After the French and Indian War, the British government decided to make the American colonies pay a large share of the war debt with new taxes that they issued. The English ...
When the colonies were being formed, many colonists came from England to escape the restrictions placed upon them by the crown. Britain had laws for regulating trade and collecting taxes, but they were generally not enforced. The colonists had gotten used to being able to govern themselves. However, Britain sooned changed it’s colonial policy because of the piling debt due to four wars the British got into with the French and the Spanish. The most notable of these, the French and Indian War (or the Seven Years’ War), had immediate effects on the relationship between the colonies and Great Britain, leading to the concept of no taxation without representation becoming the motivating force for the American revolutionary movement and a great symbol for democracy amongst the colonies, as Britain tried to tighten their hold on the colonies through various acts and measures.
Unreasonable laws were the reasons for going to war.After French and Indian War,the treaties of Paris and Hubertusburg in February 1763 were created. The treaties gave England new land from France. The Proclamation of 1763 prevented the Colonists from establishing settlements on land west of the Appalachian Mountains, because the land was pronounced Indian territory. Any colonist living in those territories had to return east of the Appalachian Mountains. This new land would have opened new doors for more economic opportunities. Also, Parliament issued the Quartering Act, which made the Colonist quarter British soldiers. British soldiers could come unexpected in Colonist homes, eat their food, stay in their homes for as long as they wanted, and the Colonist could not refuse. The Colonists did not see a reason for this, because the French and Indian War was over. They did not want to be under Parliamentary Sovereignty, because The Colonists felt like their lives were being dictated.
A mere eight months after signing the Treaty of Paris in 1763, securing its ownership of the territory east of the Mississippi River on the American continent, Britain began to alienate the American colonists by signing the Proclamation Act of 1763. Little did the British know, this act was the first in a series of actions over the next thirteen years that would lead to the American colonists fighting for a nation independent of Great Britain.
The French and Indian War mounted when conflicts arose between the French and the British as the English colonists started to settle in 1689 in New France, modern day Canada. This push for settlement greatly increased the population in 1750, from 250,000 to 1.25 million. Great Britain had demanded to collect commodities such as turpentine, copper, tar, and hemp from settlers. In order to fund for the war, England manufactured these goods and then raised the price, and sold them back to the colonists under the the Navigation Acts. The Acts were used to prevent smuggling by allowing the colonies to only trade with England, however, Parliament did not strictly enforce them until 1750, which allowed Great Britain to set tariffs for goods however they pleased. According to ushistory.com, “The colonies were wholly interested in overcoming the French in North America and appealed to the King for permission to raise armies and monies to defend themselves.” They wanted protection from their mother country, which they had a right to do. Yet the King was insecure to grant them the money for the war because he was afraid they would revolt against the Bri...
The French and Indian War set the stage for future events that no one could ever have imagined. The economic practice of mercantilism, which insured profit only to the mother country was the accepted practice between England and her colonies. As long as these economic policies were met, England left much of the day to day governing of the colonies up to the colonies. It was this "salutory neglect" that ultimately led to the ideological differences between England and the colonies. England won the war, but it paid a great price for that victory. England was bankrupted, and as a result had no choice but to look to her colonies to regain financial stability. The pressures of taxation and naval restrictions imposed by the crown and Parliament, were viewed by the colonists as tyrannical acts. Although the colonies were on a path to becoming "Americanized" they held the lessons of Magna Carta, the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 close to their heart. In their eyes, "Englishmen had rights" under the laws of the mother country. It was only when these laws were usurpted by the crown that the colonies had no choice but to protest their discontent. The political authority that England executed over the colonies after so many years of neglect led to the ideological differences that would ultimately result in the American Revolution.
Early colonial America was full of rivalry and conflict. England was just at the finish of the French and Indian War, which took up nearly a decade 's worth of time and ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris. The British had exhausted an innumerable amount of money on the war, leaving them avoiding further conflicts as much as possible. Succeeding the victory of the French and Indian War, the lands previously belonging to the French were now under ownership by England. The Native Americans lost their French allies and were fearful that the new colonialists would invade into their territories. Since 1760, the chief of the Ottawa natives, Chief Pontiac, galvanized other natives to revolt against the British. As tension escalated, Pontiac succeeded
Britain and their American colonies had a friendly relationship towards each other during the 17th century and early 18th century. Salutary neglect was set in place for the colonies by Britain. Most laws, like the Navigation Acts, were not greatly enforced because of it. The colonies appreciated the minimal restrictions by Britain. From the results of the French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years War, salutary neglect was no longer permitted and the colonies did not have much freedom (Doc. F). The French and Indian War (1754-1763) altered the political, economic, and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies through a gain in territory, Britain’s debt from the war, and an increase in taxes.
