Question

What was salutary neglect?

A. the unofficial policy where the British government relaxed control over the American colonies by only loosely enforcing certain laws
B. the unofficial policy where the British government armed American Indians on the frontier to attack French settlers
C. the unofficial policy where the British government neglected the maintenance of roads and bridges in the North American colonies
D. the unofficial policy where the British government heavily taxed the North American colonies to pay for the French and Indian War

Answer 1

Salutary neglect, policy of the British government from the early to mid-18th century regarding its North American colonies under which trade regulations for the colonies were laxly enforced and imperial supervision of internal colonial affairs was loose as long as the colonies remained loyal to the British government and contributed to the economic profitability of Britain. This “salutary neglect” contributed involuntarily to the increasing autonomy of colonial legal and legislative institutions, which ultimately led to American independence.