British policies toward
the colonies after French and Indian War
The French and
Indian War, fought in North America in mid-18th century, was the
then latest part of the wider Seven Year’s War fought mainly between British
and French forces in Europe, India and America in their bid for world
domination. The North America war was fronted
by two of their respective country colonies, British America and New France. It
started on May 1754 when 22-year old George Washington led militiamen in
ambushing a French patrol in Virginia following dispute about the Ohio River Valley,
also known as Forks of the Ohio confluence.
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point of the war was in 1959 when British forces captured Quebec from French and
native Indian forces, after which they went on to take other territories
including Montreal. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ceded most of North America to
Britain.
The war changed
economic, political, and social policies among the native Indians as well as
the three European nations of Britain, France, and Spain. All people living in
North and Central America were affected.
There was the
dispersal of populations throughout North and Central America and migration
between Europe and the Americas. Britain gained control of French Canada and
Acadia, adopting a policy of deporting the Acadians in the colony of about
80,000 mostly French-speaking Roman Catholic residents. Any French residents
who remained in the colony had freedom to worship in the Roman Catholic
tradition, own property, and to remain undisturbed in their homes.
The Acadians
dispersed throughout North America, France, and Saint-Domingue. Some tried to colonize
French Guiana and the Falkland Islands, unsuccessfully. The Louisiana Acadian population
are attributed with founding the modern Cajun population, with the French word
"Acadien" evolving "Cajun".
Consequently, Britain
encouraged migration to the vacated lands. The migrants were mostly from Europe,
but also from its colonies further south.
Britain offered
France the choice to cede continental North America east of the Mississippi or
the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique which Britain had captured. France
chose the former, also negotiating retention of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, two
small islands in the Gulf of St Lawrence. This French decision was guided by
the economic value it attached to the Antilles islands' sugarcane belt compared
to New France. French philosopher Voltaire famously referred to Canada disparagingly
as nothing but a few acres of snow.
The British had
many places to get ample sugar from, including twenty-two smaller colonies
ruled by Royal Governors in the West Indies and elsewhere. They were happy to
take New France and return the islands. The Crown had used a lot of resources
in the war, nearly doubling its national debt, and hence Britain’s policy was
to avoid using more resources on war.
Some of the
Crown’s resources had been used to capture Cuba from Spain, a stance adopted
when Spain belatedly supported France in the war. To regain Cuba, Spain traded
Florida to Britain. Spain also gained Louisiana from France for its losses. In
this treaty, Mississippi River was open to vessels of all nations.
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A Royal
Proclamation by King George III on October 7, 1763 outlined the division and
administration of the newly conquered territory, and still continues to govern
some of the relations between the Canadian government and the First Nations. This
caused tensions among the two main religious groups of Roman Catholic Canadians
and the majority Protestants found in the territory, with many Spanish
Catholics leaving Florida to settle in Cuba and Mexico.
There was also
tension among the Indian population allocated lands west of the Appalachian
Mountains. Elimination of the French was elimination of a strong ally and a counterweight
to British expansion. The Choctaw and the Creek, traditional enemies, were also
forced to live together. French Civil
law, maintained by an act to the proclamation, defused some of the tension.
French forts and
administration duties transited to British control. The British introduced policies
that heavily taxed the native people and colonists; policies that disturbed
large numbers of the people living in those lands and led to the outbreak of
Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763. A series of attacks on frontier forts and
settlements, the rebellion required continued deployment of British troops
until it was resolved in 1766. Upsurges however continued, eventually leading
to the American Revolutionary War, with a Franco-American alliance against
Britain.
Both Britain and
France financially suffered short- and long-term consequences because of the French
and Indian War. Britain's national debt nearly doubled because of its strong
military involvement. For France, the military defeat and the financial burden
of the war weakened the monarchy and started discontent that eventually led to the
French Revolution in 1789.
The population
patterns established during the French and Indian War reflect the voting
patterns of the Democratic, Republican and other parties. A change in a certain
population demographics leads to a turn in the voting patterns. This has often
caused social and political tension among various communities.
A sense of
entitlement, dispossession and even exploitation also contributes to social
tensions; tensions reflected in gang cultures and other crimes among certain
communities.
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Bibliography
Anderson, F and Stephenson, R S. The War That Made America: A Short
History of the French and Indian War. London & New York: Penguin
Publishing, 2006.
Borneman, W R. The French and
Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America. New York: Harper Perennial,
2007.
William, M F. Empires at War:
The French and Indian War and the Struggle for North America, 1754-1763.
New York: Walker & Company, 2006.
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