Without colonial consent, the British started their bid to raise revenue with the Sugar Act of 1764 which increased duties colonists would have to pay on imports into America. When the Sugar Act failed, the Stamp Act of 1765 which required a stamp to be purchased with colonial products was enacted. This act angered the colonists to no limit and with these acts, the British Empire poked at the up to now very civil colonists. The passing of the oppressive Intolerable Acts that took away the colonists’ right to elected officials and Townshend Acts which taxed imports and allowed British troops without warrants to search colonist ships received a more aggravated response from the colonist that would end in a Revolution.
The French and Indian War and its aftermath ruined the political relationship between Britain and the colonies. After dominating most of North America (Doc. A), Britain decided to tax the colonies even more to help pay for the war. This took a major toll on the relationship between Britain and the American colonies because this lead to the Proclamation of 1763. The Native Americans (Doc. B) believed “they have no Right to settle” which means they didn’t want anyone settling on their land. In (Doc. C) George Washington is asking Robert Orme to have more power and rank higher in the military. Another political change was Britain’s relinquishment of the salutary neglect policy. They put stricter rules on trade and forced taxes on frequently used items. These changes (Doc. F) angered the colonists.
The year 1760, a man of stupidity received the throne through inheritance, King George III. Although the French and Indian War broke out, the colonists were still living in constant fear of the Indian attacks. Therefore George III proposed an act, the Proclamation of 1763 that restricted the colonies the pass into the west of the Appalachian Mountain and Indians to cross into the east. The colonies were furious; they had sense “tyranny” in the king and the colonies have nowhere to settle so they disregarded the king’s orders. Therefore, George sends troops to the colonies to keep orders within the
The beginning of 1763 marked one of the major events that would contribute to the end of British colonial relations. On February 3, 1763 the French and Indian War finally ended in British victory, but while the British celebrated the French’s defeat, colonists feared the oncoming reverberations the war would have on them. The main motive behind the war was for possession over the French fur trade territory in North America. To the colonists, the war was being fought by and for Britain not the colonies. The benefits of the victory only pertained to Britain. The after effect of the war for the colonies was the trampling on their need for expansion. During the war, Native Americans had fought with the French because of how well they treated them. Britain was notorious for abusing the Native Americans, therefore once the French were defeated; they began attacking western settlements of colonists. To avoid confrontation, the Proclamation of 1763 was passed by Parliament. The Proclamation established a limit to the greatly needed colonial expansion. Specifically, the Proclamation forbid settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains. The passing of the Proclamation of 1763 infuriated colonists ...
...in later years. Pontiac’s rebellion also caused Britain to be short of cash after having to pay for two consecutive battles. The British looked to the colonies for money without giving the colonies any say in the matter. This lead to the famous phrase, “no taxation without representation.” Another thing that happened during the French and Indian war was a much underpublicized meeting between the colonists. This was the first meeting the colonists ever had by their own accord. The meeting was called by Benjamin Franklin and was known as The Albany Plan of Union. Although the meeting got very little accomplished it still has to be considered a success because it showed that there were colonists willing to have independence. The over taxation and the fact the colonists got to see someone stand up to the British were the major events that lead to the American Revolution.
The American colonists’ disagreements with British policymakers lead to the colonist’s belief that the policies imposed on them violated of their constitutional rights and their colonial charters. These policies that were imposed on the colonist came with outcome like established new boundaries, new internal and external taxes, unnecessary and cruel punishment, and taxation without representation. British policymakers enforcing Acts of Parliament, or policies, that ultimately lead in the colonist civil unrest, outbreak of hostilities, and the colonist prepared to declare their independence.
A new era was dawning on the American colonies and its mother country Britain, an era of revolution. The American colonists were subjected to many cruel acts of the British Parliament in order to benefit England itself. These British policies were forcing the Americans to rebellious feelings as their rights were constantly being violated by the British Crown. The colonies wanted to have an independent government and economy so they could create their own laws and stipulations. The British imperial policies affected the colonies economic, political, and geographic situation which intensified colonists’ resistance to British rule and intensified commitment to their republican values.