FREE ESSAY ON FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR - SEPARATION OF COLONIES

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR - SEPARATION OF COLONIES

Document Based Question 1
Question: After the French and Indian War, the separation of colonies from England was
inevitable. To what extent do you agree?
The struggle between France and England for North American sea power and colonial rule
ended by the French and Indian War. The war began in 1754 in the upper Ohio Valley. Two
years later, the conflict spread to Europe where it was known as the Seven Years' War.
One of the greatest battles of the war that practically ended France's power in America
was the English capture of Quebec in 1759. The treaty of Paris, signed in 1763, formally
ended the war in America, making Great Britain master of Canada and the lands between the
Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. These terms ended French power in the
New World and made Great Britain supreme. Although the tensions between both England and
its colonies were released, there was still no acknowledgment of any severance of the
colonies from England. Proceeding the war, Britain passed new Acts, which colonists
regarded as, for the most part, unbearable. These new Acts and the determination for
colonial independence and uniformity made the separation of the colonies from England
inevitable.
Because colonists proved resistant to British control, British policies were forced to be
relaxed. Even so, the colonial assemblies reluctantly continued to respond to British
needs. The British Empire was in great need of organizing. With the territorial
annexations of 1763, the British Empire nearly doubled in size, making it difficult to
rule. Because of this, and other factors such as England's war reparations, it was
necessary that Britain seek greater control over its colonies. English government made
efforts to find a way to deal with its war debt, and their effort to do this was made
through raising the already high taxes. According to Document C, this resolution "caused
great uneasiness and consternation among the British subjects on the continent of
America." In the past, England had viewed its colonial empire in terms of trade. To
prevent an escalation of the fighting that might threatened western trade, the
Proclamation Act of 1763 was instituted. This prevented settlers from advancing beyond a
line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains. In accordance with Document A, this line was
established to keep colonists from infringing upon Native American lands. The
Proclamation Act regarded England's most important markets and investments, which were
located east. British controlled colonist movement's westward in order to modify the
eastern population to benefit Britain's markets.
The Proclamation Act of 1763 was one of the first instituted acts passed By England. As
the years progressed, new Acts were passed by Great Britain to establish more control
over the American colonies. Among these, the Stamp Acts was passed by the British
Parliament in 1765 to raise revenue, requiring that stamps be used for all legal and
commercial documents, newspapers, etc. in the American colonies. John Dickenson of
Document I made clear that authorities impose duties on the colonies "for the single
purpose of levying money." In March 1766, it was repealed because of strong colonial
opposition. This step, however, was accompanied by a Declaratory Act setting forth
Parliament's supreme power over the colonies in matters of taxation as well as in all
other matters of legislation (Document E). Britain was only adding insult to injury by
the creation of new acts because colonists began to adopt the idea of no taxation without
representation (Document D). 
The reason that the colonies were able to separate from England was because of confidence
and determination. Originally, the colonies were not strong enough to function on their
own as an individual country, and the aid of Great Britain was essential. Document H
states that "without being incorporated, the one [country] must necessarily govern; the
greater must rule the less." The extreme acts passed by Britain are what pushed the
colonists over the edge. By 1774, the united colonies rose over Great Britain to enhance
the inevitability of the separation of the colonies from England.