Key Concept 3.1 - British attempts to assert tighter control over its North American colonies and the colonial resolve to pursue self-government led to a colonial independence movement and the Revolutionary War.
- How did the French and Indian War alter the power distribution in North America?
- How did colonists react to British imperialism?
How did the French and Indian War alter the power distribution in North America?
Leading up to the French and Indian War, the British and the colonists itched to expand westward especially into the French Ohio Valley. Due to this and the British alliance with the Iroquois Confederacy, tensions emerged and both European powers looked to contest the territory. After British victory, France was largely removed from North America and conceded a huge amount of land to Britain. consequently, the colonists looked to push westward and engaged in conflicts such as the native American Pontiac's Rebellion and the Paxton Boys.
Conflicting with the natives, the colonists were soon restricted by the British, which were dealing with large war debts. The colonists had lost their power to expand westward with the Proclamation of 1763, a restriction on moving past the Appalachians. Furthermore, they started creating taxes for revenue with the sugar act, Stamp Act, and the Townsend acts. This marked the end of salutary neglect, the previous policy of the British to keep colonial autonomy as long as they were economically beneficial.
How did colonists react to British imperialism?
Tightening their control over the colonies, the British faced much resistance from the colonists. In response to the sugar acts, many people smuggled in sugar to bypass the taxes. In response to the tea acts, the colonists, under the leadership of Samuel Adams, participated in the Boston Tea Party. The most important resistance was to the Stamp Act, which gave the famed maxim "no taxation without representation." Another resistance to British imperialism was throwing rocks at British soldiers stationed due to the Quartering Act. A couple of these acts were repealed by the British, but Americans kept on resisting the constant flow of new acts. A big outcome of these successful repeals was a strenghtening unity among the colonists.
Despite the glory of American resistance to the British, their reasonings were fairly founded on European and British ideals. Their reactions were largely influenced by the European Enlightenment and the rights of a British subjects. A major Enlightnment influence was that of John Locke, which argued about the natural rights of man. They also believed as a British subject, they deserved the right to actual representation over virtual representation. Coupled with the previous colonial self-rule seen in the House of Burgesses and Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, colonists justified their resistances.
With these ideas floating around American resistances, large figures stepped up to lead the colonists. Radical patriots like Samuel Adams had garnered much support for the Revolutionary cause. His cousin, John Adams, had been much more conservative in his approach but had also lead the Stamp Act Congress. It is important to keep in mind that although there were largescale resistances to British imperialism, it wasn't until Thomas Paine's Common Sense that the colonists called for independence. This was seen with the First Continental Congress calling for resistance but not independence and the Olive Branch Petition. After the mass public support from Common Sense, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and John Adams had set out to write the Declaration Independence. It was greatly influenced by the natural rights of John Locke as can be seen in its famous line:
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
During the war, a major advantage the Patriots had was full commitment and mobilization efforts. The British hadn't committed too much to keep control of the colonies. Patriots also had strong military leadership under George Washington and homefront familiarity advantage, but the most important advantage was the foreign help from France. Before the Battle of Saratoga, Patriots were staring down against the strongest navy in the world and an economic powerhouse. The crucial victory at the Battle of Saratoga convinced the French that Americans could win against Britain, and that chipping in to defeat their enemy would be plausible. After this, America was able to win the war and their independence.