England during the 1700s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

England during the 1700s - Essay Example Although these higher-ranking officials were usually more loyal to the English interest than other members of a settlement may have been, their word was not final: in a court, for example, a judge ruling in accordance with English precedent could have his say overturned by a colonial jury. On paper, the British governed the colonies, but in practice the English government was overrun with colonial legislation, as well as the aftermath of its seventeenth-century civil war. Even when the Crown attempted to interfere directly with colonies, for example to combine them, this failed, and even had the opposite effect – colonies split, such as Delaware and Pennsylvania in 1704, and the North and South Carolinas in 1712. British rule was more often than not ineffective, and could easily be swayed according to the wishes of the colonies. 2. What was the theory of mercantilism and its application to British colonies in North America? The theory of mercantilism, which can be strongly lin ked to ideas of nationalism, was a facile but nonetheless popular form of economics; it had a stronghold on economic thought from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century.