What event led to increased involvement of England in the economic and political affairs of the colonies?

The French and Indian War (1754-1763). Before this long Seven Year War (another name), the colonies of America had ben left to its own to a large extent by the British Crown. Nevertheless, British authorities became more involved in the affairs of colonies because of new needs arisen. Costly and extensive military defense facilities were needed to patrol new territories; the crown has heavily indebted by the war effort, and imposed new taxes that did not make colonists happy, as a good part of the burden was being put on their shoulders. A common complaint of those times was "taxation without representation."

British economic policy was based on mercantilism, which aimed to use the American colonies to bolster British state power and finances. The Navigation Acts inflamed the hostilities of American colonists and proved a significant contributing event leading up to the revolution.