Unity

From 1750 to 1776, the American colonists became increasingly more disapproving of the English laws and government over the colonies. The policy of salutary neglect, in 1713 by Robert Walpole, was repealed in 1763 by George Grenville. As a consequence, the Navigation Acts affected the colonies, and the colonists had to repay a third of the debt, which was caused by the Seven Years War, by paying for the military garrisons placed in North America. Several more acts followed, such as the Sugar Act (1764), the Currency Act (1764), and the Quartering Act (1765). On the eve of the Revolution, the colonists had forged an identity by, through common resistance, creating a society and culture that revolved around their beliefs and morals, which did not reflect the beliefs and morals of the English government.

Although the opposition to English rule would grow, the policy of salutary neglect left the colonists alone to create their own economy, which helped create a strong sense of unity in the colonies. During the French-Indian War (1754-1763), at the Albany Congress, Ben Franklin proposed the Albany Plan for Union, which brought together delegates from the colonies and delegates from the Indian tribes. In this meeting, they drafted a proposal that called for one general government to rule the colonies and discusses the subject of defense and Indian affairs. The colonial legislatures, the Crown, and the Indians did not agree with the proposal, and did not sign it. The Albany Plan for Union, however, set a precedent because the colonists demonstrated that they could come together as a unified group to discuss common interests. It was now easier for the colonies to meet, discuss, and create a proposal that satisfied everyone, which ultimately helped the colonies in the future.

On the eve of the Revolution, the colonists felt united under one common goal. They knew that they would be able to satisfy every colonist's needs because they had done it before at the Albany Congress. England's institution of taxes and laws had only caused the colonists to need a unified plan that would show England that they did not need the Crown to be watching over the colonies. The colonists wanted a society and culture where one person could not arbitrarily tax people. The common resistance of England helped bring the colonists together to create a change. They were united under the idea of a Revolution, and never wavered from their goal.

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