Dbq French And Indian War

When most people think of the birth of America, they think of July 4th, 1776, when the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and thus severing ties with Britain. However, the true seeds of revolution were sowed many years earlier in a decade-long battle for supremacy over North America: The French and Indian War. The British defeated the French in the war, but victory created many more problems for the British such as massive debt, unity among the colonists, and increased Indian hostility. Due to these issues, the British had to set in place a series of unpopular laws to prevent further conflicts with the natives and to pay off the cost of the war, which led to a clash of views and ultimately, war. Although the American Revolution

officially began in 1776, the true battle for independence began with the French and Indian War due to tensions between militiamen and British soldiers, the Proclamation of 1763, and lofty taxes.

Throughout the war, British officers would often put themselves above the colonials, which led to hard feelings from the Americans.

One such man who believed his honor was damaged was George Washington, who capped off the war in 1754 when he and his Virginia militiamen opened fire on French forces in Ohio country. Washington realized that colonial officers were treated as second-class citizens compared with British officers, and he would “bubble with fury when British regular officers expressed their disdain of provincial officers and soldiers” (Ferling 65). Such disdain was a result of poor organization and lack of military experience, which led General James Wolfe, the conqueror of Quebec, to refer to American soldiers as “the dirtiest, most contemptible cowardly dogs that you can conceive” (Polk). Furthermore, the removal of the French from North America meant that there was no more need for British soldiers anymore, so the colonists no longer needed to put up with them for protection. These verbal altercations and feelings of scorn for one another were starting points for something much greater: the American

Revolution.

The French had always been the European power that was closest to the Indians. After France’s defeat, the Indians of the Ohio Valley, led by Chief Pontiac of the Ottawas, feared colonial expansion into their lands and rebelled. Pontiac’s Rebellion lasted only for a year before being defeated by the British. Fearful that another uprising would drain the English treasury even more, Parliament enacted the Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited colonial settlement west of the Appalachian mountains. The colonists were outraged when they learned of this, because initially French forts were the roadblock to settling out west, but now their own mother country was refusing their passage. In 1765 around one thousand wagons headed west with the intention of ignoring the royal decree and settling. With the vastness of North America uncolonized, the colonists believed that it was their destiny to keep expanding. This total disregard of royal authority further strained the relationship between Britain and its colonies.

With their victory over the French, all of North America belonged to Britain.

However, the hard-fought war wasn’t cheap; in fact, it had cost the British Treasury “€70,000,000 and doubled the national debt to €140,000,000” (Digital History). In the eyes of the British, the war was fought to protect the colonists, so they raised current taxes and added new ones among the colonies in order to fund the treasury. Most notably among these new taxes were the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765. The Sugar Act increased the tax on foreign sugar importanted from the West Indies, which sparked many bitter protests from the colonials, and eventually the tax was lowered substantially. However, the following year the Stamp Act was enacted and required colonists to stamp many trade items and documents in order to signify payment of tax. In the eyes of the colonists, no American sat in Parliament, so Britain had no right to impose taxes on Americans. Without the French and Indian War, there would’ve been no need to impose so many taxes on the colonies, thereby eliminating the cries of unjust and anger that drove the colonies into

rebellion.

Without the French and Indian War, many catalysts of the Revolutionary War would not have occurred. Disdain between British and American soldiers, limiting colonial expansion, and substantial taxes are directly linked to the anger that drove the colonies into rebellion. The gradual eroding of colonial liberties are similar to the buildup of segregation and mistreatment that fueled the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 60s. Housing segregation, voter restrictions, economic exploitation, and violence against African-Americans occurred so much until a nation of people decided that “all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color” (Malcolm X). In both events, the ruling body set regulations in place until the populace could no longer bear the inequality. Officially, the American Revolution began in 1776, but the true flames of far were lit beginning with the French and Indian War.