Why Did The Great War Change The Relationship Between England And The Colonies

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Unit 2 Essay Exam

How did the Great War for Empire change the relationship between England and its American colonies? The war had a great impact altering political and economic relations between the two. One example of a large economic impact would be that of the risen taxation on many odd goods rather than land, such as bricks and candles. Politically the American colonies wanted more liberty than the British felt was necessary. The British would not acknowledge the colonies as people of England and instead considering them foreigners. This I believe had an impact on British power over the colonies. John Dickinson wrote a letter urging resistance of the colonies to British rule. In this letter, he states “With a good deal of surprise I have observed that little notice has been taken of an act of Parliament as injurious in its principle to the liberties of these colonies as the Stamp Act was: I mean the act for suspending the legislation of New York.” In this letter, Dickinson argues that the colonies were burdened by British rule, showing just a small example of how the citizens of the colonies felt after the Great War took impact on the relationship between England and the colonies.
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I don’t believe they did. Americans wanted neutral grounds between themselves and New England. British won most encounters with America throughout the three years of war. America had only one victory, after the Treaty of Ghent was signed, under the command of General Jackson. However, the Treaty signed on Christmas Eve 1814 did bring peace as the British had decided was necessary after spending so much on war. Despite their losses in the War of 1812 letters from General Alexander Macomb show that American’s still had respect for their enemies. A portion of the letter reports, “We have buried the British officers of the army and navy with the honors of war, and shown every attention and kindness to those who have fallen into our