The Seven Years War

The Seven Years War transformed North America both politically and socially. The British and its powerful Navy triumphed over the French with the Treaty of Paris mostly in favor of Britain. By 1763, the end of The Seven Years War, the enlightenment had already spread and changed ideas within the colonies. The costly war forced the British to take more control of North America and relieve debt from the war. The Treaty of Paris allowed the British control of almost everything east of the Mississippi. Britain had much control of land and tasked their royal governors to carry out tasks to control and tax the profitable colonies. The navigation Acts were already in place to control taxes on trade, so infractions were overlooked as long as Britain

The seven years’ war (French and Indian War in the Colonies) put a financial hard ship on the Europeans and the American Colonies because the war was so expensive. The reason the war transpired in America, and took place due to the British thinking the territories and trades were theirs to control because they wanted it all for themselves. This caused the French to try to put a stop to it so they too could gain wealth from the trades that occurred in the Ohio Valley. “The Ohio Valley was important because it provided fur traders access to cities and ports on the East Coast. This business was very profitable. Another desired territory was the Mississippi River Valley, the entry point to the frontier in the west.” (“The French & Indian War,”

The Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War, 1754-1763) marked a turning point in the American relations with Great Britain by uniting the colonies for the first time and giving them the desire to break away from England. Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union in 1754, which would have created an inter-colonial government and a system to collect taxes to provide for the colonies’ defense. This plan was rejected by the colonies, but was the beginning of the American quest for independence. Even though the British encouraged the colonists to fight beside them in the Seven Years’ War, once it was over, the British returned to ruling over the colonies as they had before. William Pitt, the English Prime Minister during the war,

How did the Seven Year’s War change the approach of the British imperial government toward the colonies?

Five nations, three alliances, numerous acts of aggression, and over a century of rising tensions culminated in the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War. Throughout the years leading up the 1750s, societal structure and political influence weighed heavily on the development, maintenance, and purpose of the military. Cycles of conflict and diplomacy between two powerful alliances pitted Prussia and Great Britain against France, Austria, and Russia, and caused the rise and fall of historical figures such as Frederick II of Prussia (“Frederick the Great”) and the internal collapse of France, Prussia, and Austria. During the Seven Years’ War, the “face of battle,” or detailed experiences of the battlefield, transformed in tandem with social evolution

The Seven Years’ War was the catalyst in this transformation as Pennsylvania’s backcountry erupted into violence, settlers struggled with the issue of defining who could stay and who had to leave Pennsylvania. Their solution proved paramount in determining the level of wartime violence against Natives, who they decided had to go. These frontier farmers learned to successfully demand protection and security from colonial officials, while simultaneously writing the Indians out of the colony in their petitions. These struggles also “produced good and evil, new beliefs [towards] liberty, and a new willingness to exclude and destroy” as the war dragged on. Also during this time, the British and Six Nations Iroquois found it increasingly difficult

Britain obtained a lot of war debt and believed it was part of the colonies duty to their mother country to help pay for the debt. England began to place taxes on the colonists such as the Tea Act and the Stamp Act. This angered the colonists because they thought they had already done enough the Britain by fighting in the war, but they were going to have to pay taxes for their debt. To further enforce British control and the newly placed taxes, Britain was sending British troops to stay in the colonies for easier control. This led to the feeling of unacceptance towards the British and to thoughts of wanting independence. This feeling of anti- British caused by the Seven Year’s War is a turning point because it led to the colonies declaring independence through the Declaration of Independence and the start of the American Revolution. Inevitably, the Seven Year’s War resulted in a massive revolution of the colonists rebelling against their mother country and their independence, therefore being a turning point in their

Huge debts were owed to Great Britain for supplying the colonists with military support and supplies. To pay the dues, there was the establishment of the Stamp Act, the taxation on domestic goods and services. A tax on domestic merchandise brought even more anger to the colonists. The Sugar Act, the Townshed Duties and the Tea Act were also all introduced with the same fundamentals: applying tax on goods whether it be directly or indirectly, domestic or international. “British commercial regulations imposed a paltry economic burden on Americans, who enjoyed a rapid economic growth and a standard of living higher than their European counterparts” (McGaughy). Each act resulted in irritated colonists. Some even retaliated by tarring and feathering certain English tax enforcers living in the colonies.

