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Difficulty: MediumBritish Taxation Policies and Colonial Resistance

"He that accepts protection, tacitly promises obedience. We may therefore the more willingly contemplate the place to which they [the colonists] are gone, and the rights which they have carried with them. They went out from a state where they had votes, to a state where they had no votes... but they are still subjects of the King, and must submit to the authority of Parliament... To suppose that he who goes voluntarily to America can complain of losing his voice in the legislature is to complain of a necessity which he himself created."
— Samuel Johnson, *Taxation No Tyranny*, 1775

The arguments expressed in the excerpt most directly served to justify which of the following shifts in British imperial policy after 1763?

  1. A
    The creation of a stronger federal government with the power to collect direct taxes under the U.S. Constitution.
  2. The transition from a period of salutary neglect to the assertion of direct parliamentary authority and revenue-raising taxes.Answer
  3. C
    The establishment of colonial free enterprise by removing trade regulations to help the colonies pay off their own war debts.
  4. D
    The immediate repeal of the Townshend Acts in response to the Boston Tea Party to prevent military conflict.

Answer

The transition from a period of salutary neglect to the assertion of direct parliamentary authority and revenue-raising taxes.
The correct answer is correct because Samuel Johnson's defense of parliamentary sovereignty and virtual representation directly supported the British government's decision to end the era of salutary neglect. Following the Seven Years' War, Britain sought to integrate the colonies more closely into the empire and raise revenue to pay off war debt through direct taxes, which the colonists resisted.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the core argument of the stimulus.
The author argues that because the colonists enjoy the protection of the British Crown, they owe obedience to it and must submit to the authority of Parliament, regardless of whether they have direct representation.
Understanding the source's perspective is necessary to identify the policy it supports.
2
Contextualize the author's argument within late eighteenth-century British imperial history.
The argument aligns with British efforts to assert imperial sovereignty and raise colonial revenue after the French and Indian War ended in 1763, bringing an end to the era of salutary neglect.
Connecting the source's ideas to broader developments helps determine which policy shift the text justifies.
3
Evaluate the options based on historical accuracy and the timeline of events.
The shift from salutary neglect to direct taxation is the only option that is historically accurate and supported by the Loyalist reasoning in the text, whereas the others contain chronological or conceptual errors.
This step verifies the correct historical development while ruling out options containing common student misconceptions.

Key Concept

The shift in British imperial policy after the Seven Years' War and the resulting debate over parliamentary sovereignty.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

British Taxation Policies and Colonial Resistance

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