The transformation of the American colonies was headed into new direction following the French and Indian War in America and the Seven Years’ War. The Seven Years’ War was fought throughout the world amongst European allies for supremacy of economic control and power. The English and the French were the two main rivalries that ended with the defeat of nearly all of the French empire in 1763. The French ceded some of their West Indian islands, most of their colonies in India, transferred Canada and all other French territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain through the signage of the Peace of Paris (p. 108). In America, the British Empire increased tremendously in size, which made it tougher to govern and oversee because of the need for greater involvement. The war cost Great Britain dearly, which enabled them to look for ways to pay their debts. What better way to collect needed funds than by turning their attention to the colonies. Great Britain also felt like the American colonies fell out of touch with British authority and that the colonies needed restructuring. This led to many disagreements between the colonist and the …show more content…
William Pitt was brought in by the king to manage these matters, but later died and handed the reigns down to Charles Townshend. Townshend steered two inflammatory measures through Parliament in 1767; 1) disbanding of the New York Assembly until the colonist agreed to obey the Mutiny Act, 2) the insertion of the Townshend Duties (p. 117). The Townshend Duties were new taxes on several items, which later became boycotted because of anger from the colonists. After Townshend’s death late in 1767, Lord North, the new prime minister, was able to repeal the Townshend Duties except for the tax on tea in March 1770 to try to alleviate colonial resistance (p.
Passed in 1767, the Townshend Acts put taxes on several basic items that, to obtain them, needed to be imported. These items included glass, paper, lead, and tea. The British planned out the Townshend Acts a little differently than they had previously planned other acts. They passed the Townshend Acts in a way for them to still make money, but to avoid direct conflict with the colonists. The British thought that if they taxed imported items, as opposed to taxing items produced in the colonies (like the Stamp Act did), that the colonists wouldn’t have as much hostility towards the act. The second part of the Townshend Acts was sending of troops and warships to Boston. In September of 1768, warships arrived in Boston harbor carrying four thousand troops. The soldiers came to keep structure after all the colonists’ chaotic reactions of the past acts. The establishment of the Writs of Assistance was the last part of the Townshend Acts. British soldiers used the Writs of Assistance to search colonists’ houses for smuggled goods. After the British passed the Townshend Acts, the colonists had several reactions in response to them. One reaction was boycotting. This colonial boycott was on all imported British goods, and it was extremely widespread. The boycott encouraged more colonists to join the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, which lead to many colonists replacing items, which they would normally buy from British merchants, with homemade versions. These items included fabrics, candles, and tea. Another reaction was non-importation agreements. Non-importation agreements are written agreements that said that whoever signed one would not purchase items from British merchants until they got representation in British Parliament. A tremendous amount of colonists signed these agreements, and those who didn’t were sometimes harassed or had their property destroyed. Similarly,
In 1763 the Seven Years’ War ended with the British Empire emerging as victors. The victory came at great cost to Great Britain’s economy. The national debt almost doubled from 75 million pounds to 133 million pounds between 1755 and 1763. Given that Britain fought in North America to uphold the security of her colonial possessions, British ministers deemed it fair that the cost of the war should be shared with the colonies. Subsequently, import duties on popular goods were raised and a number of Acts regarding excise taxes were passed. These included the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend duties beginning in 1767. The consequences of these actions were to place great financial burdens on the North American colonists, but more importantly, to
In order to obtain some of the colonists’ finances, Britain began to pass a series of taxes. The Stamp Act was passed in 1765, and placed a tax on any paper goods that were going into the colonies from Britain. This included newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards, just to name a few (Stamp Act).The colonists had been so accustomed to their freedom from the crown at this point, that they were enraged. The relationship between the Mother country and the colonies did not get much better with the instatement of the Townshend Acts of 1767. These acts passed taxes on every day goods that the colonists needed, such as lead, tea, glass and paint (Townshend Acts).
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.
In the years leading up to the Seven Years War, there were already many skirmishes in the thirteen colonies between the British and the Native American tribes in the area.1 The first official year of fighting also led to many decisive defeats to the overextended British Empire. Many small battles for dominance between the British and the French also occurred along the Indian coast. In response to the acts of expansion by the French, the British decided to defend its own territory in North America and India.2 There were many battles scattered across the world, with significant naval battles in the Indian theatre and the Mediterranean. At first, the French won many decisive battles with the aid of its allies against the British Empire. Both countries however, were relatively equal in size and power at the time, but that would soon change. The British began to turn the tide as they made significant lead...
The word "privateer" conjures a romantic image in the minds of most Americans. Tales of battle and bounty pervade the folklore of privateering, which has become a cherished, if often overlooked part of our shared heritage. Legends were forged during the battle for American independence, and these men were understandably glorified as part of the formation of our national identity. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of these men were common opportunists, if noteworthy naval warriors. The profit motive was the driving force behind almost all of their expeditions, and a successful privateer could easily become quite wealthy. In times of peace, these men would be common pirates, pariahs of the maritime community. Commissioned in times of war, they were respected entrepreneurs, serving their purses and their country, if only incidentally the latter. However vulgar their motivation, the system of privateering arose because it provided a valuable service to thecountry, and indeed the American Revolution might not have been won without their involvement. Many scholars agree that all war begins for economic reasons, and the privateers of the war for independence contributed by attacking the commercial livelihood of Great Britain's merchants.
