The French and Indian War greatly altered the political, economic, and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies. English debt lead to unfair taxation of the colonists which changed their feelings about the mother country. Prior to the French and Indian War, relations between Britain and the colonies were relatively amicable. By the end of the war, these relations had been drastically and permanently altered.
Politically, before the French and Indian War, the colonies benefited from salutary neglect. The British were neglecting the colonies and the colonies enjoyed it.In the British Order of Council (1763) the policy of salutary neglect came to an end as the French and Indian War ended. With the abandonment of salutary neglect, the British began to strictly regulate trade and impose taxes on commonly used items. Because of English debt from the war, the British needed to generate revenue to maintain military protection of the colonies, but the revenue collected only paid one-fourth of administrative costs. The Proclamation of 1763, and act that banned the colonization of British subjects west of the Appalachian Mountains, came into effect.
The Native Americans believed that the white settlers, who were moving onto their land, had no right to settle on their grounds. In Canassatego’s speech (1742) it was discovered that earlier land treaties were not fair. The Proclamation of 1763 was Britain’s idea of being fair and preventing conflict. However, the colonists’ anger toward the British grew because they felt as if they were being deprived of their rights of freedom. Prior to the French and Indian War the Americans were forced to ship their raw materials to Britain only to buy the finished products from them.By the end of the war, the economic relations between Britain and its colonies had changed greatly.
With heavy British taxation, mercantilism was soon abandoned. Because of the English debt from the war, the British had to collect endless revenues from the colonists. Different Acts such as the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and the Quartering Act were established in order to pay off war debt. The Stamp Act was one of many that enraged many colonists. As Benjamin Franklin stated in his letter to John Hughs (1765), the colonists wanted to “get it repeal’d” as soon as possible.Franklin, in favor of maintaining law and order, wanted to repeal the Stamp Act while working within the political system.
The Act of sudden taxation and regulation took a major toll on the economic relationship between the conflicts and their mother country. Before the war the colonies became accustomed to salutary neglect. When the war and salutary neglect ended, the colonies relations with Britain worsened. They were so used to being left alone that when the British came and took over the colonies were angered.Since the end of Salutary Neglect, the colonies ideological relations with Britain began to change.
Taxation and regulation had added to the resentment colonies had already felt prior to the Proclamation of 1763. The French and Indian War helped the American soldiers realize that were treated less than the British soldiers’ slaves. In the diary of Massachusetts soldier (1759) the treatment of the soldiers was revealed. American soldiers that were claimed to be an Englishmen were denied “Englishmen’s” liberty. ” The soldiers were not given the necessary things to survive in seasons such as winter.
They were not likely to get proper clothes or liquor in which they needed as winter approached. Even while in the army, there was still a separation of class. The lower your class division the poorly you were treated. The French and Indian War is to blame for a lot of things including the American Revolution.
With the establishment of different acts, the colonies rebelled. Ideologically the war brought much resentment toward its mother country, Britain. It also altered their political relations because of the English economic struggles. Because of the French and Indian War, America would never be the same.
