Exam Questions

Question 1

To what extent did Britain neglect the thirteen colonies in North America c1760

Answer 1

Did neglect:
1. Neglected their growth by land eg proclamation line 1763 stopped them from expanding westward, 30,000 still passed
2. Neglected their economic independence eg Mercantalist system meant forced to trade on the black market just to trade with others outside of Britain. Benefitted Britain much more than colonies- mercantalist system= British economic growth was propelled by raw materials supplied by its colonies so the nation could export finished products.
Didn’t neglect:
1. Military aid against threats of 7 years war
2. British weren’t neglectful, were just trying to keep the peace eg salutary neglect not heavily enforcing the proclamation line.
3. Repealed the stamp act, showed they responded to the backlash.
Conclude definitively!!! - Didn’t neglect them in this period

Question 2

Anti smuggling measures

Answer 2

1763 Anti Smuggling Measures: needed to get more event from the Americans, smuggling was rife & customs officers were mostly corrupt in favour of the colonists. 1. Colonial customs officials had to reside in America (no more paying colonist deputies to do the job because they were more lenient and lost money 2. Revenue cases tried in a vice admiralty court where only one judge would reach a verdict making it less lenient

Question 3

Both the colonial elites and movements from below shared similar attitudes to British rule in the years 1763-1770

Answer 3

Movements from below: protests from working class/ordinary people

Question 4

Washington’s advantages

Answer 4

1. Personal connection with his men, his plea to give him 3 months to turn the war in 1776 kept the army fighting when all seemed lost.
2. Could see the bigger picture Recognised he didnt need to win major battles to win the war, needed to prolong and make it expensive. However he was also willing to take risks, his decision to cross the Delaware river in the middle of the night in freezing.
3. Judge of charecter, put the right men in the right roles eg pushed congress to appoint baron von Steuben to the role of inspector general of the continental army, deliberately chose inner circle people who would challenge his ideas

Question 5

Washington’s disadvantages

Answer 5

1. Lack of tactic, often lost sense of what was going on in the confusion of battle, favoured complicated plans that hinged on precision timing, the continental army was unable to achieve this for the first 3 years of the war.
2. Lack of actual success, lost more battles than he won during the war eg unable to defend the colonial capital Philadelphia from General Howe. This led to a short lived attempt to replace Washington with general Horatio gates

Question 6

How was the issue of land preventing the states from ratifying

Question 7

Britain & North America in 1760: British attitudes towards the colonies;