In 1754-1763 The French and Indian war was fought between France and Great Britain. The war began when the British wanted to settle in the Ohio River Valley in order to trade with the Native Americans but the french had already developed forts to protect their trade with the natives, The British was defeated and so they declared war on France. The conflicts of the French and Indian war altered the relationship of Great Britain and its American colonies from at first growing together as one to then separating because of conflicts of Independence.
Boston, the capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and important shipping town, was a major center of resistance to unpopular acts of taxation by the British Parliament in the 1760s2. In 1768, the Townshend Acts were placed upon the colonists, by which a variety of common items that were manufactured in Britain and exported to the colonies were subjected to import tariffs3. The Massachusetts House of Representatives began a campaign against the Townshend Acts by sending a petition to King George III asking for the repeal of the act. The House also sent what became known as the Massachusetts Circular Letter to other colonial assemblies, asking them to join the resistance movement, and called for a boycott of merchants importing the affected goods. As a response, Lord Hillsborough, who was the leader of the office of Colonial Secretary, was forced to take action. In April 1768, Hillsborough sent a letter to the colonial governors in America instructing them to dissolve the colonial assemblies responsible for the repeal4. When the house of colonial governors refused to comply and rescind the letter. Hillsborough then stated...
The war had been enormously expensive, and the British government’s attempts to impose taxes on colonists to help cover these expenses resulted in chaos. English leaders, were not satisfied with the financial and military help they had received from the colonists during the war. In a desperate attempt to gain control over the colonies as well as the additional revenue to pay off the war debt, Britain began to force taxes on the colonies. Which resulted in The Stamp Act, passed by parliament and signed by the king in March 1765. The Stamp Act created an excise tax on legal documents, custom papers, newspapers, almanacs, college diplomas, playing cards, and even dice. Obviously the colonist resented the Stamp Act and the assumption that parliament could tax them whenever and however they could without their direct representation in parliament. Most colonials believed that taxation without their consent was a violation of their constitutional rights as Englishmen. Which is where the slogan “No Taxation without Representation” comes
Before the French and Indian War, the colonies did not associate with one another. Participation in the war, as well as temporarily setting aside their economic, political, and cultural differences helped the colonies form a better relationship with each other. One of the main reasons the colonists began rebelling against the British, was because of the imposed taxation issued after the war. The Sugar and Stamp Act created riots and violence among the colonists and this colonial resistance to the British policies resulted in a new unity between the colonies. Needless to say, “by seeking to impose uniformity on the colonies rather than dealing with them individually as in the past, Parliament had inadvertently united America” (Foner 143).
Changes in British policies toward the colonies between 1750 and 1776 played paramount in the evolution of relations between British North America and Mother England. Tension between England and the colonies mounted from the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War to the signing of the Declaration of Independence as a result of the several implemented changes imposed by Parliament for the purpose of increasing income and tightening the grip on America.
The French and Indian War or the Seven Years War was one of the major events that led to the American Revolution. The French and Indian War started in 1754 when George Washington and General Edward Braddock tried to defend the British land that they felt the French were taking with their expansion into the Ohio River valley. In 1755 Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts had many French settlers in the Nova Scotia region moved from that region to avoid any confrontation if these settlers sided with their home country. These people were exiled from their home and moved into British colonies in a very cruel and violent fashion. This is one of the first examples of Britain’s oppressive nature towards people they consider a threat to what they feel is the best solution. The British military effort, at this time, was not as impassioned or successful. Both George Washington and General Braddock suffered major defeats at the hands of the French and their allies, General Braddock was even killed in one of the early battles before this war was officially started. It was not until later in the war that the British were able to successfully defeat the French. The war officially began in 1756 and ended in 1763 but this war is far less important than the major event it caused. More than anything this war was the first step to the American Revolution.
In the 17th century, before the Seven Years’ War, the common soldier was just an unpaid citizen who fought for the local militia with his own weapon, but the Seven Years’ War totally changed in military system. The Seven Years’ War was very significant because it forced all of the European countries to focus less on commerce and more territory. This new shift in focus is what caused Britain to send so many more troops to America; the British politicians believed it was vital to militarize their colonies like America, West Africa, and Asia. This is because they believed that soldiers could acquire and defend new territories, as well as build important structures as a cheap
From 1754 to 1763, the French and Indian War took place. This war altered the political, economic, and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies. It was the last of four North American wars waged from 1689 to 1763 between the British and the French. In these struggles, each country fought for control of the continent with the assistance of Native American and colonial allies. The French and Indian War occurred to end the land dispute between the British and French. Whoever won, in reality, gained an empire. It was a determined and eventually successful attempt by the British to get a dominant position in North America, the West Indies, and the subcontinent of India. Although Britain had won all this land, political, economic, and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies were totally annihilated.
The Thirty Years War was a series of conflicts, not-knowingly involving most European countries from 1618 to 1648. The war, which was fought mainly in Germany, was started when Bohemian Protestants furiously attacked the Holy Roman Emperor in terms to impose a restriction on their religious and civil liberties. By understanding the Thirty Years War, you will notice the notable religious, political and social changes. The changes paved the religious and political maps of Europe. Not only did this war affect the religious and political demographic, it caused populations to perish and lose large amounts of their goods. What was known as a religious battle, turned out to be a political feud in competition of which state has the greater power affecting men, women, soldiers and civilians. “[The bohemians] had no idea that their violent deed would set off a chain reaction of armed conflict that would last thirty years and later be called Europe’s “first world war” of the modern era.” When the war ended, the lands were defiled and over 5 million people were killed.