Seven Year's War: The Great Awakening
Before the Seven Year’s War broke out, between the early 1740s and 1750s, a widespread Christianity revival movement in the colonies known as the “Great Awakening” introduced to the Americans the right to freely choose their own religious association and also stimulated a social reform. It had altered the mindsight of the Americans by giving them the freedom to choose what to believe and what religious practices to follow. It was the very first step they had to making their own choices, united together in their shared beliefs and not conform to the British monarchy. In many ways it readied the colonists to stand up against the British and start a revolution.
The Seven Years War also known as the “French and Indian War” was a series of conflicts
between Britain and France. The war caused both Britain and its colonies to pour in a lot of money and British forces to support the war effort in the North American colonies against the French. When King George II died his grandson King George the III took the throne and decided to play a more active role in handling Britain’s affairs after the war. Britain’s national debt doubled between 1754 and 1763 which drained the British treasury due to the American colonies fighting the Indians, and so began Britain’s tightening control in the American colonies. This included the Proclamation of 1763 Frontier which blocked the colonists from expanding westward and the American Indian lands reserved for Britain’s monopolization of land purchases and trade. This angered the colonists because many had planned to move to the west after the war to invest in the land.
By 1764, new taxes were enacted in the colonies without their consent. The first was the Sugar Act which placed tariffs on goods and imports into America, followed by the 1765 Stamp Act that impose a stamp duty on newspapers, legal and commercial documents in the colonies. The act was resisted by the Sons of Liberty by destroying the stamps printed in Britain and shipped to America. The Townshend Duties of 1767 were indirect taxes of various imported goods into the colonies. The colonies reacted by refusing British goods and efforts to stimulate the American industry. In 1773 the Tea Act gave the British tea merchants monopoly in sales, meaning the no tea could be bought unless it came from the East India Company. The American colonists saw this law as another way of “taxation without representation” as they could not buy tea from other colonial merchants without spending more money; leading to the Boston Tea Party on December 16. Due to these British acts, the American colonies felt like victims of the British and decided to rebel against the British. The colonists felt a new sense of identity and unity as Americans which further developed when they joined together to fight the British. Many people who lived in the colonies were not English; they were a mixture of different ethnic groups such as German, Dutch, Swedish, Jewish, Scots-Irish and French. At the time a diversified group of people was uncommon and that united them to fight for their rights which led to the idea to separate themselves from the British values, thus leading to the drafting of the American Declaration of Independence.
The Seven Years War also known as the “French and Indian War” was a series of conflicts
between Britain and France. The war caused both Britain and its colonies to pour in a lot of money and British forces to support the war effort in the North American colonies against the French. When King George II died his grandson King George the III took the throne and decided to play a more active role in handling Britain’s affairs after the war. Britain’s national debt doubled between 1754 and 1763 which drained the British treasury due to the American colonies fighting the Indians, and so began Britain’s tightening control in the American colonies. This included the Proclamation of 1763 Frontier which blocked the colonists from expanding westward and the American Indian lands reserved for Britain’s monopolization of land purchases and trade. This angered the colonists because many had planned to move to the west after the war to invest in the land.
By 1764, new taxes were enacted in the colonies without their consent. The first was the Sugar Act which placed tariffs on goods and imports into America, followed by the 1765 Stamp Act that impose a stamp duty on newspapers, legal and commercial documents in the colonies. The act was resisted by the Sons of Liberty by destroying the stamps printed in Britain and shipped to America. The Townshend Duties of 1767 were indirect taxes of various imported goods into the colonies. The colonies reacted by refusing British goods and efforts to stimulate the American industry. In 1773 the Tea Act gave the British tea merchants monopoly in sales, meaning the no tea could be bought unless it came from the East India Company. The American colonists saw this law as another way of “taxation without representation” as they could not buy tea from other colonial merchants without spending more money; leading to the Boston Tea Party on December 16. Due to these British acts, the American colonies felt like victims of the British and decided to rebel against the British. The colonists felt a new sense of identity and unity as Americans which further developed when they joined together to fight the British. Many people who lived in the colonies were not English; they were a mixture of different ethnic groups such as German, Dutch, Swedish, Jewish, Scots-Irish and French. At the time a diversified group of people was uncommon and that united them to fight for their rights which led to the idea to separate themselves from the British values, thus leading to the drafting of the American Declaration of Independence.