At the end of the Seven Years' War, France surrendered Canada and much of the Ohio and Mississippi valley to British rule. The colonists, upon seeing the vast lands, jumped at the chance of Britain’s vulnerability and started heading west to settle in the area. However, the Proclamation of 1763 reserved lands west of the Appalachian Mountains for Indians and forbade white settlement there. By preventing the colonial population from moving inland, the British ministry hoped to avoid costly Indian wars and keep western land speculation under the control of the crown. This terribly clashed with colonial interests for territorial expansion and would come to mark itself as the first amongst many policy mishaps Britain enacted.
The major areas of disagreement between the American colonists and the British policymakers that developed during the period 1763 to 1776. Great Britain’s victory in the French and Indian War gained new territory west of the Appalachian Mountains for the Empire but at the same time added great debt to the Empire. Great Britain looked for revenue from the American colonists as part of the solution to their growing debt issues. Great Britain’s attempts to gain tax revenue from the American colonists increased tensions between the colonies and Great Britain. From 1763 to 1776, Great Britain formed a series of Acts and was met with considerable resistance by the American colonists.
The money raised from the indirect tax was used to raise revenue for The British Army and Navy. The colonist asked Parliament to repeal the tax; parliament rejected the request for the repeal. This caused irritation instilled in the colonists, which will lead to greater resistance later in colonial history. This also made the colonists want to start a centralized government. The Quartering Act of 1765 greatly intensified colonial resistance to the British.
DBQ American Revolution At the eve of the revolution it was evident that the colonists had developed a sense of urgency for their own identity and unity as Americans due to the constant political, economic, and social interference from Britain forcing them to break apart. Parliament began making laws that the colonists did not agree with. In order for the colonists to live how they wanted, they had to make changes; they had to break away from their “Mother Country”. As a result, the colonists began to slowly build their own identity. As identity grew away from British customs, unity among the colonists was beginning to increase as well.
However, after the end of the French and Indian War, England became more strict in terms of land acquisition after these territories were surrendered to the British empire. Britain passed what is known as the Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited settlement in the area beyond the Appalachian Mountains. This was the first time Britain took a stance against westward expansion. Although Britain claimed that the purpose of the land restriction was to avoid further conflicts with the Natives, colonists were left dismayed and angered. Likewise, England also tightened its control on the colonies’ economy.
In 1754, a war between Britain and France with their Indian allies broke out in North America that came to be known as The French and Indian War. The war ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris where Britain acquired Spanish Florida and all remaining French North American land (Document A). Throughout the war and for some time after, the actions of the American Colonies’ Mother Country caused many colonists to feel some resentment towards them. The French and Indian War created tension between Great Britain and the American colonies politically through the expansion of borders, economically through extreme taxes, and ideologically through taxation without representation. The expansion of the borders of the English territory through the Treaty of Paris of 1763 created a strain between Political relations with Great Britain.
The theory of political independence emerged in the colonies after the French and Indian War in 1763 due to recurring crises, such as taxation, trade regulations, and many other wrongful laws. The original plan, or call to action, of the colonies was the eventual plan to reconcile with Britain and return to the era of salutary neglect, which was lost after the French and Indian War. After particular events that led up to the American Revolution, the colonists formed a more united nation and realized their need and want for independence. During 1763-1766, many unfair acts were passed, beginning with the Proclamation Act of 1763, which prohibited the colonies from going west of the Appalachian Mountains. This law angered the colonists because this impeded them from obtaining new, cheap land.
This was the final straw for the colonists who were already grumbling and ready to protest the taxes they were paying already. Also, these taxes were forced on the people without their consent. Today we send people to congress to vote on whether a tax is needed or wanted. This was the act that tipped the balance over in deciding to go to war for independence. April 5, 1764: The Sugar Act: The Molasses Act of 1733 placed a high tariff on sugar.
One of the first acts done by Americans in December of 1773 was the Boston Tea Party, which was done to protest the British tax policies by dumping 342 crates of tea into the Boston Harbor. Later in April 1775, British general Thomas Gage’s plans to seize rebel leaders at Lexington and military stores at Concord lead to Paul Revere’s ride and the “shot
Under the control of England, the colonists experienced their fair share of ups and downs from the year 1750 until 1776. Oppression from the British was an important issue that the colonists felt needed to be addressed with action. By the eve of the Revolution, the colonists had established their own identity which led to them uniting in opposition to the British. It was important that the colonists established an identity for themselves because it set them apart from the controlling Britons. In his notes for speech in parliament on February 3, 1766, Edmund Burke elaborated on how the colonies were too different from the country of Great Britain and that they could not blend in with the mass.