Download Diplomacy & The Great War

The
American
Revolution
Causes
French and Indian War
Aka: Seven Year War
 Great Britain vs. France
Results
 France lost Canada & land
East of Mississippi River
 Fought over control of land
and fur trading
 Colonists develop land
– Population increases
 Colonists fought for the
British > felt united against
a common enemy
– Women outnumber men …
why?
King George III of England
 Refused to listen to
colonists’ demands
 Issued Proclamation
Line of 1763
– Lands West of
Appalachian Mtn.
reserved for Native
Americans
– Response by Natives?
By colonists?
Proclamation of 1763
Taxation
 Colonists forced to pay taxes to ease
British war debt
 Paid taxes without representation
– Sugar Act: tax on sugar, coffee, textiles, wine
> effect on prices?
– Stamp Act: All official documents were taxed
& money used to pay British soldiers in
America
– Navigation Act: restrict colonial trade with
British
Boston Massacre
Based on the title & visual, how would you describe this event?
Colonial Resentment
 Sons of Liberty
– Samuel Adams led group of those opposed to
British
– Led attacks on British & urged boycotting
British goods (i.e. Boston Tea Party after Tea
Tax)
 Boston Massacre
– British troop presence increased
– Mar. 1770 a mob taunted British troops by
throwing rocks & snow > troops fired shoots
& 3 colonists died
American Leaders
 Thomas Jefferson
– Author of
Declaration of
Independence
 Benjamin Franklin
– Went to Europe to
gain support (&
money) for
colonists
 Thomas Paine
(Common Sense)
The
Course of
the War
British Advantages
 Better army and navy (best in the world)
 Financially secure
 Local support from loyalists
American Advantages
 Home-field advantage
 Motivation to win → Independence
 Many European nations supported
colonists
 George Washington – brilliant strategist &
military leader who tried to draw out the
war to make it expensive for Britain
Colonist Propaganda
Effects
Treaty of Paris
 Treaty signed that recognized
independence of the United States
 Western border set at the Mississippi
River
 Native American issues with borders
Effects for the British
 Lose colonies in
New World
 Forced to
search for new
markets
Effects for the United States
 25% of the
population either
dead or left the
colonies
 No established
government in place
 Westward expansion
began
Other Issues
 Disputes over territory between the
United States & Great Britain; United
States & Spain
 France nearly bankrupt from helping the
US
 Dutch navy destroyed