The Aftermath of the French & Indian War

HTAV VCE Unit 3

Washington: An English Gentleman

• Born in 1732 and raised in Virginia• Virginian elite whose family looked to the mother

country• Premature death of his father prevented George from

following his brothers to the Appleby School in England• Educated at the hands of a Church of England

clergyman at a school near Fredericksburg• Early talk of securing a post as a Midshipman in the

Britain’s Royal Navy when turned 15• Appointed as official surveyor for Culpeper County-

became successful land speculator

Washington: Soldier

• Washington was commissioned into the Virginia Militia as a major 1753- at same time he joined the Freemasons

• “I can never look upon that Proclamation in any other light (but this I say between ourselves) than as a temporary expedient to quiet the Minds of the Indians” Letter to William Crawford

• Served with Braddock’s Expedition• Throughout the French & Indian war he

continuously applied and was rejected for a commission in the British Army

Albany Plan 1754• ‘Salutary Neglect’ (Robert Walpole) had given the

colonies self-rule- ‘internal sovereignty’; in a way they became a series of independent republics

• Albany Plan debated in 1754 at Albany Congress to unite as a ‘union’ for defence

• Further, each colony possessed their own colonial assembly (land ownership common therefore widespread enfranchise), judiciary, taxes, trade control and defence force (militia)

• Effectively through the geographic, physical and political reality of self-rule and the widespread reading of Enlightenment and Classical literature they fostered the ideals of republicanism

The French & Indian War1753• French troops from Canada march south; seize and fortify the Ohio Valley to assert their claim

and to shield the Native American population from increasing British influence.• France had long claimed the entire Mississippi River valley, which was disputed by Britain• Britain protests the ‘invasion’ and claims Ohio for itself.1754• Ensign de Jumonville is notoriously killed by Native American Mingo ally Tanacharison, ‘half

king’, "Tu n'es pas encore mort, mon père!" (Thou art not yet dead, my father), when taken prisoner and a third of his escort is killed by a British patrol led by George Washington.

• In retaliation the French and the Indians defeat the British at Fort Necessity. Washington surrenders after losing one-third of his force; forced to sign humiliating terms in French (which he can’t read, write or speak)

1755• The British implement a plan to defeat the French. • British Lieutenant Colonel Moncton successfully captures Fort Beausejour• Major General Edward Braddock troops are defeated in the Battle of the Monongahela;

Washington present performs well; French commander Daniel Liénard de Beaujeu famously leads native, Canadien militia and French troops wear native American war paint and regalia

• William Johnson’s troops stop the French advance at Lake George.

The Seven Years War1756• The Seven Years’ War begins as Great Britain declares war on

France expanding the North American conflict globally into Europe, Africa, Asia and South America

1757• The French led by General Montcalm capture Fort William Henry • Following the surrender, Montcalm’s actions angers his Algonquian

allies who capture or kill hundreds of unarmed British.1758• William Pitt implements cooperative policies toward colonial

legislatures to receive more colonial support for the war, the Treaty of Easton is signed with the Six Nations (Iroquois Confederation)

• The British take control of the Forks of the Ohio.

The Seven Years War1759• French surrender Quebec after British General Wolfe’s famous victory

outside the city on the Plains of Abraham (pictured)1760• The British capture Montreal ending the conflict in North America.1763• February 10: The Treaty of Paris ends the war between Britain and

France.• April: Ottawa Chief Pontiac unites many American Indian nations in an

effort to drive British off their land. Colonel Henry Bouquet leads the British army and defeats Native American forces at Bushy Run.

• October 7: King George III signs the Proclamation of 1763 reserving land west of the Allegheny Mountains for Indians.

Ending ‘Salutary Neglect’

Ends ‘Salutary Neglect’; British see Navigation Act (1651) & Molasses Act 1733 flouted; they are now present in colonies after 150 years- enforce with ‘Writs of Assistance’

Writs of Assistance Case 1761; James Otis argues ‘No taxation without Representation’ in court; observing John Adams quipped ‘There the child independence was born’

Treaty of Paris 1763, formally ended war, gave French lands west of the Appalachians to Britain, including: Quebec and Ohio River Valley

British debt 133 million pounds

Nearly impossible to tax Britain; food riots throughout 1750s- rising costs of staples- the ‘Moral Economy’

Pontiac’s Rebellion 1763

Result of British policies including: treatment of natives as a conquered people, settlement expansion (lost lands), cutting back of gifts

Caused a shift in British policy to satisfy natives

7500- 10000 British Troops stationed in colonies- mostly frontier forts

Proclamation Line 1763 Result of French-Indian War,

Pontiac’s Rebellion and economic circumstances

Restricted settlement beyond Appalachians (literally ‘drew’ a line the colonists weren’t legally allowed to cross, many ignored it)

Angered colonists who felt they had fought to win this land from French

Affected poor people who wanted to take up cheap but fertile land in Ohio River valley, wealthy people (Washington and Franklin) wanted to speculate on land and turn a profit

Revenue & Currency Acts 1764

Reinstitution of mercantilist policy, lowered duty to make tax collectable

Revising of the Molasses Act 1733, new powers given to custom officers

By passed Colonial Assemblies thus seen to violate colonists rights, famous catch cry ‘no taxation without representation.’

Established merchant class of New England as a pillar of opposition

Set precedent in terms of opposition Currency Act 1764- must pay British tax in specie (gold) not

paper money- lack of specie in colonies

Stamp Act 1765 Passed to raise £60 000 to supply Brit

troops in America, Parliamentarian believed funding should be sourced from colonies

First tax that created widespread opposition as targeted all social classes, taxing everything from playing cards to legal documents

Led to emergence of opposition groups: Sons of Liberty

Inter-colonial cooperation through Stamp Act Congress

Patrick Henry’s ‘Virginia Resolves,’ colonists ‘entitled to all liberties, privileges and immunities’ of freeborn Englishmen

Quartering Act 1765

Act passed to quarter the British troops left in American after French-Indian War

Brought up resentment for standing armies: no army before war why one now

1500 troops arrived in New York in 1766 Assembly refused to comply with Act and so

was suspended in 1767 and 1769 Widespread colonial fears- standing armies

Declaratory Act 1766 Asserted Parliament’s right to ‘make

laws... to bind the colonies and people of America... in all cases whatsoever.’

Answers James’ Otis assertion that there is a flaw in the British Constitution- colonists are ‘Virtually Represented’

Unitary Nature of the British Empire- make the world Britain

English landed gentry (model citizen) can represent anyone throughout Empire

Manifestation of mercantilism, gave pretence for taxation

Save face with the repealing of the Stamp Act

Colonial outrage follows; John Adams ‘We won’t be their Negroes’

Political Ideology- Neo Whig View

• ‘Standing Army prelude to Tyranny’ Trenched & Gordon- Widely read in colonies- British opposition writers, 1720-30s

• John Locke- 2nd Treatise on Government-‘Natural Rights’ impinged:

• Liberty- British governments enforcing rule: ‘Writs of Assistance’; Revenue & Currency Acts 1764; Stamp & Quartering Act 1765; Declaratory Act 1766

• Property- Proclamation Act 1763, Revenue Act 1764, Stamp Act 1765