French and Indian War Dbq

The French and Indian war, which lasted from 1754-1763, resulted in a victory for the British over the French, which led to the French leaving North America. It also resulted in negative political, economic and ideological differences between the British and the American colonies. Politically the colonies were not happy because they could not expand further west, economically they felt oppressed by the British with all the taxes being place on them, and ideologically because of the governing of the British without representation.

Politically with the British, the American colonies were not pleased. After 1763 and the end of the French and Indian War, the colonies had more than doubled their land as shown in document A. However, due to the Proclamation of 1763 being issued, which stated the colonists couldn’t go past the Appalachian Mountains. If they did go past the line drawn by the British, they would not be protected un the British due to their unwillingness to pay for their protection.

The British knew that the Native Americans would fight for their land and were very protective of it as shown in Document B, a speech delivered by Canassatego, a Chief in the Iroquois Confederacy, to the representatives of Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania in 1742. Canassatego most likely gave this speech because he was the leader of a people who did not want their land to be taken over. These actions of the British cause the American colonist's change in political views.

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The economic relations between the British and American colonies also changed dramatically because Britain was in debt due to the French and Indian War. This lead to them taxing the colonists to raise revenue and cover the costs of the war which was caused by the colonists. In document F, the British Order in Council in 1763 states that it is necessary to tax the American colonies because otherwise they would not have the means (money) to cover the colonists costs.

These taxes were carried out in many forms including the Stamp, Sugar and Tea Acts, as well as others that forced colonies to pay taxes on everyday goods. Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to John Hughs (document G), from London to Pennsylvania on August 9, 1765, describing how he was trying to get the Stamp Act repealed. This letter was most likely written by Franklin because he was a colonist from Philadelphia, who was a participant in government and owned the Pennsylvania Gazette, which meant the act hit him at home.

Document H, represents the economic oppression the colonists felt that they were receiving from the British with a newspaper masthead showing how the Stamp Act was affecting them with skull and crossbones in the place were a stamp should be. The things done by the British to try and raise revenue from the colonies to cover the French and Indian War were causing a change in the future Americans' economic rationales. Asides from changing the American colonists' view on their political and economic relationship with Great Britain, the French and Indian War also changed their ideology.

They believed that the British were governing them with virtual representation, or without actual representation and unfairly. One example of the change in ideology is from George Washington himself, in letter written by him in 1755, he talks about serving his "King and Country", when later on he fights that same king and country. In document D, an entry from a Massachusetts soldier's diary in 1759, the soldier describes how unjustly he and other colonial soldiers are treated by officers even though they were born Englishmen, but says they are not treated like they are, showing the growing resentment of British authority.

In document E, Reverend Thomas Barnard located in Massachusetts in 1763 talks about how great the victory of the French and Indian War and the British were and how the American colonists would be able to expand further west. This viewpoint was most likely changed after the Proclamation of 1763, as the colonists could not actually expand westward with British protection. Document H, the Newspaper masthead from October 1763, also represents the change in ideology of the American colonists.

It talks about saying farewell to liberty, stating "Adieu Adieu to LIBERTY," showing how the British were taking away their freedoms. The British actions that occurred during and after the French and Indian War played a major role in the changing of ideology of the British. The French and Indian War was a major cause of the American Revolution. One type of document that would help show how the war changed relations between the colonies and the British would be a letter from a Parliament member to a member of colonial government concerning relations between the mother country and its colony.

The French and Indian War caused the colonists to change their political, economic and ideological relations with the British. Political relations were tarnished by the Proclamation of 1763, the economic relations were strained by the taxes placed on the colonies by the British to cover the French and Indian War costs, as well as those in the future. The ideological relations were diminished due to Britain's governing without representation on the American colonies.. The French and Indian war played a crucial part in the American Revolution.

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