British Regulating Act

About the Author

The British Regulating Act was the product of a select committee appointed by the British House of Commons. John Burgoyne was a particularly outspoken critic of the East India Company and the head of the select committee. Burgoyne was born in Sutton, Bedfordshire, England, on February 24, 1722. After completing his education at the Westminster School, he purchased an army commission, and for the next eighteen years he served in the British military, gaining a reputation as a bold, fashionable officer and acquiring the nickname Gentleman Johnny. In 1768 he turned full time to politics and entered Parliament (though he had held a parliamentary seat earlier), where his most notable contribution was his opposition to the East India Company. With the outbreak of the American Revolution, he again assumed military command but fell into some disgrace as a result of the disastrous Saratoga (New York) campaign, for he surrendered his forces on October 17, 1777. Blamed for the defeat, he returned to England and private life, though he held minor administrative posts before his death on August 4, 1792. Burgoyne was also a talented playwright. Two of his plays, The Maid of the Oaks and The Heiress, continue to be regarded as accomplished dramatic works.

At the time the act was passed, the prime minister of Great Britain was Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, known as Lord North. Lord North was born on April 13, 1732. After attending Eton and Trinity College, he entered politics, winning a seat in Parliament, where he was known for his booming voice and acerbic wit in parliamentary debates. On January 30, 1770, King George III appointed him prime minister. He also served as home secretary and chancellor of the exchequer. North unwittingly played a significant role in the American Revolution. In an effort to rescue the financially distressed East India Company, he ordered that the company’s surplus inventories of tea be shipped to the colonies. He opposed efforts to have the import duty on tea removed, so it was retained under the terms of the Tea Act of 1773. The consequence was the Boston Tea Party when, on the night of December 16, 1773, revolutionaries in Boston dumped British tea into Boston Harbor. To punish the colonies, North drafted several pieces of legislation, including the so-called Coercive Acts, that had the effect of rousing revolutionary fervor in the colonies. The war went badly; after the British surrender at Yorktown and after losing a vote of no-confidence, he resigned as prime minister on March 20, 1882. He retained his seat in Parliament until 1790, and he died on August 5, 1792. North's name survives in Great Britain as the prime minister who “lost the American colonies.”