[1] Until the late 17th century, mercantilist ideas were gaining force in England and giving general shape to trade policy through a series of Navigation Acts.
During the establishment of the Dominion of New England, which was implemented in part to enforce the Navigation Acts, administration was centralized, and the colonies were presided over by the very unpopular Edmund Andros.
After the Glorious Revolution, the 1689 Boston revolt,[3] and the removal of Andros, the colonies could return to an informal state of local ruling bodies insulated by certain boundaries from England.
[3] Walpole did not believe in enforcing the Navigation Acts, which had been established under Oliver Cromwell and Charles II and required goods traded between Britain and its colonies to be carried on English ships as part of the larger economic strategy of mercantilism.
The speech praised the governance of the British America, which, "through a wise and salutary neglect," had achieved great commercial success:[6][7] The policy succeeded in increasing the flow of money among Britain and its colonies.
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, became the relevant Secretary of State in 1724 but took time to learn the duties of his office, and even then, he was not firm in his action, which caused the historian James Henretta to blame salutary neglect on "administrative inefficiency, financial stringency, and political incompetence.