French and Indian War Essay

Many people came to the colonies looking for freedom to practice their beliefs unhindered, start a new life, or make economic gain. Both England and Great Britain wanted the land in the new world so they fought The Seven Years’ War, or the French and Indian War. During the war, Britain allowed the colonies to function mostly independently in a practice called salutary neglect. When the war was over, Great Britain tried to assume tighter control of the colonies. However, a long period of salutary neglect had changed the colonists’ thinking and way of life. After the war, the colonies wanted to govern themselves, wanted to keep their economy from being drained and restricted, and wanted their rights just as English citizens back in the homeland. After the war, the colonies wanted to continue in the political system they enjoyed during the period of salutary neglect. During the war, the colonies stayed close with their mother country as they fought the French and the Indians but mainly governed themselves. The colonists were more than willing to serve in the war with the British regulars. As the war progressed, the colonists realized they were not treated with the same respect as British regulars (Doc C). They began to resent the British regulars but continued fighting because the threat of the French still loomed over them. After the war was over, the hand of the British government began squeezing the money out of their economy with tax laws in which they had no say (Doc H). The colonists were not necessarily angry about the taxes but instead what it meant for their political freedoms. They were most outraged by the lack of representation in a Parliament that saw them solely as a source of revenue (Doc F). Parliament was irritated that the colonies were not making them enough revenue to pay the war debt and tried to regulate the economy by seizing control of the various colonial governments. The colonies were also forbidden to settle past the Appalachian Mountains, a vast amount of land they had won in the war (Doc A). The colonies no longer needed protection from the French and wanted to govern themselves apart from the overbearing mother country.