← Chapter 11
Western Civilization · Chapter 11

Road to Rupture: Govern the Empire, 1763–1776

The American Revolution began as an accounting problem and ended as a constitutional one. Sit in the ministry's chair for six decisions between the peace of 1763 and the Olive Branch Petition, and watch what every choice does to revenue raised and to colonial consent. Every option here was seriously proposed at the time — the feedback tells you which one Britain actually took, and why.
1763Decision 1 of 6
Keep in mind. Per-capita tax in the thirteen colonies in the 1760s was below a tenth of the burden inside Britain. Nobody was crushed by these sums. The fight was over who had the right to levy them — which is why raising revenue and keeping consent pull against each other on the meters.

The two meters

Colonial consent80
Revenue actually raised0
Times Parliament asserted the right to tax0
Colonial consent, 1763 → 1776. The dashed line is the point below which loyal protest turns into organised resistance.

Your dispatch box

Decisions and their consequences will be filed here.