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Chapter 6 lecture notes
Road to the Treaty of Paris
The battles raged across the continents during the Seven Years War or the French and
Indian War, shifting who had the upper hand regularly. The sound defeat and humiliation
of George Washington’s attempt to maintain Fort Necessity to the taking control of Fort
Frontenac from the French by the colonials, which shifted the alliance of the Native
Americans, made for a bloody conflict. With the raging the British were experiencing
serious losses, King George II was forced to make drastic changes. One change involved
bringing in William Pitt, whom he personally detested, to take over leadership of the war
effort. Pitt recognized that more money and effort needed to be poured into the North
American conflict and insisted in doing so. One of the most brutal battles took place in
an attempt by the British to take control of Quebec a French territory in 1759. A
renegade commander named James Wolfe was now leading the British. A daring
strategist who was willing to take risky chances for victory. In the end this battle left
1400 dead French soldiers, 600 British, including Brigadier General Wolfe along with his
French nemesis Louis Joseph de Moncalm. (The Last of the Mohicans novel loosely based
upon one of Montcalm’s experiences with the Native alliances, resulting in an unnecessary and
unauthorized massacre against the British.)
The end of this bloodbath on numerous continents resulted in the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
This treaty stated the victor, Great Britain, would receive control of all lands held by the
French east of the Mississippi and Spanish Florida. The British had won, now what?
The End of the Seven Years War
What is this going to look like for the Americans? They had grown frustrated over the
years with high taxes, corruption, and lack of recognizing the disparity of the classes in
England. How was this going to now pan out?
During wartime many economies will experience prosperity, why? So many folks
working to provide for the war effort, but what happens after the war? A nation will find
itself in debt to pay for the war. War is expensive. This was true after the Seven Years
war came to an end. After the initial pride of winning wore off the ramifications came
about. The Americans felt they had gained an established position regarding respect and
role with the parent country. The British had a differing opinion. After accounts began
to surface about American soldiers being difficult, and demonstrating cowardly behavior
against the French, coupled with the willingness of many American merchants to
continue trading with the French West Indies during the war gave an overall sense of
selfishness on the part of the colonists, this led to great irritation for many “patriots” in
the parent country. For the British this led to the rumbling of needing to take control of
an insolent child, The Americans saw it in a different light.
The difficulty lied in the fact that the Americans still needed their relationship with Great
Britain. They relied upon the British for military support against the ever-present Native
American situation as well as protection from any attempt of the French trying to regain
what was lost. The British still felt they had a vested interest in the colonies. These
interests began to look less and less alike after the end of the war.
Opposition of British Policies
A standing Army was left in America after the Seven Years War. This was helpful in
protection of American against the Native population. British saw another use for the
Army, the enforcement of the newly created Proclamation of 1763: disallowing any
settler to cross the Appalachian divide. This decision created much indignation in
America. This greatly dampened the celebration of the colonist who saw the end of the
war as an opportunity for expansion and land developments on the frontier. Further fuel
was added to the fire when Parliament established royal posts along the boundary line to
enforce the Proclamation, and to pay for these outposts the British ministry would argue
that they were for colonial defense and as such should be paid for by the colonies. The
Americans perspective was this was a tax on them that was in direct opposition of their
interests.
Americans disliked this new policy, but many were able to recognize that simple
solutions were going to be difficult to find and many protests were muted. What raised
the ire of many Americans was what followed. In an attempt to increase money flow to
support the growing Empire newly appointed Prime Minister George Grenville enacted a
series of taxes on the colonies.
Sugar Act: 1764 goal was to reduce the amount of smuggling taking place and allow for
Great Britain to increase revenue. If one was found to violate this act you were to be
tried before British naval officers.
Currency Act: 1764 did not allow colonies to make own paper money or currency.
Quartering Act: 1765 stated that colonist were to provide appropriate accommodations
to British troops sent over.
Stamp Act: All printed material and commercial documents were to be taxed and had to
carry a special stamp. This included everything from business licenses to playing cards.
This was a new direct tax; the others had been indirectly attached to trading activities.
After a great demonstration of resistance on the part of the colonist in the form of
boycotting English goods and the frightening harassment of the tax collectors, the Stamp
Act was repealed, but the British did not abandon the thought of taxing the colonies.
They were hard pressed for funds, so in came a new series of measures. This time in the
form of levies on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea imported into the colonies. They were
referred to as the Townshend Acts in 1767, named after the author Charles Townshend.
The colonist began to feel their civil liberties and rights were being eroded. The initial
response was a request to Parliament by the colonial assemblies to reassess these new
measures, but this was ignored. More vigorous protests followed. The British were not
expecting a unanimous or violent reaction from the colonists. The slogan “Taxation
without representation” began to swirl throughout the cities of the colony. Colonists
were viewing these new policies as an illegal denial of their rights as Englishmen. Why
would Americans attempt to break away from England by insisting they were
"Englishmen?" There are several answers that immediately come to mind. First, that is
exactly how Americans thought of themselves through most of the colonial period -- as
"Englishmen." Second, Americans did not generally begin their long debate with England
over rights with the desire to obtain political independence. Had England acknowledged
their claims to constitutional protections, American dissatisfaction with their treatment
may never have ripened into revolution. While this argument continued to be used in
patriot rhetoric right up until the moment of the break with England, it naturally lost force
in the last days of the debate as Americans focused less on their identity as England and
began to insist on their rights and power as a distinct and independent people.
When Americans claimed that they were Englishmen, they often supported their
argument by pointing to the charters given to the first settlers that were intended
to define their rights and responsibilities.
All of England was not against the colonies. Some were on the Fringe in
regards to British norms and attitudes, such as the Opposition. They were
a group that had great concern about how the monarch was handling itself
and the citizens of England. They received little respect or opinion in their
homeland, but the colonies had a great interest in what they had to say.
Others such as Sir Edmund Burke garnered a little more attention with his
words to his fellow members of Parliament in 1775 “our ancestors have
turned a savage wilderness into a glorious empire, and have made the most
extensive and the only honorable conquests, not by destroying, but by
promoting the wealth, the number, the happiness of the human race . . ..
English privileges have made it all that it is; English privileges alone will
make it all it can be.”
Voices of the Colony Unite
A collective movement began to take form throughout the colony as new policies were
being enacted after the war. Outspoken individuals such as Patrick Henry, and a group
known as the Sons of Liberty, John Dickinson, and Samuel Adams spurred it on. All
with varying degrees of frustrations and very different ways of expressing their
grievances, but one common link was the resentment towards Great Britain in its nature
of disrespect towards the colonies.