What two things did the British do after the French and Indian War that upset the colonists?

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Jessie Palmer; January 2013
The French and Indian War was very essential to the American Revolution because the war debt was the reason that Parliament started imposing taxes on the colonists in the first place. Also, the French and Indian War weakened Britain, making the colonists’ actions work more effectively. Since France, reasonably, was not happy with the outcome of the French and Indian War, it was also one of the reasons for France’s interest in helping the colonists throughout the Revolutionary War, which was a key element to the colonies’ victory.The reason why Parliament started taxing the colonists was because of the war debt resulting from the French and Indian War. The first tax, the tax on sugar, was imposed on the colonists to help pay off the debt. Consequently, without that debt, the colonists wouldn’t have had their main argument of “taxation without representation.” Without that argument, the thought of breaking away from England most likely would not have started spreading through the colonies the way that it had during that time. Then, after the colonists got rid of the Sugar Act through protests and boycotts, it began a long fight between Parliament and the colonies that, ultimately, resulted in the American Revolution.The French and Indian War weakened Britain so that the colonists’ actions, such as boycotting, were more effective to the colonial cause. Since there was debt because of the war, the economy was already suffering in Britain – ergo the taxes imposed on the colonies. When the colonies started boycotting British products and threatened to stop trade with them all together, it was effective because Britain’s economy wasn’t strong enough to handle those things. The merchants in Britain couldn’t afford to have trade with America, their primary source of exporting goods, end. If the British merchants were hurt, this would thus hurt the economy as a whole in Britain. In later decades, in the War of 1812, America would try to stop trade with Britain again using an embargo, which would not be effective because they did not have the debt that the French and Indian War had caused. Therefore, the reason that the actions of the colonists worked productively is because of the strain that the French and Indian War had put on Britain’s economy.Because the French had lost the French and Indian War against Britain, the news of the American Revolution spiked their interest when they saw a chance to help in weakening the British Empire. It is evident that France’s money and, maybe more importantly, their Navy was key to the colonies gaining their independence. France’s Navy helped the colonists corner General Cornwallis at Yorktown which was the final significant colonial victory in the Revolution. Before that, France was helping the colonists by helping them get gun powder and ammunition. Though it is possible that France may have helped the colonists gain their independence anyways, the French and Indian War helped fuel the fire and it was recent enough that it was still on France’s mind. So, the French and Indian War helped the colonists gain their most beneficial ally, France, which helped lead to the colonies become independent from Great Britain.One very essential element pertaining to the American Revolution was the French and Indian War. Britain’s economy was suffering because of the debt caused by the war, which led to the taxation that angered the colonists in the beginning. Also, the status of the economy after the French and Indian War is what provided the perfect conditions so that when the colonists implemented boycotts on Britain to try to stop the taxation, they were more effective than they would have been otherwise. The French and Indian War was also essential because it helped provided the colonists with their greatest ally, France. Therefore, without the French and Indian war the idea of independence would not have spread as promptly as it did, the colonists’ actions would not have been as effective, and there is a good chance the colonies could have, ultimately, lost the American Revolution.

Written by Margaret McAllister & Kayla McLane; Performed by Margaret McAllister January 2013
We were livin' all fine and dandySelf government that's what we hadWe're not babies, can't steal our "candy"Our own assemblies? They make us glad!Salutary neglect no moreScrew the French and Indian warTaxes go up, pockets go dryVirtual representation? That ain't gonna fly!We loved the navy, but didn't expectSugar, Stamp, Townshend and the othersYour endless taxes, they caused such a wreckNeighbor vs. neighbor, brother vs. brotherSalutary neglect no moreScrew the French and Indian warTaxes go up, pockets go dryVirtual representation? That ain't gonna fly!How do you think to enforce those acts?You're a tiny island, get it in your head!The control of Navigation, hahahaGeorgie's is totally over *I take it back* it's deadSalutary neglect no moreScrew the French and Indian warTaxes go up, pockets go dryVirtual representation? That ain't gonna fly!