Relationships between the colonists and the British Empire dwindled more after the seven years war in ended in 1763. The taxes of certain cargo and acts developed more occurrent with both the British citizens in England and the colonists in America. The colonists grew towards the idea of independence during the time period of 1763 to 1783, due to the British taxes and tariffs placed upon the colonists and the political influence from both legislatures on the people.

The Seven Years’ War, also known as the French and Indian War in the colonies, was the beginning of outward conflict between the British and French over North American colonies. Most Europeans viewed the Indians as a means to get something they wanted; they were pawns during this struggle in North America. During the 18th century, there were many alliances and discord among the Indians and the Europeans. The demise of many alliances was the lack of trust and suspicions of betrayal. The Europeans were a dominating force in the French and Indian War affecting aspects of territory, trade, and government in North America.

Female colonists played a highly public role at this time and became known as the Daughters of Liberty. Women spun wool to make clothes for their husbands and decided not to drink British tea. The consequence of these actions by the colonists saw Britain repeal all duties except for the tea duty. This was to prove that parliament had the right to tax the colonies. Money from the taxes raised in the 1773 Tea Act would be used by parliament to pay royal governors salaries so they would be independent to the colonies. In America, Samuel Adams urged the colonists to send the tea back to Britain. A group of Bostonians, disguised as Indians, boarded a ship at night and dumped £10,000 worth of British tea. This became known as the Boston Tea Party. It was an act of revolutionary defiance. John Adams described it as ‘the most magnificent movement in history’.

It was the Tea Act. This act stated that only the British East India Company could sell or transport tea. Members of parliament passed this act because many of them had stakes in the company. At the time the British India Company was going bankrupt. This act threatened all colonial businesses by creating a monopoly. In Boston, the colonists devised a plan to resist this act. Several colonists dressed as Indians to deceive the British. These colonists seized the imported tea and dumped it into the harbor. The colonists dubbed this “the tea party.” The British responded to these actions by creating four acts jointly called the Coercive Acts. These acts closed the Boston ports to all trade, increased power of Massachusetts governor, granted trials of royal officials in Massachusetts be tried elsewhere, and allowed the new governor rights to quarter his troops anywhere. These Coercive Acts only angered the colonists more. They have strengthened their non-importation of British goods. They have also begun the forming of local militia companies.

     There was another by-product of the war for Britain; her national debt more than doubled during the course of the conflict. At a time when Britain was starting to bend beneath the weight of the debt, it was only a matter of time before parliament looked to the colonies to help shoulder some of the price incurred in their defense. The Sugar and Stamp Acts were the first of many measures to tax the colonists. The Townshend Duties and the Tea Act would follow. While these measures outraged the colonists because of their monetary implications, it was the constitutional implications brought on by the Acts that were most offensive to the colonists. Until after the Seven Years War, the colonists had been left to essentially tax themselves. Now the colonists had a rallying cry, as they deplored the idea of no taxation without representation. In 1765 the Stamp Act Congress was held, and in a bid of utter defiance the representatives agreed that the colonial legislative assemblies alone had the right to tax the colonies. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but only after agreeing to pass the Declaratory Act, which informed the colonies that Britain did in fact have the right to legislate for the

The Seven Years War took place between 1756-1763, and was mainly a result of trading rights between the French and the British. To prove this, this paper will provide information as to why the Seven Years War was seen as being the first World War because of this. As evidence, this paper will discuss details of the battles fought, the alliances and compacts made, and the end result a treaty that established rights to lands. (Major Conflicts)

One of these acts was the Boston tea party. Only the east India company could sell tea to the colonies legally, therefore the British merchants could not make money on selling tea. The British government strongly believed that the colonist would buy the cheap tea and pay a big tax on tea. Many people decide to boycott drinking tea. About 1000 colonist decided to dress up as Mohawk Indians and throw tea into the bay. They threw thousands of pounds of tea overboard. This became known as the Boston tea party. The British government was furious, and if they found anyone who participated in these acts they would hang