The sub-title of this book, which I obviously did not finish, is 'A Continental History, 1750-1804'. The book was highly acclaimed, the author has previously won a Pulitzer, and currently holds the Thomas Jefferson Chair in History at The University of Virginia. The introduction says that the book will expand on the traditional narrative of the 13 colonies revolting and bring in the role of the trans-Appalachian territories and the British, French and Spanish Empires. There are some fabulous takeaways, but just not enough to spend what was beginning to look like a month on the book. The colonies were increasingly becoming more and more important to the UK. The percentage of GDP attributed to America rose from 4% in 1700 to 40% on the eve of the revolution. Because the colonial governors were weak in comparison the the Crown and there certainly was no House of Lords, the colonies were much more 'democratic' than home. The British victory in the Seven Years War was attributed to not just naval and military strengths, but the ability to borrow money because of the establishment of the Bank of England. Those funds required repayment. Since the colonies were taxed at a rate of about 1/25th of the homeland, Parliament, the King and most in the UK felt the Americans needed to pay more. Fissures also arose over the trans-Appalchians because the colonists wanted the Indian's land and the UK desperately wanted peace with the Indians. The Sugar, Tea and Stamp taxes were the first direct taxes* imposed on the colonies and the source of tremendous resentment.
I think this is a really good book for those with a keen interest and a bit more patience than I have.
*Direct taxes, as opposed to excise duties, were so unpopular in America that our Constitution proscribed them. An Amendment was necessary to implement the Income Tax in 1913.
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