French-Indian War

The French and Indian War stirred up a lot of controversy between Britain and its American colonies. They had differing opinions on several political, economic, and ideological issues. These disputes had disastrous effect for Britain in the long run.

The effects of the French and Indian war on the political relations between Britain and the American colonies were significant. As seen in Document A, Britain controlled about half of what is now Canada and most of the eastern coast of North America before the war. After the war, Britain had all of the known land east of the Mississippi. The colonists were eager to move right into this new addition to Britain's empire. However, London issued the Proclamation of 1763, which forbid colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. Britain knew that movement into that area would agitate the Indians. Canassatego said that "[the Indians] are not well used with respect to the lands still unsold by [them] (Document B)." Canassatego's opinion is biased against the colonists because he himself was the chief of an Indian tribe. However, Britain still did not wish to anger the Indians, so they prohibited colonial activity in the new territories. This angered the land-hungry colonists. They claimed that the Indian problem was over after the quelling of Pontiac's Rebellion, and they said that the colonies should be allowed to expand their borders. Britain and the colonies didn't see eye to eye on this and other minor political matters, and they played a major role leading up to the Revolution.

Economic dilemmas also sprung up due to the French and Indian War. Britain began enforcing its mercantilist principles. This irritated the colonists because they felt that they were being exploited. Britain's Treasury officials said that "the revenue arising [from the colonies was] very small and inconsiderable, ...and [was] not ...sufficient to defray a fourth part of the expense necessary for collecting it (Document F)." Parliament began increasing the taxes in place on the colonies. The colonists' disgust of the hated Stamp Act can be seen in Document H. Ben Franklin told of his attempt to get the Stamp Act repealed in his letter to John Hughs shown in Document G. Franklin's point of view was skewed because he was one of the colonists; therefore he opposed the Stamp Act. Although the Stamp Act was eventually repealed, other taxes