kayla wasserman

The French and Indian War, also dubbed the Seven Years War in Europe, pitted Britain and France against each other in various locations around the world, making it a truly global conflict. However, in the North American theater, both Britain, their colonists and Iroquois allies fought against the French and their Huron and Algonquin allies. Essentially this war was fought for control of the resource rich Ohio River Valley, but in reality much more was at stake. The winner would reign supreme in North America, giving them unrivaled access to the bountiful resources available within the continent. Despite losing many battles in the initial fighting, Britain, aided considerably by colonial militias, rallied back and won the key battles of Quebec and Montreal. These victories allowed Britain to win the war. The conflict concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, a document that drove the French influence from North America almost entirely. In the end Great Britain gained a tremendous amount of land that stretched from the Appalachian Mountains west to the Mississippi River, but it came at a tremendous cost. Britain, who borrowed tremendous amounts of money to fund the war against their rival was plunged deep into economic debt. To recover these funds, the King and Parliament began a heavy campaign of taxation within the 13 Colonies, a decision that would tarnish the relationship between her and her colonies and eventually lead to the American Revolution.

On October 7, 1763, The Proclamation of 1763 was announced by King George lll after the French and Indian War came to an end. This was a public announcement that said all lands of the Appalachian Mountains belonged to the Native Americans. This Proclamation also banned American colonists from sailing west of Appalachian. The British did not want the American Colonists to settle there. The colonists became angry with this proclamation because they won the land through battle and blood so they believed they deserved to settle there.

On April 5th, 1764, The sugar act was passed. The Sugar Act was a law that wanted to end smuggling sugar and molasses in the colonies by reducing the previous tax rate. Britain passed the Sugar Act to generate revenue and make custom collections more efficient. The colonists were not happy because they didn’t have representation in the parliament. They felt the parliament had no right to tax them. During this Act, the Writs of Assistance, general warrants allowing officials to search for smuggled material, was applied.

On March 22, 1765, The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament. The Stamp Act was a law created to impose a direct tax on the British Colonies in America. This act required that the printed materials in the colonies must be printed on stamped paper produced in London. The stamped paper had an embossed revenue stamp on it. The American colonists were opposed to this Act so this is when the Colonial Boycott, occurred. They ended up repealing the Stamp Act in 1766. This movement helped encourage the revolt against the Crown. This Stamp Act also triggered the first non-importation agreements. These agreements were commercial restrictions adopted by American colonists to protest British revenue policies.

The Townshend Act, an act that placed new taxes and declined the freedom of the colonists, was passed on June 29, 1767. This event occurred because the British wanted the colonists to pay taxes by themselves. Many colonists didn’t like that British showed taxation without representation.

Also, on December 16, 1773, there was a political protest by the Sons/Daughters of Liberty called the Boston Tea Party. American colonists were annoyed and furious at Britain for commanding “taxation without representation”. The American colonists emptied 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. Some colonists were camouflaged as Mohawk Indians, but that didn’t fool anybody.

The Boston Massacre was a street clash with huge mobs between the patriot crowd and the British soldiers on March 5th, 1770. There were snowballs, sticks, and stones being thrown. Multiple colonists were wounded and killed from all of the chaos. The Boston Massacre helped spark the colonists' passion for American self-determination. In 1772, The Committee of Correspondence was formed. This is an intercolonial committee was organized by Samuel Adams in Massachusetts to keep colonists informed of any British Anticolonial actions.

On December 16, 1773, the Tea Act was introduced to lessen the massive amount of tea held by the financially struggling British East India Company in its London warehouses. This Act also allowed the company to ship its tea directly to the colonies without landing in England. The colonists refused to buy tea from the British merchants. They didn't buy the tea because the taxes were too high. They also thought if they didn't buy British tea, the British would lower the taxes but they didn’t.

The Intolerable Acts were laws passed by the British Parliament after the Boston Tea Party to punish the Massachusetts colonists. The acts infuriated the colonists who felt that they were being robbed of their civil liberties. There were 5 Acts. They were the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Impartial Administration of Justice Act and the Quartering Act.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought on April 19, 1775. When General Thomas Gage accepted the orders to seize the stores of arms and ammunition the American Patriots had stockpiled at Concord, fighting broke out. The colonists became upset when they heard that British soldiers burned houses and fired upon innocent people.49 colonists were killed and 29 were wounded with 5 missing.