French and Indian War DBQ

The French and Indian War or Seven Years War was a duel for North America. It was a battle between the British and the French with their Indian allies. The war ended in 1763 during the Treaty of Paris when the French seceded all of their North American land to Britain and Spain (Doc. A). As the war continued and ended, there was a progressive resentment for the British from the Colonists. This resentment was caused by actions the Mother Country has done, the colonists thought of these actions as unjust and unfair. The seven years war caused tensions between the British and the Colonists economically by unfair taxes, politically with the halt of westward expansion, and ideologically by the unfair treatment of colonial officers and soldiers.

The expansion of borders through the Treaty of Paris in 1763 caused political trouble between the colonists and the British. During the French and Indian war the Indians worked with the French with the hopes that defeating the English would halt the westward expansion into Indian Territory. The French forfeited all of this Indian land to the English with the Treaty of Paris. Most of the Indians thought that white settlers had no right to settle in these lands (Doc. B). Even after the war ended, there were still active attempts of retaliation by the Indians. Leader of these tribes, Pontiac, led a brutal campaign to drive the Englishmen out of the Ohio Country. They eventually overran all but three British posts west of the Appalachians. To avoid future conflict between Indians and the settlers, the British issued the Proclamation of 1763. This proclamation prohibited future settlement beyond the Appalachians. Colonists were enraged by this statement because they thought they were finally free to explore the land that their great grandfathers have gotten for them (Doc. E). After the war the colonists thought themselves as equal to their British brothers but this proclamation increased their thoughts that they were “debarred Englishmen’s liberty” (Doc. D).

After the French and Indian War, their have been increased economical strain between the Colonists and the British. The Mother Country has spent a lot of wealth and people to help support the colonies during the war. They had no way to re-pay their debt and felt as if the colonies revenue to pay them back was insufficient, they even kept their troops stationed there, resulting in more payments that the colonists had to pay (Doc. F). As time progressed, the British imposed many acts and taxes that infuriated the colonists. Of these acts, the Stamp Act of 1765 created a large reaction. Many colonists resented this act because it taxed common items like newspapers, marriage licenses, and legal documents.

The colonists made it obvious that they did not support this act by the printing of newspapers like the Pennsylvania Journal (Doc H). Many colonists wanted to get this act repealed (Doc. G) so they created the Stamp Act Congress of 1765. Although the Stamp Act Congress made active attempts to repeal the Stamp Act, it created the idea of nonimportation agreements. These agreements were made by the colonists to boycott goods by Britain. Women also helped with the boycotting by holding spinning bees to make home-spun clothes. The nonimportation agreements were catastrophic for England because America bough one-quarter of all British goods and half of British shipping was dedicated for the colonies.

During the French and Indian War, many colonists felt proud to be from England and were proud to serve the Mother Country (Doc. C). As the war progressed, many colonists were beginning to feel resentment against the British. Part of these resentments was caused by injustices done to soldiers during the war. British Officers did not take colonial soldiers seriously, often thinking of them as amateurs. General Wolfe made a comment about the colonial militia, referring to them as “in general the dirtiest, most contemptible, cowardly dogs that you can conceive”. Due to the ignorance of the British Officers, they refused to recognize any American Militia officer above the rank of captain, which demoted and humiliated George Washington. There was once an instant when a group of American soldiers did not receive any liquor or clothing during winter-time (Doc D). Due to these injustices, Americans no longer felt proud to be a British citizen.