How Did The French And Indian War Lead To The American Revolution?
In five phases, the French and Indian war led the 13 North American colonies to the American Revolution.
Those five phases are:
1. Phase One: In the first phase, the French & Indian war ruined the British economy. They were in heavy debt.
2. Phase Two: In the second phase, to collect revenue and re-strengthen their economy, the British government started imposing taxation acts on the 13 North American colonies.
3. Phase Three: In the third phase, colonists started resisting those laws by organizing widespread protests and violence. Because they believed the laws were unfair to them and violated their Englishmen’s rights.
4. Phase Four: In the fourth phase, the British authority tried to eliminate the protests and violence by imposing punitive laws. Some punitive laws even encouraged English officials to murder people in the colonies.
5. Phase Five: Finally, in the fifth phase, as retaliation to those punitive laws, colonists turned their actions to the glorious American Revolution.
Now, let’s try to understand better these five phases one by one.
5 Phases That The French And Indian War Lead To The American Revolution
1. French & Indian War Ruined British Economy
French & Indian War also known as the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) was one of the major armed conflicts between the Empire of Great Britain and the Empire of France, fought in the mid of the 18th century.
Although, Great Britain somehow managed to gain victory against France, but the war completely ruined their economy.
They had to spend around £70,000,000 from the English treasury and doubled their national debt to £140,000,000. Even, only for the naval combats, they had to spend 45 million British pounds.
Aftermath, once the war came to an end, it became necessary for the British government to regain its revenue and heal the broken spine of the economy.
[Did You Know? France Spend Around 1.3 Billion Livres During The Seven Years’ War. The War Also Devastated Their Economy Too, Which Later Fueled In The French Revolution]
2. British Government Imposed Taxation Acts On The 13 Colonies To Restore Economy
Once the economy faced a huge disaster, the British government needed to restore it by gaining revenue.
In 1764, after the war, the English Parliament passed and imposed a taxation act on the 13 colonies, named the ‘Sugar Act’, and then later, one by one, they passed:
- The Stamp Act (1765)
- Townshend Acts (1767)
- Tea Act (1773)
[Did You Know? The British Parliament Rationalized That They Had To Fight The French & Indian War To Protect The People of The 13 Colonies. In This Case, They Said, It Is The Colonists’ Responsibility To Pay Money For The Losses of The British Economy. However, Their Argument Was Not True]
3. American Colonists Started Protesting Against Taxation Acts
In response to the taxation acts, from 1765, protests and violence widely spread throughout the 13 colonies.
The city of Boston (Massachusetts province) transformed into the center of those unrests.
Most importantly, in 1773, on 16th December, around 130 patriots from the Sons of Liberty executed the Boston tea party event as a resistance to the Tea Act of 1773.
[Did You Know? Patriots Like George Washington And Benjamin Franklin Condemned The Boston Tea Party Event. Washington Even Called The Participants ‘Insane’ And Benjamin Franklin Proposed The Authority That He Would Pay All The Compensations For The Losses]
4. British Parliament Passed Punitive Acts To Punish Colonists
The Boston tea party event provoked the British Parliament to punish American colonists by imposing punitive laws on them.
In 1774, the parliament passed five punitive laws, colonists named them ‘Intolerable Acts’ (Although for the British authority, they were Coercive Acts).
Those acts included:
- Boston Port Act
- Administrative of Justice Act (Also known as the Murder Act)
- Massachusetts Government Act
- Quebec Act
- Quartering Act
5. Colonists Turned Their Actions To The American Revolution
To the 5 punitive Intolerable Acts, American colonists again retaliate via the First & Second Continental Congress.
During these two Congresses, colonists prepared the roadmap of the American Revolution.
On 19th April 1775, the battles of Lexington and Concord broke out as the first military confrontation of the American Revolution.
Finally, on June 17th, 1775, the battle of Bunker Hill crossed all the limits of the crisis and also closed the door for a proper diplomatic solution between Great Britain and the 13 colonies.
On July 4th, 1776, the 13 colonies declared independence from Great Britain and became the United States of America.
