How Did The French And Indian War Cause The American Revolution

Ever since England colonized America, the colonists were governed by Great Britain. The French and Indian War was a drain on the resources of American colonies because Britain had a war debt that it wanted the colonies to help pay. Little by little, the colonists’ resentment towards King George built up because of the demands of higher and higher taxation on everyday goods. In addition, during this time, the colonists were forming their own thoughts about self government after learning about ideas from the Enlightenment movement. About ten years before the Revolutionary War, three pivotal events caused the American colonists to contemplate breaking away from England and establishing a new nation- the French and Indian War, Great Britain's

Britain felt threatened and did not want the French to gain more control of land in the New World because it thought the land was rightfully a part of Britain. Although this war was between the French and Indians against the colonists and Britain, it contributed to the tensions between the British and the American colonists. This war strained the relationship between the British and the colonists because both countries had different opinions about each other after working and fighting together in the war. The British thought that the colonists did not supply enough support for the war and that Britain had to do all the work. However, the American colonists discovered some troubles with the British war tactics. They did not want to change their traditional fighting strategy to accommodate to the new land geography that they did not know . The colonists lost respect for the British and believed that they should be treated equally and fairly. They fought this war to take land from the French leading them to the conclusion that they could move into it. However, the British did not allow them to do this. Thus, after the French and Indian war, Britain and its colonies had a strained relationship. (Cayton

However, a new law was put into place by Parliament that put taxes on all imports to the colonies. All of the acts, which included the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Quartering Act, Declaratory Act, Townshend Acts, Tea Act and Intolerable Acts, caused the colonists stress and built up their anger and resentment toward the British government (Cayton 113). As the tension built, the colonists chanted “No taxation without representation,” which meant that the colonies should not be taxed because they did not have anyone in Parliament speaking for them. The colonists did this because they felt it was discriminative to put taxes on them without representation for them in Parliament. One of the taxes, called the Stamp Act, affected all the colonists. This law put a tax on newspapers and other printed materials. It required that an official government stamp was supposed to be on all of these items. This tax was supposed to raise enough money to pay the cost of keeping British troops in America (Cayton 111). The colonists get angrier and angrier as more laws are forced on them. However, taxation continued after the Stamp Act was repealed, and other acts were put into place. Then, the colonists started violently acting out which led to the Boston Massacre- a street fight against the colonists and the British