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salutary neglect what is it it's the kind of policy that Britain

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practice for more than a hundred years with its American colonies it basically [Man wearing crown at the theater]

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means that crown pretended not to notice that the colonists were breaking tons of

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laws it's true America founded by criminals the colonists favorite laws [Man in ski mask appears]

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break were the navigation act he's declared the colonies could only trade

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with England Scotland Wales and Ireland navigation acts might seem crazy by [Ship sails to UK]

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today's standards but they were par for the course at the time still Britain

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turned a blind eye and didn't enforce them because well hey who has the time

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so for a while colonists traded with whoever they wanted and Britain never

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gave them grief about it but then the French and Indian War happened and it [Boy holding giant ice cream of french and indian war]

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put a major hole in the old British wallet to help make up for this Britain

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started squeezing the American colonies like an old aunt always hugs too hard to [Woman hugging girl and girl turns blue]

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get more money out of the colonies the Brits started actually and war we're

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seeing the Navigation Acts and even followed them up with some new acts

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sugar Stamp tea all of these were draining colonial piggy banks like [Piggy bank shrinks]

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everybody who's ever been hit up with a bill they didn't expect the colonists [Girl receives restaurant bill]

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were overjoyed that was sarcasm they hated all these in taxes were seriously

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messing with the colonists life liberty and happiness as the Declaration of [Man with head in his hands]

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Independence later proved these were things that early Americans were super

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touchy about of course before they went all out and declared independence which

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meant war the colonists tried nonviolent economic protest they couldn't really [Man protesting against wall street]

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occupy America since they already live there so they had to try some other

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tactics like they passed non consumption and non exportation act against the

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British this meant they didn't buy British stuff or sell American stuff to

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the Brit this denied the mother country the benefits that it had demanded at the

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expense of the colonies for example colonial women took the time and effort [Woman making clothing]

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out of their already packed schedule to make their own clothes rather than

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import the latest fashions from Europe they were better off anyway the old

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world was so last year merchants lawyers and printers also felt the

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of boycotting the Stamp Act with tax printed matter and legal documents yep

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kind of hard to be a printer without the stuff to print on of course the most

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famous example of economic protests happened on December 16 1773 that's [A ship with crates of tea]

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right the Boston Tea Party this is when a group of colonists boarded three ships

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in Boston Harbor and threw about 300 chests of tea into the water oh and they [Chests of tea thrown into the water]

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did this while dressed as American Indians

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brave soul no doubt the Boston Tea Party sent a message that the Brits could hear [British King on a throne]

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loud and clear it was appointed protest against the idea that the British

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legislature where colonists had no representation at the right to tax the

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colonies the phrase no taxation without representation and it still echoes

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through the years it's amazing what a little possibly racist costuming will do [Men dressed as american indians holding chests of tea]

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to earn an event place in history

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