I dont think the Crown did anything to suppress the colonists that isn't standard procedure now. Once again, they barely taxed them, knowingly let them smuggle in their own goods, and as for the British ruling the colonists? Ben Frankling (one of the more respected founding fathers himself) was the primary emissary to the Crown, John Adams was the mayor of Boston. The Founding fathers were the ones in power, hence, they got an entire group to revolt