Final answer:
Salutary Neglect facilitated the American colonies' economic prosperity and self-governance, but its abrupt termination after the French and Indian War greatly undermined British authority by fueling colonial dissent and paving the way for the American Revolution.
Step-by-step explanation:
To what extent did Salutary Neglect undermine British authority? During the period of Salutary Neglect, which was especially significant throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Great Britain exercised a form of lax control over its American colonies, primarily based on the beliefs of the first Prime Minister of Great Britain, Robert Walpole. He espoused the idea that the colonies would prosper more without strict enforcement of Parliamentary laws such as the Acts of Trade and Navigation. Indeed, the colonies did flourish during this time, developing their own maritime culture and engaging in trade using their fleet of ships.
The French and Indian War, however, marked a turning point. After the war concluded with the Peace of Paris, Britain began to abandon its policy of Salutary Neglect, which entailed enforcing stricter control over colonial trade and imposing new taxes to cover the costs of maintaining the colonies. This sudden shift from leniency to strict enforcement led to increased tensions between the colonies and the British government, where the colonists had grown accustomed to a certain level of autonomy and self-governance. The abrupt end of Salutary Neglect deeply undermined British authority as it alienated the colonists, catalyzing the events that ultimately led to the American Revolution.