How Did The French And Indian War Of 1754-1763 Dbq

Rohan Mishra January 15, 2014

From their first involvement in the New World up until the early 1700s, Britain did not concern itself too heavily with the colonies. The colonies kept an amiable attitude towards the British due to this and thrived under their lax rule. This relationship unbalanced as a direct result of the French and Indian War of 1754 - 1763. The events of the war impacted both the political and ideological relationship that the colonies had with their king, as colonists felt the British imposition of restrictions encroached on their liberties. However, the most significant impact was made economically, the debt that the war created for the British was pinned on the colonists and they were

The king British policy of policy of salutary neglect had recent that the colonists could enjoy the benefits of trade with and protection from the British without discomfort of rigid control. However, this changed as the war progressed. In the second stage of the French and Indian War, beginning in 1756, Britain sought to impose greater control on the colonial war effort. We see this reflected through a colonial soldier’s thoughts when he mentions that he is not offered the “Englishman’s liberty” (Doc D). He was impressed (forced to enlist) into the British military and is not provided with liquor and other necessities a normal British soldier would be given. As this is cited in 1759, we see a change in the colonial opinion towards the end of the war. This mistreatment of colonial citizens caused great appreciation and discomfort among the colonial soldiers and people, which would later incite revolt against Britain’s

(Doc A). By doubling the size of British territories within the New World, the Treaty of Paris forced Britain to place more soldiers into the Americas, therefore creating further spending to be imposed on colonists. This, along with the large amount of debt generated by the Seven Years War posed a great economical loss to the British, which they then pushed onto their colonies. This taxation caused increased aggression on the part of the colonies, further pushing the British and the colonies apart. However, the colonists did not wish to pay taxes for a war that was fought for their own defence. A 1763 British order in council found that the revenue from the colonies could not even pay a fourth of the cost of collecting it. It also reported that “neglect, connivance, and fraud” had hampered revenue collection in a staggering of greatest need (Doc F). The British then saw it as justified to seek new sources of revenue from the colonies. The British extracted this revenue from the colonies through the Stamp Act of 1765, which required that colonists pay a tax on all paper goods. The goods were stamped, hence the name of the act. This first direct tax imposed on the colonists was seen as an unequivocal way for the British to raise revenue. This added to colonial hostility against the British, and led to much public outcry. This is notable in Document H, where we see a picture of the Pennsylvania