by Emilee Curtis & Christy Barton; January 2013The French and Indian War doesn't seem like much,But let me explain what it did for us.The British and the French could never get along.One was always right and the other always wrong.They battled for more land and more territory, Especially in the Ohio River Valley.After nine long years the British got a win,But as for the colonists this was not the end.The Brits had built up so much debt,And now they tried to tax without represents.The war itself was fought in the colonies.That made them have a stronger unity."Join or die," is what Benjamin said."If we don't unite we may all end up dead." Much of the fighting was done by Americans.The Brits didn't help much with the Indians.This made the colonists feel all alone,But it left very little respect for the throne!Then came the Proclamation of '63."No more expansion," it said. "You must stay by the sea!"It was supposed to keep peace with the Indians,But instead it outraged all the Americans. King George and ParliamentDidn't realize the colonists' patience was spent.They just kept on taxing like nothing was wrong,While secret governments were moving along. Finally the colonists could take no more.They would forever have to pay back the debt from the war.So they gathered up munitions and militiaAnd started to raise up a rebellion.Now you can see the connectionsBetween the French and Indian War and the Revolution.The abandonment, taxes, and unityAll led to the Revolution it is plain to see.'Murica.

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The French and Indian War was the North American conflict in a larger imperial war between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years’ War. The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war’s expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution.

The French and Indian War resulted from ongoing frontier tensions in North America as both French and British imperial officials and colonists sought to extend each country’s sphere of influence in frontier regions. In North America, the war pitted France, French colonists, and their Native allies against Great Britain, the Anglo-American colonists, and the Iroquois Confederacy, which controlled most of upstate New York and parts of northern Pennsylvania. In 1753, prior to the outbreak of hostilities, Great Britain controlled the 13 colonies up to the Appalachian Mountains, but beyond lay New France, a very large, sparsely settled colony that stretched from Louisiana through the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes to Canada. (See Incidents Leading up to the French and Indian War and Albany Plan)

The border between French and British possessions was not well defined, and one disputed territory was the upper Ohio River valley. The French had constructed a number of forts in this region in an attempt to strengthen their claim on the territory. British colonial forces, led by Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, attempted to expel the French in 1754, but were outnumbered and defeated by the French. When news of Washington’s failure reached British Prime Minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle, he called for a quick undeclared retaliatory strike. However, his adversaries in the Cabinet outmaneuvered him by making the plans public, thus alerting the French Government and escalating a distant frontier skirmish into a full-scale war.

The war did not begin well for the British. The British Government sent General Edward Braddock to the colonies as commander in chief of British North American forces, but he alienated potential Indian allies and colonial leaders failed to cooperate with him. On July 13, 1755, Braddock died after being mortally wounded in an ambush on a failed expedition to capture Fort Duquesne in present-day Pittsburgh. The war in North America settled into a stalemate for the next several years, while in Europe the French scored an important naval victory and captured the British possession of Minorca in the Mediterranean in 1756. However, after 1757 the war began to turn in favor of Great Britain. British forces defeated French forces in India, and in 1759 British armies invaded and conquered Canada.

Facing defeat in North America and a tenuous position in Europe, the French Government attempted to engage the British in peace negotiations, but British Minister William Pitt (the elder), Secretary for Southern Affairs, sought not only the French cession of Canada but also commercial concessions that the French Government found unacceptable. After these negotiations failed, Spanish King Charles III offered to come to the aid of his cousin, French King Louis XV, and their representatives signed an alliance known as the Family Compact on August 15, 1761. The terms of the agreement stated that Spain would declare war on Great Britain if the war did not end before May 1, 1762. Originally intended to pressure the British into a peace agreement, the Family Compact ultimately reinvigorated the French will to continue the war, and caused the British Government to declare war on Spain on January 4, 1762, after bitter infighting among King George III’s ministers.

Despite facing such a formidable alliance, British naval strength and Spanish ineffectiveness led to British success. British forces seized French Caribbean islands, Spanish Cuba, and the Philippines. Fighting in Europe ended after a failed Spanish invasion of British ally Portugal. By 1763, French and Spanish diplomats began to seek peace. In the resulting Treaty of Paris (1763), Great Britain secured significant territorial gains in North America, including all French territory east of the Mississippi river, as well as Spanish Florida, although the treaty returned Cuba to Spain.

Unfortunately for the British, the fruits of victory brought seeds of trouble with Great Britain’s American colonies. The war had been enormously expensive, and the British government’s attempts to impose taxes on colonists to help cover these expenses resulted in increasing colonial resentment of British attempts to expand imperial authority in the colonies. British attempts to limit western expansion by colonists and inadvertent provocation of a major Indian war further angered the British subjects living in the American colonies. These disputes ultimately spurred colonial rebellion, which eventually developed into a full-scale war for independence.