The Eve of Revolution (1754-1775)

The French and Indian War (1754-1763) altered the relationship between Britain and its North American colonies. Assess this change with regard to Two of the following in the period between 1763-1775.

-Land acquisitions

-Politics

-Economic

The French and Indian War (1754-1763), a war that would soon after change the course of Great Britain and their colonies. The French had withdrew from the North American continent which meant that Great Britain and Spain acquired large amounts of land. British and colonies were ruled with a light had because of this. They did not have heavy taxes yet that would all change in response to politics and economics after the war which would result in breaking the relationship between the motherland and colonies.

After the end of the French revolution there was a great crisis that was left on Great Britain's shoulders yet the Americans believed that the golden age was upon them, they were horribly wrong. The war did bring new land; however, the war also brought distress to the motherland of Great Britain. The the Grenville Programs was engendered to settle problems in North America including the Proclamation of 1763 and all of the new Tax Acts. The Proclamation act was to stop all kind of colonial expansion to try to conserve the resources. The program was like a tax for defense, it would help Great Britain in their time of need. The war left the nation and also the colonies in need for money because of the war. Once the colonies were taxed heave due to the devastation of the war they were not fond of this new strict rule. They felt the need to not pay attention to it until they had to cough up the money once the soldiers started to be satiated at the colonies in 1770 to collect the money for Great Britain.

The economic situation was in no terms acceptable to Great Britain and they needed to find a quick easy solution. The colonies were already on the mercantilism system which was that the colonies made all the money for the motherland in this case it was Great Britain; thus, any profits that were made in currency they would give to Great Britain. However, that was not enough the motherland was still having economic issues so Great Britain though the only solution was to engender more and more taxes. The French and Indian war thought that the colonist needed to pay for the dept with taxes because they had protected them from the French and the allies. The Navigation Act as like the Sugar and Molasses Act were created post war but were not really enforce but after the war they must be strictly followed because there was no money. Great Britain also created the Stamp Act in 1765, Townshend Act in 1767, and the Tea Act in 1773 in order to supply the money flow.

Through and through after the French and Indian War the relationship between Great Britain and its North American colonies would forever be shattered. The colonies would despised the motherland and hope to be out of hands reach one day, it was one of the underlying causes of the revolution for independence.

Key Terms

• -Mercantilism
• the economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances, which a government should encourage by means of protectionism
• -Navigation Act
• acts of Parliament between 1651 and 1847 designed primarily to expand British trade and limit trade by British colonies with countries that were rivals of Great Britain.
• -Sugar Act (1764)
• a law passed by the British Parliament in 1764 raising duties on foreign refined sugar imported by the colonies so as to give British sugar growers in the West Indies a monopoly on the colonial market.
• Molasses Act (1733)
• March 1733 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which imposed a tax of six pence per gallon on imports of molasses from non-British colonies.
• -Stamp Act (1765)
• an act of the British Parliament in 1756 that exacted revenue from the American colonies by imposing a stamp duty on newspapers and legal and commercial documents.
• -Townshend Act (1767)
•   series of acts passed, beginning in 1767, by the Parliament of Great Britain relating to the British colonies in North America.
• -Tea Act (1773)
• principal over objective was to reduce the massive surplus of tea held by the financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and to help the struggling company survive.
• Grenville's Program
• a comprehensive plan designed by George Grenville to settle problems in North America. included the Proclamation of 1763 and all of the new Tax Acts.