(RESPOND TO DISSCUSSION)Parliament and British Ministers of the late 18th century misunderstood the colonial situation by committing a series of blunders in an attempt to strengthen control, but only served to weaken and eventually sever authority over the American colonies. The Sugar Act of 1764 made the colonists feel as if they were non-represented servants of a tyrannical king because violations of the act were tried by vice-admiralty courts, which did not provide for trial by jury (Corbin, Imperial Reforms and, 130). The British intent was to eliminate any bias during trial from fellow colonialists, but the push for this kind of judgement system only fueled discontent among the colonists, who now had proof that they were treated different from the mainland British and had fewer rights.
The Stamp act was another example of the British misinterpreting the colonialist’s stance on their status as British citizens. The Parliament considered the Americas to be a dependent territory, not as an equal to the British mainland. This misunderstanding of the colonial situation resulted in the empire seeking revenue in the form of taxes, but without a representative voice to advocate for the colonies (Corbin, Imperial Reforms and, 133). This further cemented their perception of not being considered full British citizens, with the rights of representation afforded to them by the empire, fanning the grievances they had with the crown.
A final misjudgment was when there were protests regarding the Quartering Act, specifically the mandate that the colonials must pay for supplies for the British soldier that were staying in their buildings. In response, the Restraining Act of 1767 was imposed that disbanded the voice of their protest, the New York Assembly, until they agreed to pay for the expenses (Corbin, Imperial Reforms and, 138). Though all these mistakes, a common thread is that the British chancellors and Parliament responded to protests through aggressive means instead of political dialog. Their mistake is that they viewed the Americas as simply another colony whose protests should be viewed like any other rebellion from any other country, to be overpowered until they comply. They misjudged how the colonists were taking notice of the British tactics and did not treat them as citizens with representation. Over time this would have proved to be an error for the Parliament as it only helped to stoke the populace into a full-fledged revolution.