Government of British North America

[Kendall Hart]

This is for something I have been working on, but this part has me a little confused.

• Suppose that the leaders of the Continental Congress are able to come to terms with William Pitt the Elder - this has been proposed on here a few times
• Second, suppose that the agreement allows for the "United States" or North America to gain a Parliament, like what Scotland had prior to 1707 or Ireland from 1782-1801.

Certainly, Britain would have ideas for what they want in the government, but to my knowledge, they don't have any experience with federalism. Britain is really left with two options, they can either impose a government on the colonies or approve a government that comes up through a constitutional convention of sorts (with parameters of course). Either way, what would that new government look like?

 

[Jonathan]

Allowing the colonies to form their own governments sets a bad precedent.

The British government will push a sub-devolved cabinet council and parliament.

Cabinet Positions:
- First Minister of North America (Prime Minister without the full title)
- Treasurer of the colonial purse.
- Minister of Economic Development
- Minister of Taxation
- Minister of Construction

 

[da Racontor]

There were actually two plans that were proposed by the colonists: the Albany Plan proposes by Benjamin Franklin several years earlier, and the contempary Galloway Plan proposed by Joseph Galloway, which was mostly baised off the Albany Plan. Now there is no guarantee that the British would except these but they might be a good place to look for ideas.

 

[Mister Mister]

And in OTL they didn't accept neither plan.

 

[Minchandre]

And in OTL they didn't accept neither plan.

Yes, but for different reasons.

The Albany Plan was rejected by the Board of Trade because they didn't want to give up any power, and by colonial Assemblies because they didn't want to pay extra taxes and saw no problem with the status quo.

In, the Galloway Plan was rejected by the Continental Congress because it was seen as not going far enough. In particular, the Suffolk Resolves (announced shortly after the beginning of the Congress) raised the stakes quite a bit.

It's very possibly that there was a time period in between 1754 and 1774 when something like it could well have passed - for example, right after the French and Indian War instead of right before it. The Colonists would have just seen the need for better defense cooperation while at the same time the Home Islands would see the wisdom (and probably monetary savings) in allowing the colonists to see to their own defense and infrastructure.

Timing-wise, the Stamp Act Congress provides an excellent opportunity, though I'm not sure that the sentiment at the Congress was very good and the British were very alarmed by it.

I wonder what would be required to get the British to call for a congress to discuss additional taxation in the wake of the war instead of just imposing new taxes.

 

[Kendall Hart]

Yes, but for different reasons.

The Albany Plan was rejected by the Board of Trade because they didn't want to give up any power, and by colonial Assemblies because they didn't want to pay extra taxes and saw no problem with the status quo.

In, the Galloway Plan was rejected by the Continental Congress because it was seen as not going far enough. In particular, the Suffolk Resolves (announced shortly after the beginning of the Congress) raised the stakes quite a bit.

It's very possibly that there was a time period in between 1754 and 1774 when something like it could well have passed - for example, right after the French and Indian War instead of right before it. The Colonists would have just seen the need for better defense cooperation while at the same time the Home Islands would see the wisdom (and probably monetary savings) in allowing the colonists to see to their own defense and infrastructure.

Timing-wise, the Stamp Act Congress provides an excellent opportunity, though I'm not sure that the sentiment at the Congress was very good and the British were very alarmed by it.

I wonder what would be required to get the British to call for a congress to discuss additional taxation in the wake of the war instead of just imposing new taxes.

So the idea regarding the Stamp Act Congress is really interesting, and I have started looking into it. But only nine colonies attended, so would it maybe be to early for them to propose some sort of government? I agree with you that the time was right, and I think Britain be alarmed by it might be what is needed to get them to give up power in the American colonies.

 

[Everdarklegion]

I'm assuming that the American Revolution is defeated?