French and Indian War

D

Phase Four: Worldwide Conflict

The fall of Canada began the fourth and last stage of the war. Only minor conflicts continued on the mainland of North America. Many of these occurred between British settlers in the Carolinas and Native American peoples like the Cherokee, who had sided with the French to protect their lands. In Europe, the Seven Years’ War had reached a stalemate, with neither the British nor the French alliances able to dominate.

On many other battlefronts around the world, however, the British had great successes. The English East India Company captured French trading posts and dominated commercial markets in large sections of India. British forces seized French Senegal in West Africa, the French sugar islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, and the Spanish colonies of Cuba and the Philippine Islands. When warfare ended in 1763, William Pitt had left office, but his strategy of attacking the enemies’ colonial possessions had extended British power all over the world.

V

Results of the War

Warfare ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, and the peace terms reflected British military successes. Britain gained control over half the North American continent, including French Canada, all French territorial claims east of the Mississippi River, and Spanish Florida. In return, Britain gave Cuba and the Philippines back to Spain, and France compensated its Spanish ally for the loss of Florida by giving it title to all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River.

A

End of the French Empire in North America

The French and Indian War had reduced the once-impressive French empire in North America to a handful of sugar plantations in the West Indies and two rocky islands off the coast of Newfoundland. It also ended the century-long threat of a French or Spanish invasion of the American mainland colonies and ensured that British institutions would dominate in eastern North America. But France’s desire to avenge its humiliating defeat in the war prompted it to provide financial and military aid to the American rebels during the American Revolution. This aid was instrumental in the loss of Britain’s American colonies, but it also contributed to the French financial crisis that climaxed in the French Revolution of 1789.

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B

Reevaluation of the Colonial Relationship

Another result of the war was a British decision to reevaluate its relationship with its colonies. Before the French and Indian War, Britain had not closely controlled its colonies. British leaders regarded the colonial governments as subordinate bodies, subject to the sovereign authority of king and Parliament. As long as few serious conflicts of interest arose between Britain and its American possessions, the British government permitted colonial assemblies to oversee enforcement of instructions of the royal governors or to pass new legislation suited to their own needs.

In addition, the British did not always enforce their laws in the colonies. For example, the British Customs Service, which was inefficient, understaffed, and open to bribery, did not enforce the Molasses Act of 1733(see Sugar and Molasses Acts). This important measure required the colonists to pay a duty on the molasses they imported from the French West Indian islands. British leaders did not insist on strict enforcement of this tax or other commercial duties because booming American trade was making Britain a wealthy and powerful nation. British statesman and political theorist Edmund Burke described his country’s policies toward the colonies as “salutary neglect” because he believed their leniency was actually beneficial. As a result of this salutary neglect, the colonists developed a political and economic system that was virtually independent. They were loyal, although somewhat uncooperative, subjects of the crown.

The British became concerned about the colonists’ lack of cooperation during the French and Indian War. The British initially resented the fact that the prosperous colonists were unwilling to undertake their own defense. Even the generous subsidies voted by Parliament at William Pitt's urging did not cause the colonists to respond as the British expected—colonial assemblies still refused to send their militiamen on expeditions to Canada. The colonists claimed that their militias were needed to defend home territory.

The British also suspected that the assemblies took advantage of the war to increase their own political power. Colonists demanded greater authority over finances and military appointments in return for their approval of war-related measures. The royal governors, under strict orders from the British ministry to support the war effort in America, often gave in to these demands without resistance.

While the tactics of the colonial assemblies appeared opportunistic to the British, the actions of many American merchants seemed almost treasonable. British government officials were irate that many Americans continued to trade illegally with France. Smuggling was highly profitable and prolonged the war by sustaining the French sugar plantations in the West Indies and providing the French armies with food and supplies. The continuation of this illegal trade led to British demands for more centralized control of the empire. American conduct during the war convinced many British leaders that the old imperial system, with its emphasis on voluntary cooperation between the home government and the colonies, had been a dismal failure.

The British government also faced pressing financial problems. Britain began fighting in 1754 with a national debt of approximately 75 million pounds, but the war effort caused the debt to soar to 133 million pounds by 1763. Americans had benefited substantially from these military expenditures. They had received a million pounds in direct subsidies and millions more in contracts for food, supplies, and transport for the British military forces in America. After these huge expenses, Britain was reluctant to offer additional subsidies for the peacetime defense of the colonies. Money was needed to maintain the British troops who occupied the conquered provinces of Canada and Florida and who defended a chain of western frontier posts. Given the size of the British debt and the extent of American prosperity, British leaders saw no feasible alternative to taxing the colonists.

For the colonists, the French and Indian War increased their concern over the permanent presence of a British army. They believed that a standing army threatened liberty and representative government. These fears intensified as the British demanded imperial reform, imposed direct taxes, and stationed army units in the colonial port cities. Britain’s demands soon led the colonists to active resistance and paved the way for the American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America.

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