After the French and Indian War, England was left with a great debt they had developed during the previous years. In order to lessen that debt, they began to strictly regulate trade, and impose taxes on commonly used items. Although Britain said these changes were from their “virtual increase in territory,"(Doc F) the colonists were infuriated. They felt that they were being financially attacked because they had no say in Congress. It was taxation without representation.
All of this taxation and rules took a toll on the economic relationship between the colonists and England. Prior to the French and Indian War Americans were forced to ship their raw materials to Britain, only to later buy the finished products back from them. However, with the heavy British taxation, mercantilism was soon abandoned when the colonists decided to fight back. The Stamp Act infuriated many of the colonists, and as Benjamin Franklin states (Doc. G), they wanted to "get it repeal'd" as soon as possible. Boycotting as their weapon, they decided not to support Britain by refusing to purchase any English products, therefore the economic relationship between the two countries dropped significantly.
Although colonial