attempts to take away liberty. British mercantilism in the colonies was a system in which the british expected the colonies to export raw materials to britain and import manufactured goods exclusively from britain.
