AND
North America
• Contest between England, Spain, and
France (as well as Native Americans)
• 4 World Wars in Europe between 1688-1763
• One of those wars –
French and Indian
(Seven Years War)
set the stage for
American
independence
New France -- Canada
• Tension in France between Roman Catholics and
Protestant Huguenots
• 1598 Edict of Nantes – called for religious wars to
cease
– Allowed for French colonization
• First permanent French colony – Quebec
– Established in 1608
– Champlain had friendly relations with Huron Indians
New France -- Canada
• Beaver Furs –
Valuable
Resource!
• French fur-trappers
fanned out across
Canada
• Robert De La Salle
founded “Louisiana”
to check the spread
of Spain
The First Clash of Empires
• King Williams War and Queen Anne’s War
pitted the British against the French
– Both sides used their Indian allies
– Neither side found it worth while to use regular
troops, so they used guerilla tactics instead
• 1713 Utrect Peace Treaty showed how badly
the French and Spanish had been beaten
– Britain got Acadia (Nova Scotia)
• King George’s War -- Spain v. Britain
– France allied with Spain
North America in 1750
1754  Albany Plan of Union
Led by Ben Franklin  representatives from New England,
Maryland, Pennsylvania & New York
First serious effort for a unified North American gov’t for the
English colonies.
Emphasis on Indian relations, new settlements, and defense.
Albany Congress  attempt to keep Iroquois loyal to British and
achieve greater colonial unity for defense
It failed. Each colony was too protective
of its own taxation powers to cooperate.
Iroquois broke off relations with Britain.
1754: The First Clash
The Ohio ValleyBrits and French
competed for
control
British
Fort Necessity
* George
Washington
French
Fort Duquesne
* Delaware &
Shawnee
1755  Britain Decides to Eliminate
French Presence in North America
Gen. Edward Braddock  evict the French from the Ohio Valley &
Canada (Newfoundland & Nova Scotia)
Braddock’s experience in European warfare didn’t work here
A English losses to French & Indian
attacks along western frontier all the
way from NC to Canada.
Killed 10 mi. from Ft. Duquesne 
by 1500 French and Indian forces.
A
Entire British forces were
defeated with appalling losses
British-American Colonial Tensions
Colonials
British
Methods of
Fighting:
Indian-style guerilla
tactics.
Military
Organization:
Col. militias served
under own captains.
British officers wanted to
take charge of colonials.
Military
Discipline:
No mil. deference or
protocols observed.
Drills & tough discipline.
Finances:
Demeanor:
• Resistance to rising
taxes.
Casual,
non-professionals.
March in formation or
bayonet charge.
Colonists should pay
for their own defense.
• Prima Donna British
officers with servants
& tea settings.
1758-1761
The Tide
Turns for
England
By 1761, Spain
has become an
ally of France
1763  Treaty of Paris
France --> lost her Canadian possessions, most
of her empire in India, and claims
to lands east of the Mississippi River.
Spain --> got all French lands west of the
Mississippi River, New Orleans, but lost
Florida to England.
England --> got all French lands in Canada,
exclusive rights to Caribbean slave trade, and
commercial dominance
in India.
North America in 1750
North America in 1763
Effects of the War on Britain?
1. It increased her colonial empire in
the Americas.
2. It greatly enlarged England’s debt.
3. Britain’s contempt for the colonials
created bitter feelings.
Therefore, England felt that a major
reorganization of her American Empire
was necessary!
Effects of the War on the
American Colonials
1.
It united them against a common
enemy for the first time and created
a socializing experience for all the
colonials who participated.
2.
It convinced the colonists that they
didn’t need the British
3.
It created bitter feelings towards
the British that would only intensify.
The Aftermath: Tensions
Along the Frontier
1763  Pontiac’s Rebellion
Fort Detroit
British “gifts” of smallpox-infected blankets from Fort
Pitt.
Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763)
BACKLASH!
British  Proclamation
Line of 1763
Colonials  Paxton Boys (PA)
Rethinking Their Empire
British government measures to
prevent smuggling:
•1761  writs of assistance
 James Otis’ case
 He argued protection of a citizen’s private
property must be held in higher regard
than a parliamentary statute.
 He lost  parliamentary law and custom
had equal weight.
George Grenville’s Program
1763-1765
1. Sugar Act - 1764
2. Currency Act - 1764
3. Quartering Act - 1765
4. Stamp Act - 1765
Stamp Act Crisis
Loyal Nine - 1765
Sons of Liberty
Stamp Act Congress
1765
began in NYC: Samuel Adams
Declaratory Act – 1766
Theories of Representation
Real Whigs
Q-> What was the extent of Parliament’s
authority over the colonies??
Absolute?
OR
Limited?
Q-> How could the colonies give or
withhold consent for parliamentary
legislation when they did not have
representation in that body??
Townshend Duties Crisis
1767-1770
1767  Wm Pitt, Prime Minister and C. Townshend,
Secretary of the Exchequer.
Shift from paying taxes for British war debts & quartering
of troops  paying colonial government salaries.
He diverted revenue collection from internal to external
trade.
Tax these imports  paper, paint, lead, glass, tea.
Increase custom officials at American ports established a
Board of Customs in Boston.
No Taxation Without
Representation!!!
• The right to representative government was
considered a basic right of man, and by the
1760’s this was a right of an English citizen
(as reflected by the growing power of the
English Parliament
– The English believed that the best interests of
the American colonists (and all of their colonists)
were represented ‘virtually’ in Parliament by
the existing members
– The colonists wanted ‘actual’ representation
through their own elected representatives
Tax
British
Requirement
Colonial Reaction
British Response
Sugar Act
Cut tax on imported
molasses in half! But
actively prosecuted
smugglers not paying.
Colonial juries
declared smugglers
innocent! Treated
them as heroes!
Smugglers tried in less
friendly Vice Admiralty
courts w/o juries. Must
PROVE innocence!
Currency
Act
Prohibited colonies from Grumbled
printing their own
money and toughened
bankruptcy laws
Quartering Required colonists to
contribute money or
Act
supplies for housing &
feeding British soldiers
Refused to comply.
Or only provided a
small portion of what
was required.
Stamp Act
Tax (for defense) on
most all printed
documents & stuff.
BOYCOTTS! Refusal.
Destroyed stamps.
Burned & intimidated.
Stamp Act Congress
Repealed the Stamp
Act. But passed the
Declaratory Act &
Townsend Acts.
Townsend
Acts
“External tax” on British
exports to America to
avoid protests. Pay
gov’t officials directly.
Continental Congress
Smuggling Increased
Boston Tea Party
Harass British soldiers
Sent British troops to
squash “rebellion” in
Boston.
Intolerable Acts.
Colonial Response to the
Townshend Duties
1. John Dickinson  1768
* Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania.
2. 1768  2nd non-importation movement:
* “Daughters of Liberty”
* spinning bees
3. Riots against customs agents:
* John Hancock’s ship, the Liberty.
* 4000 British troops sent to Boston.
1757  William Pitt Becomes
Foreign Minister
A
A
He understood colonial concerns.
He offered them a compromise:
- col. loyalty & mil. cooperation-->Br. would
reimburse col. assemblies for their costs.
- Lord Loudoun would be removed.
RESULTS?  Colonial morale increased by 1758.
Pitt decided to concentrate on the vitals of of
Canada (Quebec and Montreal)
Quebec falls in 1759 and Montreal in 1760