Answer: England practised salutary neglect in the colonies.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the 18th century, the British did not want to expend too much resources governing the American colonies and so adopted a policy known as Salutary Neglect.
What this meant was that so long as the British viewed the colonies as loyal to them both politically and economically, they only loosely enforced laws and put the colonies under minimal supervision such that the colonies gradually felt more independent in the governing of their affairs. This is where the seeds of self-governance were sown.