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[1] The Navigation Acts were created by England in the 17th century to ensure that Great Britain profited from trade with its colonies worldwide. Having colonized numerous countries globally, the British acted swiftly to make sure the prosperity of the colonies would benefit the mother country – that is, Great Britain. A system of colonial suppression was established, with the aim that all profits would go to England and not its colonies. England was very successful in this endeavour and profited immensely from its self-protective Acts.

[2] The first Navigation Act was passed in 1651. The Act declared that all products grown and produced in Asia, America, and Africa should be transported only in English boats. In addition, the Act included a provision that goods transported into England from Europe should also be carried by English boats only. The second Navigation Act was passed in 1660, forbidding any importation into or exportation out of the British colonies except in English vessels. It also declared that certain products, such as cotton, sugar, and tobacco, could only be transported to England or one of its plantations.

[3] There were two more classes of law – part of the same system – that prevented the development of the colonies. These were the Corn Law and the law against manufacturing. In 1666, the Corn Law stopped England from importing any corn from the colonies. At this point, the colonies of New York and New England turned to manufacturing to develop further. England then drew up a law to forbid manufacturing in the colonies. Despite the Act, woolen hats, linen goods and more trade continued to thrive in the New York area. In 1732, a new act was drawn up to forbid the exportation of hats to anywhere in the world, and also prevented the expansion of the hat industry. In 1750, another law was drawn up to forbid the production of steel in the colonies. The production of wool was also restricted. Obviously, the northern colonies of America suffered under these harsh acts.

[4] The Molasses Act was passed by England in 1773. This act forbade the importation of molasses and sugar into the plantations. The colonies of New England relied on the trade of molasses and sugar with the West Indies for other goods; this trade was essential to the development of the region.

[5] Despite the administration and supervision of the acts by governors and the British authority, the Navigation Acts were barely enforced on the colonies. In fact, the law was consistently broken and a blind eye was thrown on the ongoing manufacturing and trade that continued among the colonies. The Molasses Act proved to hold the British parliament unable of enforcing its own law. The English themselves were smuggling illegal imports of tea and silk.

[6] In review of the Navigation Acts, we see that some of the colonial trade laws were favorable to the colonies, such as the law on tobacco. However, as England began to realize its competition with other countries in Europe, it implemented fines on trades with America – which led to great exportation for England. However, in the long term, the Navigation Acts did not serve British interests as it led to the alienation of the colonies and finally, separation from the mother country. In 1773, the Boston Tea Party defied the Tea Act that attempted to increase taxes to England. A harsh response was given by England that led to the American Revolution for Independence in 1776.

[1] Dinosaurs first appeared 231.4 million years ago, during the Triassic period. They existed throughout the Jurassic period (201 million years ago) until the end of the Cretaceous period (66 million years ago). At that point, an extinction event occurred, but their descendants still include birds and reptiles today.

[2] Paleontologists have narrowed down 500 specific genera and more than 1,000 different species of non-avian dinosaurs on every continent, based on their studies of fossil evidence. Dinosaurs were both biped and quadrupedal, both meat-eating and plant-eating. Some had bony armor, spines, horns, and crests.

[3] Some dinosaurs were as high as 9.25 meters and as long as 58 meters, although the majority of them were quite small. Dinosaurs were a group of reptiles and neornithes (birds). Birds are now noted as the only surviving group of theropod dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are classed as archosaurs with limbs held straight under the body. These animals were the dominant land vertebrates of the Jurassic, Cretaceous and Mesozoic periods. Until now, 500 non-avian dinosaurs and 1047 species are considered to have existed. Some of these dinosaurs were seed-eaters, fish-eaters, insect-eating and omnivores. Some non-avian dinosaurs, such as Microraptor, could fly or glide, and others had semi-aquatic habits.

[4] Dromaeosaurs stood on their hind legs, with their tails rigidly extended. Their bodies were covered in fine feathers. Paleontologists have interpreted their bodies with fossil evidence to create precise images and models of dinosaurs, now on display in museums. As individual dinosaurs of the same species are similar, scientists can estimate their features even with skeletons that have missing bones. Investigations of the dinosaur body indicate that living animals with the same construction hold their bodies in the same way. Therefore, scientists can model the reconstruction of these living animals. However, scientists don’t rely only on bones for information. Fossil bones frequently have muscle attachment scars that give clues about the location and size of the muscle. Once again, scientists compare this information with living animals to create model images.

[5] When reconstructing dinosaur models, scientists and artists add more muscle to the skeleton and add armor and feathers, depending on the species. They then add color and finally, the skin is added, along with armor or feathers if the species is known to have them. In some cases, sediment around fossils has given impressions of the skin of the dinosaur. So, scientists can estimate a smooth or scaly skin on the dinosaur.

[6] Ankylosaurs were known for their armoured bodies. They had hard plates, spines, and knobs on their skin. Scientists have a clear understanding of the look of these dinosaurs. Discovery of theropod fossils in Liaoning, in northeastern China, indicates that many species of predatory dinosaurs had feathers. These dinosaurs were covered with hair-like or downy feathers; others had long, pinnate feathers on their arms and tails, like birds. Fossils discovered at other locations also provide indirect evidence of feathers. Based on the quill knob fossils noted, scientists assume that these dinosaurs had feathers. At the same location in China, a well-preserved theropod fossil called Sinosauropteryx was discovered. The feathers contain melanosomes, pigment-making organelles that add colour to the skin, hair, and feathers in modern animals. From this information, scientists were able to conclude that this predator had an orange-and-brown striped tail. However, the colour of most dinosaur skin continues to be a mystery.

[7] Regarding behaviour, it is believed that herding or flocking was common to dinosaur groups, as noted among bird groups too. Multiple trackways suggest that dinosaurs were social animals and moved in large herds, similar to the behaviour of American bison or the African springbok. There is some evidence that many types of slow-growing dinosaurs, including various theropods, sauropods, ankylosaurs, ornithopods, and ceratopsians, formed aggregations of immature individuals. A site in Inner Mongolia has revealed remains of over 20 Sinornithomimus, from one to seven years old. This collection is considered to have been a social group that became trapped in mud. It is also believed that theropods were pack hunters working together to attack prey. This behaviour, however, is uncommon among modern birds, crocodiles, and other reptiles which suggests that this mammal-like pack hunting and aggressive behaviour were more common among theropods.