6 - Colonial Policy in North America, 1689–1717

Summary

The impact of the Hanoverian Succession in America has received limited scholarly attention. One reason why this topic is under-studied is that historians widely subscribe to the explanatory device of salutary neglect – the notion that the British state pursued a policy of inattention towards the American colonies: it left the colonists mostly to their own devices between 1688 and 1763, and while it still passed laws regulating trade amongst the colonies, it never really enforced them. The belief in salutary neglect has served to excuse inattention towards British imperial and political events during the first half of the eighteenth century. Even the few recent works that have addressed political issues have focused far more attention on issues of political culture rather than the structures of power and impact of transatlantic events.

The ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688–89 instituted a seismic shift in power and sovereignty in the English state: in direct contrast to the absolutist leanings of Charles II and James II, the Revolutionaries believed that sovereignty now resided in the Crown-in-Parliament. A corresponding revolution occurred within religious matters after 1688–89. The Toleration Act of 1689 reaffirmed the Church of England as the religious establishment, but ended its legal monopoly over religious worship by allowing dissenters to worship freely, if not with the same rights as Anglicans. With this legislation England also became stoutly more anti-Catholic and convinced that the French posed a threat to their way of life.

While some scholars have addressed the question of what the Revolution Settlement meant for England's – and, after 1707, Britain's – colonies in North America, they have not asked what impact the Hanoverian Succession had on this new imperial establishment. This chapter will address the impact of the accession of George I on the colonies. Did it reaffirm the Revolution Settlement in North America, or did it mark its own independent series of changes in the Empire?

It makes little sense to speak of ‘British imperial policy’ towards North America in a period characterised by intense political disagreements. There was no unitary imperial policy that Britain pursued during 1689–1714. Instead, there were two starkly defined and opposing positions on a number of issues relating to the colonies. Broadly speaking, the Whigs and the Tories enunciated dramatically different visions of how the American colonies would benefit Britain. This section will delineate these two visions at variance.