The French and Indian War
(1754-1763)
Beginning of Independence
The French and Indian War
• Conflict between French and English over
dominance in Europe in late 1600s and 1700s
spilled over into America
• In 1740 a common interest in Ohio River
Valley led to tensions between French and
British
• Both sides built forts to claim territory
Battle over the Ohio
River Valley
The French had set up trading posts and forts in Canada and the
Ohio River Valley.
American Colonists saw them as a threat to westward expansion
The French and Indian War
• In 1754 George Washington was asked to
intervene for the British and expel the French
• Washington’s troops defeated a small group of
French but had to surrender when the French
counterattacked (Fort Necessity)
• The British suggested that the American
colonies form an alliance with the Iroquois.
Albany Conference
• During a meeting called the Albany
Conference between the colonists and
Iroquois, the Iroquois agreed to remain
neutral
• The conference issued the Albany Plan of
Union – the first suggestion that the colonies
unite to form a federal government.
The French and Indian War
• In 1755 British commander in chief, General
Edward Braddock, appointed George
Washington to serve as his aide.
• Braddock and his troops were ambushed by
the French and Indians and Braddock was
killed.
• Washington’s leadership saved the British
from complete disaster.
French and Indian War (1754-1763)
• In 1756 fighting between Britain and France
spread to Europe and became known as the
Seven Years’ War.
• Britain’s allies fought the French in Europe
which allowed most of Britain’s forces to be
sent to North America and India.
• The turning point of the war in North
America occurred with a British victory at
Quebec.
French and Indian War (1754-1763)
• The Treaty of Paris 1763 finally ended the war.
• For the most part, French power in North
America was eliminated.
• The British now controlled Canada, the Great
Lakes country, the Ohio River valley and Florida.
• The Mississippi River became the boundary
between the British and the Spanish claims in
North America.
The End of the
War
• France
Cedes (gives
up) all its
colonies in
North
America
The Colonies Grow Discontented
• The British victory caused an enormous British
debt
• Britain looked to its colonies to help pay for
the war
• In the spring of 1763, Pontiac, chief of the
Ottawa people, united several Native
American groups, including the Ottawa,
Delaware, Shawnee, and Seneca peoples, to
go to war against the British.
The Colonies Grow Discontented
• They attacked forts and towns along the frontier
• The British government did not want to pay for
another war, so it issued the Royal Proclamation
of 1763 that limited western settlement.
• Colonists were not allowed to settle in certain
areas without the government’s permission.
• Could not settle west of the Appalachian
mountains.
• The proclamation angered many farmers and
land speculators
Proclamation
of 1763
• Imaginary line
created at
Appalachian
Mts. To keep
settlers from
moving west
• Great Britain did
not want to pay
for soldiers to
protect them
The Colonies Grow Discontented
• In an effort to reduce Britain’s debt and pay
for the British troops in North America,
George Grenville, the British Prime Minister,
implemented new tax policies in the colonies
• Merchants smuggled goods in and out of
America to avoid customs duties, or taxes
paid on imports and exports.
• Smugglers were sent before a naval court.
The Colonies Grow Discontented
• Grenville also introduced the Sugar Act in the
colonies
• This act changed tax rates for raw sugar and
molasses imported from foreign colonies
• The act placed new taxes on silk, wine, coffee,
pimento, and indigo
• Merchants felt the Sugar Act hurt trade and
argued that it violated traditional English
rights
The Colonies Grow Discontented
• The Colonists argued that they were being
taxed without representation in Parliament
• To slow inflation – a rise in prices of goods
and services because money has lost its value
– Parliament passed the Currency Act of 1764.
• This banned the use of paper money in the
colonies.
The Stamp Act Crisis
• To raise more money to pay for the war, Parliament
passed the Stamp Act in 1765
• use of stamped paper for legal documents,
newspapers and playing cards. The stamp
was to be proof that the tax had been paid.
• The stamp tax was the first direct tax Britain had
ever placed on the colonists.
• The Quartering Act, passed in 1765, forced the
colonists to provide places to stay for British troops
in the colonies
The Stamp Act Crisis
• By the summer of 1765, mass meetings and
demonstrations against the stamp tax took
place
• When the Stamp Act took effect, the colonists
ignored it
• Colonial merchants signed a nonimportation
agreement, agreeing not to buy any British
goods (boycott) until the Stamp Act was
repealed
The Stamp Act Crisis
• The protests led to the Stamp Act being
repealed in 1766
• Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, which
gave them the power to make laws for the
colonies. (an effort to assert its control)
The Stamp Act Crisis
• What did the Stamp Act and the Quartering
Act do?
• To raise more money to pay for the war,
Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765.
Stamps were required on most printed
materials. The Quartering Act, passed by
Parliament in 1765, forced the colonists to pay
more for their own defense by providing
places to stay for British troops in the colonies.
The Townshend Acts
• Charles Townshend introduced a set of
regulations and taxes called the Townshend
Acts.
• It legalized the use of general search warrants
called writs of assistance.
• It gave British officials the right to seize
property without following due process
The Townshend Acts
• Virginia’s House of Burgesses passed the
Virginia Resolves, stating that only the House
had the right to tax Virginians.
• Britain ordered that the House of Burgesses
be dissolved.
• Leaders of the House of Burgesses called a
convention and passed a nonimportation law
blocking the sale of British goods in Virginia
Sons of Liberty
• In Boston, Samuel Adams, the cousin of John
Adams, started a group of patriots known as
the Sons of Liberty.
