Dbq French And Indian War

When most people think of the birth of America, they think of July 4th, 1776, when the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and thus severing ties with Britain. However, the true seeds of revolution were sowed many years earlier in a decade-long battle for supremacy over North America: The French and Indian War. The British defeated the French in the war, but victory created many more problems for the British such as massive debt, unity among the colonists, and increased Indian hostility. Due to these issues, the British had to set in place a series of unpopular laws to prevent further conflicts with the natives and to pay off the cost of the war, which led to a clash of views and ultimately, war. Although the American Revolution

One such man who believed his honor was damaged was George Washington, who capped off the war in 1754 when he and his Virginia militiamen opened fire on French forces in Ohio country. Washington realized that colonial officers were treated as second-class citizens compared with British officers, and he would “bubble with fury when British regular officers expressed their disdain of provincial officers and soldiers” (Ferling 65). Such disdain was a result of poor organization and lack of military experience, which led General James Wolfe, the conqueror of Quebec, to refer to American soldiers as “the dirtiest, most contemptible cowardly dogs that you can conceive” (Polk). Furthermore, the removal of the French from North America meant that there was no more need for British soldiers anymore, so the colonists no longer needed to put up with them for protection. These verbal altercations and feelings of scorn for one another were starting points for something much greater: the American

However, the hard-fought war wasn’t cheap; in fact, it had cost the British Treasury “€70,000,000 and doubled the national debt to €140,000,000” (Digital History). In the eyes of the British, the war was fought to protect the colonists, so they raised current taxes and added new ones among the colonies in order to fund the treasury. Most notably among these new taxes were the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765. The Sugar Act increased the tax on foreign sugar importanted from the West Indies, which sparked many bitter protests from the colonials, and eventually the tax was lowered substantially. However, the following year the Stamp Act was enacted and required colonists to stamp many trade items and documents in order to signify payment of tax. In the eyes of the colonists, no American sat in Parliament, so Britain had no right to impose taxes on Americans. Without the French and Indian War, there would’ve been no need to impose so many taxes on the colonies, thereby eliminating the cries of unjust and anger that drove the colonies into