Colonial Salutary Neglect

Beginning with the earliest settlers at Jamestown and continuing throughout the colonial period, the colonies were a land of rapid growth and change. The British policy of salutary neglect influenced the development of colonial society. This will be shown through developments in colonial legislative assemblies, commerce, and religion.
Britain’s lack of involvement in the colonies due to various events led the colonies towards developing self-governments. The colonies’ independent streak involving self-government began to show itself early on in colonial history with the development of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1619. This miniature parliament was the first of many to be developed in America. Later on, England’s submergence into civil
When the earliest colonies were first planted, it was up to enterprising settlers like John Rolfe to determine how the colonies were going to turn a profit. It was the colonies not the British government who decided what crops to plant and what products to produce. This led to the colonies turning to many various sources to make money such as tobacco in Virginia or ship building in New England. It was also entrepreneurial colonial traders who created the profitable triangular trade which transported molasses, rum, and slaves between the colonies, the West Indies, and Africa. Early British attempts to regulate colonial trade like the Molasses Act of 1733, might have struck a crippling blow to the colonies international trade, but the law was not strictly enforced. This lack of enforcement by the British government led to smuggling becoming an honorable occupation that was pursued by many including John Hancock. Britain’s poor or completely nonexistent attempts at regulating the economic policies of the colonies gave birth to colonies that were very protective of their economic rights; this would also prove to be this case with regards to
Puritans who settled in New England fleeing persecution by the Church of England had a church system which was rooted in democracy. Since democracy was present in the Puritan church, it was only natural that it would spread to other parts of Puritan life. This led to one of the earliest forms of colonial democracy in the form of the town meetings. A major stride towards religious tolerance was made in the colony of Maryland in 1649, with the Act of Toleration. The Act of Toleration was passed by the Maryland local representative assembly and guaranteed toleration to all Christians. It did, however, make it a capital crime to deny the divinity of Christ. Later in the 1730s and 1740s, a religious movement completely colonial in origin swept through the colonies. The Great Awakening helped breakdown denominational lines and helped the young colonies feel more united. By not setting restrictions on religion in the colonies, the British government allowed a religious environment to develop in the colonies quite unlike any other in the