9.29.14
Mr Singerline
Who won the French and Indian War?
The British and the Colonists won
French and Indians lost
We had many other groups here
Dutch, here in NJ
Swedes in south Jersey (Swedesboro)
Pennsylvania-German (Pennsylvania Dutch)
All these groups come in, needing land
TIMELINE BETWEEN THESE TWO
MAJOR EVENTS
French and Indian
War
1754-1763
Declaration of
Independence
1776
Items to go onto the timeline between these two events-students must keep adding to this
timeline in their notes
See following notes for descriptions for each
1763-Pontiacs rebellion-the natives keep fighting
1763 –Proclamation Act of 1763
1761-writs of assistance
1764-Sugar Act
1764-Currency Act
1765- Quartering Act
The war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763
The French lost nearly all of North America (lost Canadian possessions, most of its
empire in India, and claims to lands east of the Mississippi River)
The Spanish come in late in the war to help the French, and the French gave them the
land 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-map of possessions changes greatly
In 1763, France is missing from the map
The preceding is not the map Mr Singerline showed, but is similar
The end of the French and Indian War leads to the Declaration of Independence
After the war, the colonists said “we’re not British”
Imagine a timeline between the two events
-the colonists think they should get all the land-because they and the British won the
war
1763-Pontiac’s Rebellion-Native Americans are not happy-British take the land, and the
Native Americans get kicked outWhat can they (Native Americans) do?
Fight and die
Or
Sit around and hope food shows up
Or
Head west and get away from the English, but there are more natives there
Each option leads to their death
Pontiac says-we might as well fightMercantilism is the major economic theory of the time
Wealth = power
Gold and silver = wealth
To get gold and silver, = trade
REMEMBER the mother country gets the bulk of the colonists’ assets
Due to the war, the British owe money, meaning they have negative gold=no power
Britain wants to get out of debt-this makes sense if you’re a mercantilist
Military officers tell their leaders that colonists are coming into this western land
Colonists are taking land from the IndiansBritish are thinking like a mother country-“Indians are upset because colonists are taking
land from them
Proclamation Act of 1763
Draw a line down Appalachian mountains, and Colonists stay on one side, Indians on
other-hopefully, this will calm down Pontiac
If you think like a mercantilist, this makes sense-it costs no money-all you did was
make a proclamation
Indians stop fighting
British can stop spending money
Colonists not thinking like mercantilist-England never reinforced Navigation Acts –
“salutary neglect”
Colonists say “why are we here” “why did we endure wild animals, forests, weather….”
“We are here for LAND”
They are saying England kicked out the French, so all the land belongs to the colonists
Colonists are angry because England is not letting them have the land
We see colonists and the British thinking differently
The colonists’ logic is GET MORE LAND
Can colonists get more land, and Britain stop fighting Natives?
No, if fighting continues, which means more spending for Britain,
or
if colonists can’t get more land, they’re unhappy but British are happy under this
scenario, if colonists can’t get more land, fighting stops, and they save money
How are British going to get money?
Tax, get more trade.
But,
As soon as the British aren’t looking, the colonists begin smuggling
Where do the colonists hide the stuff they’re smuggling? Home, barn, …
In order to search, the British need a warrant
The British issue the Writs of Assistance-this was general-once the Writ was issued to an
officer, he now has official to search whomever, and whatever, he wishes
So, now, the colonists want to know, how do we stop these intrusions?
George Grenville’s Program,, 1763-1765
Sugar Act 1764
Halved duties (tax) on molasses
Went after smuggling
Remember, under salutary neglect, “taxes weren’t collected”, and now the British are
saying “we cut it in half”
Colonists are angry because taxes weren’t collected before, (taxes went up)
and now the British are saying we cut the taxes in half-we are the government and we’re
being nice to you (taxes went down)
Colonists say, ok, we’ll pay the tax with our colonial money
The British pass the Currency Act in 1764, which says the colonial money is
unacceptable, and colonists must pay taxes in gold
Britain wants the gold and silver in Britain, not in the colonies
How will the British do the enforcing?
They need more officers-very expensive to send officers to the colonies-pay, house, feed
them
The British will make the responsible for housing the officers
1765- Quartering Act-giving officers a place to stay
The British think they’re brilliant- because their plans fit in mercantilist thought
The colonists think the British are terrible because of the rules they’re putting onto them
- pay in gold, feed officers, house officers,
The logic of today’s discussion
It all comes back to –British get out of debt
Colonists trying to get more land (for years, they operated under
salutary neglect)