Claudia Silva Period 6 October 31, 2012 The French and Indian War Prior to the Seven Years

War, North America was colonized by powerful European powers such as Spain, France, and Britain. These powerful nations were in a competition to colonize as much land as possible in the world. That competition resulted in the French and Indian War. The French and Indian War aggravated the conflict between colonists and Native Americans, brought an economic burden to the colonies in the form of taxes, and led to an ideological revolution in which the colonists asked for direct representation in the British government. The French and Indian War aggravated the conflict between the colonists and the native population. The colonists before the French and Indian War had experienced conflicts with the natives because white settlers had moved to the natives lands (doc. b). When the war broke out in North America, most of the Native American tribes supported the French. The fact that the natives took the side of the French suggests that they were willing to do anything to hurt the British colonies. In 1763 Britain won the war and the Treaty of Paris was signed to end the conflict. After the war ended the French were kicked out of North America and the British territory increased (doc. a). The victory gave Britain many benefits, such as control of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains. However, it also caused problems when settlers began to move to Britains new western territory. The westward movement once again caused conflicts with the native population who already lived there. In 1763 an Ottawa leader named Pontiac led a rebellion against British settlers, but the British won the war. To solve the problem King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763 to prohibit colonists from settling on land west of the Appalachians.

Claudia Silva Period 6 October 31, 2012 The French and Indian War brought economic burdens to the colonies in the form of unfair taxes. The British passed a series of taxes to collect revenue to pay for the expenses of the war and because the revenue was indispensable when the military establishment was necessary for maintaining these colonies (doc f). The British believed that the colonies had the obligation to help pay for the war because British soldiers had been sent to the colonies to protect them. Also, the British needed income to keep the military in the western frontiers to protect the white settlers, so the British judged that the colonies needed to contribute to the cost of the colonial administration. Several tariffs and taxes were passed to make the colonies pay part of the wars debt. For example, the Sugar Act of 1764 said colonist had to pay a tariff on molasses and sugar. A year later the Stamp of Act of 1765 placed a tax on every kind of printed material, including newspaper, legal documents, and playing cards. The colonists felt that the Stamp Act was causing the time to be dreadful, doleful, dismal, dolorous, and dollar-less (doc. h). The economic oppression caused by the taxes made the colonies feel aggravated and hopeless because the burdens of the taxes were to leaving the colonies deprived from money. The unfair taxes imposed to the colonies caused the colonies to view Britain as an oppressor and led to an ideological rebellion in which the colonies asked for their rights. After the war ended British expected the colonies to pay for part of the war because the commerce of the colonies was diverted from its natural course if the colonies did not contribute to the debt (doc. f). The British believed in mercantilism, the philosophy that the colonies existed solely for the purpose of creating wealth for the mother country, thus the British taxed the colonies heavily. These beliefs caused the colonies to become angry because they felt it was unfair to pay taxes without being represented in Parliament. The slogan no taxation without representation reflected the colonists view that the British had no right to rule them with such unfairness. The

Claudia Silva Period 6 October 31, 2012 Stamp Act had specially made the colonists angry. Colonial politicians like Benjamin Franklin worked to get the Stamp Act repealed (doc. g). This suggests that the colonist were no longer going to tolerate tyranny of the British government. Furthermore, some colonists began to protest against the taxes. The Sons of Liberty became an important colonial group that burned stamps and threatened the agents who collected the revenue, tarring and feathering them if they continued their practices. This shows that the colonists were tired of being taxed without having a direct representation in Parliament. The French War had caused Britain to levy heavy taxes on the colonies, expecting to benefit from the revenue gained, but in reality they triggered the ideology of fair representation in the colonists.