The French and Indian War
The French and Indian war had important, immediate effects on the colonies and their English mother country. Obviously, it meant great land acquirements for both American settlers and the English government. What Britain did not realize, however, was the problems this new territory would create. Never, since the days of Queen Elizabeth, had England been so unified and enthusiastic. Nationalism grew immensely after defeat of the French army. After the war ended, animosity towards England from France and their Native American allies seemed to be gone. This would prove to be very incorrect. The festivity of the war masked both the uprising nationalism of the American settlers and the thirst for revenge from the French king. The envious monarch would settle the score with England in a way that was totally unexpected.After the dust settled, England realized they had encountered a huge debt from the war and did not have a way to pay for it. Many government officials from England were already angry because of the lack of money given to them by America in order to help pay for the war. They also failed to provide large numbers of soldiers for battle. After great discussion, the Parliament decided that American colonists should
be taxed in order to exercise their part in helping to cover the huge debt England had incurred. Therefore many new taxes were introduced. These taxes included the Stamp Act, the Sugar Act, the Townshend act and many others. One law that infuriated the colonists was the Royal Proclamation of 1763. This law prohibited all colonists to traverse any land west of the Allegheny Mountains. The king did this in order to protect colonists from armed Indian tribes ready to defend their land and in order to appease Chief Pontiac's army and grant them territory. The British government was not about to engage itself in more costly wars that would cost thousands of other lives. American colonists believed this was ridiculous especially after being restrained by the French for so long. It seemed as if the English had now taken the place of the French in trying to stop westward expansion. Probably the most important effect of the war was the separate identity American colonists were associating themselves with. These people no longer thought of themselves as Europeans. This is not attributed fully to the war. Salutary Neglect also played a huge part. Even before the French and Indian War, Britain was engaging itself in many expensive battles with countries they were enemies of. They no longer had the time or resources to control the colonies the way they would have wanted to. This would prove to be very disastrous in the long run
Some common words found in the essay are:
Native American, Indian War, Thirteen Colonies, England Iroquois, French Indian, Henry Virginia, Chief Pontiac's, Salutary Neglect, War Britain, Elizabeth England, american colonists, french indian war, french indian, indian war, thirteen colonies, english government, native american, iroquois tribe, governing themselves, accustomed governing, salutary neglect, accustomed governing themselves,
Approximate Word count = 972
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
