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The French and Indian War Essay

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The French and Indian War was a conflict in North America in which Great Britain fought France and their Native American allies. It lasted from 1756 until 1763, so it was also known as the Seven Years War. At the peace conference in 1763, the British received Canada from France and Florida from Spain, but permitted France to keep its West Indian sugar islands and gave Louisiana to Spain. The treaty strengthened the American colonies significantly by removing their European rivals to the north and south and opening the Mississippi Valley to westward expansion. The war began as disputes over land between British colonists, officials, and the Iroquois Confederacy who were against the French and their Native American allies. The Iroquois …show more content…

In July 1758, the British won their first major victory at Louisbourg, near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. Within a month, they took Fort Frontenac at the western end of the river. Then they arrived at Quebec, where General James Wolfe won another important victory in the Plains of Abraham in September 1759. However, both he and the French commander, the Marquis de Montcalm, died soon after the battle. When the British captured Montreal in September 1760, the French lost their last foothold in Canada. Soon, Spain decided to help France fight against England, and throughout the rest of the war Britain focused on capturing French and Spanish territories in other places throughout the world. The cost of funding the war was so massive that the ensuing debt nearly destroyed the British government. This debt caused most of the grievances between the British and the colonists, eventually leading to the Revolutionary War.
This resource loss had a massive impact on Britain. The outcome of the war never truly made up for the resources the British had to use to win, so they had to find another way to make up for the lost funds. This was achieved by taxing the colonies on many types of goods. The first thing Britain wanted to do was stop illegal smuggling. They attempted to do this through the Sugar Act. The Sugar Act, created by George Grenville, actually lowered the tax on

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