AP US History

Impact of the British Victory in the Indian French War

A war transpired between Britain and France , which lasted from the year 1756 to the year 1763 . This war , which was termed as the French and Indian War , was fought over colonial possessions in the North American Continent . It was fought between the American colonists and the British on one side and the French and the American Indians on the other . The incident that initiated this war was the deployment of troops under Washington by the Virginian Governor , to dispute the Ohio valley

French expansion (French and Indian War , 2005 . This war was part of the larger struggle to attain colonial supremacy and in this struggle between the European colonizers , Britain obtained control of India and several French colonies . In this process Britain obtained Florida from Spain instead of Cuba . This period of strife ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 , by Britain , France and Spain . Britain was the major beneficiary and obtained control over Canada , Florida and a number of Caribbean islands (Seven Years ' War , 2005

Initially the war efforts in America were not accorded much significance by the rulers in Britain . However , in 1757 , William Pitt or Pitt the Elder , the then secretary of state and virtual prime minister , realized the fact that this skirmish had the capacity to obtain global domination for the British . Accordingly , Britain borrowed heavily and adopted a number of stratagems like paying Prussia to fight on its behalf in Europe and reimbursing the American colonists . In July 1758 , the British emerged victorious at Louisbourg , in the month of August in the same year , they captured Fort Frontenac . In September 1759 , a great victory was achieved against the French on the Plains of Abraham . The French were soundly and completely routed in Canada with the capture of Montreal by the British in September 1760 . Due to the Paris Peace Treaty Britain obtained Canada and Florida and the American colonies became much stronger after this war , due to the removal of their European colonial rivals (SEVEN YEARS ' WAR , 1991

Vast and far reaching changes were wrought by the victory in this war Some of these were that Britain 's presence in the New World became significantly larger . However , Britain incurred a very heavy monetary debt in achieving this victory . The leaders in England developed deep resentment towards the colonists , because the latter had not provided adequate financial and military help to the former . Consequently Britain decided to enhance their control over the American colonies and to drastically reduce the extant decentralization . This resulted in severe dissatisfaction on the part of the American colonists towards the British . A major benefit that accrued from this war was that the colonists realized that their real enemy was Britain and not each other They also realized that if they became one , then they were a truly redoubtable foe to contend with . This confidence coupled with the unjust and repressive policies of the British resulted in...