The French And Indian War

– How did the French Indian War alter the relationship between Great Britain and the American colonies?
The French and Indian war altered the relationship between Great Britain and the American colonies by political, economic, and ideological relations

The French and Indian war was basically a seven year war between England and the American colonies against the French, and some of the Indians in North America. They wanted the control of eastern North America. When the war ended, France had lost control of Canada, and the Indians had been defeated by the American colonists. It came to an end in 1763, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. France gave up all of its holdings in North America, leaving Great Britain victorious.

After this certain war, the countries that colonized North America shifted. The English countries started to be more dominant, the political relationship between Britain and the American colonists lead to the proclamation of 1763. The proclamation was Britain’s idea so they could prevent further conflict. And this angered the colonists since they thought that their right to be free was being denied. There were other political changes that included Great Britain’s abandonment of their neglect policy. After the French and Indian war, England had been left with deep debt, and this caused them to strictly regulate trade, and impose taxes on commonly used trade items, which was very unfair to the American colonists. Great Britain’s relationship with the American colonies was that the colonies in America could sell certain goods to only England.

In order to sell products to other countries, it had to be sent to England first to have a tax paid on them, and English ships had to be used for all trade. Because of all this sudden taxation it caused damage on the economic relationship between the colonists and their mother countries. Prior to the French and Indian war different resources forced the Americans to ship their raw material to Britain, so they could buy their finished products from them. Although there was heavy British taxation, mercantilism had been abandoned when the colonists decided to fight back. Mercantilism is an economic theory; in order to increase a nation’s wealth and power, the country must try to gather as much gold and silver as possible, export more goods than import, have colonies to supply raw materials and markets for goods, forbid colonies to export to other countries and manufacture goods and the colonies must use the parent country’s ship to transport the raw materials.

The stamp act had enraged many of the elite colonists, and they boycotted by stopping all imports, and buying things, harming the economic relationship between Great Britain and the American colonies. The ideological values had started to change in Britain during the war, and the colonists that were successful in the boycotts made a difference by uniting with each other, overcoming the conflict together. The French and Indian war bought up feelings for the American colonies to go against the British, it also changed the political relationship between England and the American colonies because the English were obligated to unfairly tax them due to their economic issues. That is how the French and Indian war altered the relationship between Great Britain and the American Colonies.