The effects of the french and indian war

After the French and Indian War, a plethora of changes underwent in the relations between the American colonies and Britain. Such relations were more precisely described in groups such as political, economic, and ideological. After the French and Indian War, the countries colonizing North America shifted; English colonies dominated the new world. This took a toll on the political relationship between Britain and the American colonists because it lead to the Proclamation of 1763. The colonists were angered, and they believed they were being deprived of their right to be free.

Adding to political changes was Britain’s abandonment of their salutary neglect policy. After the war, England was left with the deep debt they had acquired during the previous years. In turn, they began to strictly regulate trade, and impose taxes on commonly used items. Although Britain attributed these changes to their increase in territory, the colonists were infuriated. They felt this was unfair taxation. All this sudden taxation and regulation took a toll on the economic relationship between the colonists and their mother country.

Before the war, the Navigation Acts forced the Americans to ship their raw the material to Britain, only to later buy the finished products from them. With the heavy British taxation however, mercantilism was soon abandoned when the colonists decided to fight back. The Stamp Act enraged many of the elite colonists, and they wanted to get it repealed as soon as possible. With boycotting as their weapon, they practiced non-importation and non-consumption, thus harming the economic relationship the between the two parties.

Although colonial ideological values toward Britain began to change during the war, the colonists’ ability to go through with the boycotts proved they could unite to make change. All the taxation and regulation added to the resentment colonists already felt prior to the Proclamation of 1763. Also, the French and Indian War, helped American soldiers realize they had less liberty than Englishmen. The American colonists were noticing that they were not so alike compared to the British. American resentment that arose during this period helped trigger colonial rebellion.

The French and Indian War was one of the causes of the American Revolution. Ideologically, it brought up colonial feelings of resentment toward Britain. It also changed the political relationship between England and its colonists because the English were forced to unfairly tax them due to their economical struggles. The colonists in turn, boycotted claiming their opposition against “ taxation without representation”, thus further damaging their economic relationship with their mother country. After the French and Indian War, America would never be the same and they sought the opportunity for revolutionary change.