Socio-economic Factors Shaping the Thirteen Colonies

Socioeconomic Factors and the American Revolution

Socioeconomic factors had a significant impact on the thirteen English colonies in North America, which later inspired a rebellion and an independence proclamation. Economic and social variables are combined to form socioeconomic factors. The thirteen colonies’ governance was similar, so the factors were largely shared by all of them or the majority of them. The British wanted to exploit the colonies for as much profit as possible, which was a significant factor in their rebellion and the subsequent American Revolutionary War. Britain was the mother country and had a significant influence in the life of the thirteen colonies was similar, the factors were mostly common to all or most of them. The major reason which caused the colonies to rebel leading to the American Revolutionary War was that the British wanted to make as much money as they could from them. Britain was the mother country and had a significant influence in the life of the thirteen colonies. The colonies felt that the treatment they got from the mother country both socially and economically was not fair. Britain had an upper hand in most of the factors, ranging from their administration to trade and this was at the expense of the colonies. This led them to rebel in revolutionary wars, and they obtained their independence eventually. This paper looks at some of the factors that shaped the colonies.

British Control and Lack of Representation

Britain, the mother country had the power to pass laws in their parliament which was outside America. This power enabled them to have control over the life of the thirteen colonies, including their trade. The colonies did not have any person to represent them in the British Parliament and as a result, their grievances were not aired and they were treated differently from the British. The thirteen colonies tried to gain control through central governments which responded to the needs of the majority and local government town meetings. In the meetings, male church members met frequently to decide matters that were of importance locally. These leaderships

Mercantilism and Imbalanced Trade

The British were ahead of the thirteen colonies economically, in terms of trade. They had adopted a policy known as mercantilism. In the mercantile system, Great Britain obtained a continuous flow of raw materials from the thirteen colonies, processed them into finished goods with a higher value and sold them back to them. This implied that the colonies sold their raw materials cheaply and bought the finished goods at high costs after they were processed. The mother country was the beneficiary of the trade, at the expense of the thirteen countries. In mercantilism, Britain was the principal actor in the economy and it believed that it was the only nation that was supposed to grow rich at the expense of other nations. Triangular trade routes were created so that the thirteen colonies could trade their surplus goods in exchange for goods that were scarce to them. The trade, which worked alongside the mercantilism policy served to provide a “favorable balance of trade” to the mother country at the disappointment of the thirteen colonies. Through the trade, the British ensured that all domestic money, gold and silver stayed in England making them more economically superior. This provoked the thirteen colonies to protest leading to the American Revolutionary War.

Geography and Social Structure

The geography in the thirteen colonies was mountainous and hilly. There were many rivers, rocky soil and dense forests. This came in handy when they started their revolutions because with good strategies, they could have an upper hand in the war by making use of the features. Their climate was cold and had harsh winters, as well as very short growing seasons. The colonies lived in clustered settlements which led to the growth of strong communities which could organize themselves locally to revolt against the mother country, leading to their independence. Socially, the structure of the colonies was based on religious values and beliefs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the implication of colonialism on the thirteen colonies was that their social and economic status was affected negatively. The mother country acted as their superior in both administration and trade making them feel that they were treated unfairly. They felt that if they gained independence, they could control their trade activities and raise their economic status. They could also make their own laws and policies without being forced to abide by the laws made by the mother country without involving them. The colonies felt that being under the mother country led to unequal distribution of resources. This is because Britain exploited and took advantage of the best resources. From the paper, it is clear that during colonialism, most socioeconomic factors negatively impacted the thirteen colonies.