• The organization grew quickly throughout the
colonies.
• The Sons of Liberty organized outdoor
meetings and demonstrations. They also
intimidated stamp distributors.
Boston Massacre
• On March 5, 1770, British troops fired into a
crowd of colonists in Boston.
• A man of African and Native American descent
was the first colonist to die in what became
known as the Boston Massacre.
• This man’s name was Crispus Attucks
• The British were viewed as tyrants who were
killing people standing up for their rights.
Boston Massacre
• In response, Britain repealed the Townshend
Acts, leaving only one tax – on tea – to uphold
its right to tax the colonies.
Checking for Understanding
A. Customs duty
B. Writ of assistance
C. Nonimportation agreement D. inflation
__1. the loss of value of money
__2. a tax on imports and exports
__3. a search warrant enabling customs officers
to enter any location to look for evidence of
smuggling
__4. a pledge by merchants not to buy imported
goods from a particular source
Massachusetts Defies Britain
• Thomas Jefferson thought each colony should
create a committee of correspondence to
communicate with other colonies about
British activities.
• This helped unify the colonies and coordinate
plans for British resistance.
Massachusetts Defies Britain
• England’s new prime minister, Lord North, helped
the British East India Company, which was
almost bankrupt
• To assist the company with tea sales, Parliament
passed the Tea Act of 1773, which made East
India’s tea cheaper than smuggled Dutch tea
• American merchants feared this monopoly on the
American tea trade was the first step by the
British to force them out of business.
Massachusetts Defies Britain
• In December 1773, tea ships from the East
India Company arrived in Boston Harbor
• Colonists boarded the ship and dumped the
tea into the harbor
• This became known as the Boston Tea Party
• The Boston Tea Party led to the British
passing four new laws called the Coercive
Acts.
Massachusetts Defies Britain
• These acts were an attempt to stop colonial
challenges of British authority
• The Coercive Acts violated several English rights,
including the right to trial by a jury of one’s peers
and the right not to have troops quartered in
one’s home
• The Quebec Act gave more territory to Quebec
and stated that a governor and council appointed
by the king would run Quebec.
Massachusetts Defies Britain
• The Coercive Acts and the Quebec Act became
known as the Intolerable Acts.
• The First Continental Congress met in
Philadelphia in 1774.
• The congress wrote the Declaration of Rights
and Grievances, which expressed loyalty to
the king but condemned the Coercive Acts
and announced that the colonies were
forming a nonimportation association
The Intolerable Acts
• Response to Tea
Party
• New Quartering
Act
• Closed Boston
Harbor
• Colonial Govt. of
Massachusetts is
shut down
How did colonists react to British
oppression?
1. Non-Importation
Agreements- Colonists
agreed to stop importing and
buying British goods
2. Committee of
Correspondence- groups
formed to informed colonists
about British violations
3. Violence, protests,
propaganda
Causes and Effects of Tensions with
Britain
Causes
•
•
•
•
•
1764, Sugar Act
1765, Stamp Act
1767, Townshend Acts
1773, Tea Act
1774, Coercive Acts
Effects
• Colonists protest that their
rights have been violated
• Nine colonies hold Stamp Act
Congress
• Colonists boycott British goods
• Sons and Daughters of Liberty
formed
• Tea dumped into Boston
Harbor during the “Boston Tea
Party”
• Twelve colonies attend the
Continental Congress.
The Revolution Begins
• The town of Concord created a special unit of
minutemen, trained and ready to fight the
British at a minute’s warning.
• The American Revolution was not just a war
between Americans and British but a war
between Loyalists and Patriots.
• Americans called Loyalists, or Tories,
remained loyal to the king and felt British laws
should be upheld.
The Revolution Begins
• The group included government officials,
prominent merchants, landowners, and a few
farmers.
• The Patriots, or Whigs, thought the British
were tyrants.
• Patriots included artisans, farmers, merchants,
planters, lawyers, and urban workers.
The Revolution Begins
• There was a group of Americans in the middle
who did not support either side and who
would support whomever won.
• On April 18, 1775, the British set out to seize
the militia’s supply depot at Concord
• To get there, they had to pass through
Lexington
• Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes were
sent to Lexington to warn the people that the
British were coming.
The Revolution Begins
• Dr. Samuel Prescott went on to warn the
people of Concord
• In Lexington, 70 minutemen were waiting for
the British.
• The British killed 8 and wounded 10
• In Concord the British found 400 minutemen
waiting for them.
• The minutemen forced the British to retreat
The Revolution Begins
• After the battles of Lexington and Concord,
the Second Continental Congress met in
Philadelphia to address the issue of defense
• The Congress voted to adopt the militia army
around Boston and name it the Continental
Army
• On June 15, 1775, Congress appointed George
Washington to head the Continental Army
The Revolution Begins
• The Battle at Bunker Hill resulted in turning
back two British advances (Breeds Hill)
• An American officer said “do not shoot till you
see the whites of their eyes.”
• The colonial militia only retreated due to a
lack of ammunition
• It was a huge boost to American confidence
that untrained colonials stood up to the
feared British army
• The British were trapped in Boston
surrounded by militia.
Causes and Effects
Causes
• Colonists’ tradition of selfgovernment
• Americans’ sense of a
separate identity from
Britain
• Proclamation of 1763
• British policies toward the
colonies after 1763
Effects
• United States declares
independence
• A long war with Great
Britain
• World recognition of
American independence