At the time Britain didn’t have as much of a military and had a lot of debt due to overstretching their empire essentially, so there were a lot of fears that the American colonies could get away from Britain both economically and authoritatively. One way they thought to reign in this rogue colony was by instituting a sugar and molasses tax, which would siphon money to pay off war debts. This was extra insulting because the American colonist didn’t see themselves as British, this was seen as paying off another countries debt. They saw themselves as American, a vital component of any settler colonial state. Netanyahu doesn’t present himself as a resident of New Jersey. He is an Israeli citizen.

Another way they looked to contain the American colonies was to limit westward expansion, correct. Unchecked expansion would very quickly let the colony get out of control.

While England profited extremely well from the Atlantic slave trade, namely, by turning that cheap cotton into textiles, they also started turning an eye towards ending slavery, both at home and abroad in colonies, including the Americas. This becomes an important factor and a major concern for both the the slaveholding colonists and the slaves themselves seeking freedom.

It’s no great big coincidence that the constitution laid out a future date ending the importation of slaves. Northern parties wanted to end slavery immediately, or at least lay out the foundation in the path forward for ending slavery. The slave holding parties involved were OK with this middle ground because they foresaw that they wouldn’t need to import any more slaves if they would turn their attention towards breeding programs.

Britain tried a lot to kind of smother the colonies in the cradle. Shame they didn’t do more.