French and Indian War Essay:
Grammar/Spelling/writing:
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Lead Vs. Led: He currently leads in the polls, He led in the polls until the final month
Great Britian Vs. Great Britain=Great Britain
Merchantilism Vs. Mercantilism=Mercantilism
Be formal in your writing-in other words avoid words like majorly. The French and Indian War
majorly affected…Don’t use the personal pronoun I when writing a formal essay.
Don’t heavily quote-There are really only a handful of quotes that you will remember over the
course of the year, so quoting from documents that we just went over does not impress
anyone. In fact, if you are spending time quoting documents then you are getting away from
the main point-proving your argument. You really should not even quote in a document based
question so why do this in an essay? Statistics don’t impress the reader-this is not a research
paper.
Use the past tense please!
Avoid run-on sentences
Don’t use rhetorical questions in your essay. You are supposed to be providing an answer not
posing questions. At the least, it is a waste of time.
Academic Historians
Amateur Historians
1.Don’t speculate about the what if?
Do speculate about the what if?
2. Don’t put in personal judgments
Do put in their personal judgement
Instead, an academic historian explains what happened and why it happened, supported by evidence.
Don’t speculate-if the British had simply done X, Y, and Z then
Don’t judge-Although the British were wrong to tax the colonists…
Content:
1) It was the Albany Conference called to deal with Native Americans (Iroquois). Benjamin
Franklin then introduced his own plan the Albany Plan of Union.
2) Mercantilism was always the system Britain used for the colonies. It was simply ignored by
Britain for so long (Salutary Neglect). Mercantilism was not a new thing, but the enforcement
of it was a new thing.
Recurring Problems:
1) Too much information outside of the time period-“As these acts and taxes were passed and
continually enforced, colonists began to lean towards independence, although this was most
prominent in Massachusetts. Lexington and Concord was one of the tipping points that
made…”
“The debt that Britain accumulated from the war caused its economic, political, and
ideological relationships with the colonies to change. This change in relationship led to the
revolutionary war”
2) The Second Continental Congress, Common Sense and Boston Massacre are all outside of the
time period and thus irrelevant to the question posed. The Townshend Act, even though it
was 1768, would be reasonable enough to count. Brief references to preceding events like
Great Awakening, Zenger Trial, Navigation Acts, Iron Act for example would also be
acceptable.
3) Comparing and Contrasting similar events-Zenger Trial and Revolution.
4)
Jumping around chronologically within the same paragraph-
Argument Construction:
Claim: your argument, should usually be in the first sentence of your paragraph
Data: The evidence which you cite to support your claim
Warrant: interprets the data, shows how the data supports your claim
Introductory Paragraphs: you are wasting too much time getting to your point. You need a brief
overview, a transition sentence to your thesis, and then a well developed thesis statement. The
following does a good job up to the thesis statement-“ (brief overview) The French and Indian War
was the bloodiest war in the 18th century. The war was a struggle between the French and the English
over colonial territory and wealth. (transition to thesis statement) However, the long term impacts
produced a rivalry between Britain and the American Colonists. (Now thesis statement)
Thesis Statements:
“The ideological switch from salutary neglect to Mercantilist control by the British would affect the
economic and political relationship between Britain and its colonies. As a result, the colonies would
gain a new found political unity because of Britain’s economic inhibitions”
“The French and Indian War was a starting point for the development of a separate colonial identity.
The war ended the period of salutary neglect between Britain and her American colonies, firmly
established British mercantilism in the new world, and sowed the seeds of disagreement regarding
the definition of representation between Britain and its colonies”
Key Terms related to the question:
Salutary Neglect
Quartering Act (Mutiny Act)
Albany Plan of Union
Proclamation Line of 1763
William Pitt/his policies during the war
Pontiac’s Rebellion
Paxton Boys
NYC Riots
Treaty of Paris
Sugar Act
Stamp Act
Ben Franklin
Internal tax versus external tax
Stamp Act Congress
boycotts
Sons of Liberty
Grenville
Virtual versus actual representation
“No taxation without representation”
Iron Act (1750), Navigation Acts
Declaratory Act
Virginia Resolves
Townshend Acts
John Locke
Natural Rights
royal colonies
Create a timeline of events on the board:
What is going on prior to the war-relations between the colonies? Salutary neglect, Navigation Acts, Iron
Act of 1750, colonists able to develop their own institutions
During the war that shows relationship between England and colonies as it relates to the question?
Albany Plan of Union
Pitt’s Policies
NYC Riots, resentment, not supporting the war effort
After the War: How does it change? Why does it change? Colonial response to these changes?
Proclamation Line of 1763
Sugar Act
Stamp Act
Quartering Act
Declaratory Act
Economic recession
Colonial Responses to these changes?
Virtual Versus Actual Representation
Sons of Liberty
Stamp Act Congress
Virginia Resolves-Patrick Henry, colonies subject to taxation by their own colonial assemblies
Townshend Acts (1768) Massachusetts Circular-
Introductory Paragraph:
Before, during, and after
1) Hit it and get it
2) Lifeboat: you are not politicians; you can’t just add on!
3) Data, claim, warrant
4) cramming