US History

Identify sources of friction between Britain and the colonies after the French and Indian Wars.

We all know from history how the British raised taxes on the colonists with the Stamp Act and the 'Intolerable Acts', which led to the Boston Tea Party, and eventually the Revolutionary War. But we don’t know that the reason for the taxes was the French and Indian war. In this topic I’ve tried to find out how the French and Indian war could affect to the relations between Great Britain and its colonies.

The French and Indian war was a seven year war between England and the American colonies against the French and some of the Indians in North America. They wanted to control eastern part of North America. When the war ended, France had lost control of Canada, and the Indians had been defeated by the American colonists. The war came to an end in 1763, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

After this war other countries that had colonies in North America began to be shifted. England became a dominant country, and the political relations between the American colonies and England lead to the proclamation of 1763. After this proclamation the American colonies began to think that their right to be free was denied. After that there were another political changes that led the deterioration between colonies and England. As French and Indian war ended, England had been left with deep debt, and this caused them to strictly regulate trade, and impose taxes on commonly used trade items, which was very unfair to the American colonists. Great Britain’s relationship with the American colonies was that the colonies in America could sell certain goods to only England. To sell products to other countries they had to send to England first to have a tax paid on them, and English ships had to be used for all trade. Because of all this sudden taxation it caused damage on the economic relationship between colonies and Great Britain. Prior to the French and Indian war different resources forced the Americans to ship their raw material to Britain, so they could buy their finished products from them. Although there was heavy British taxation and mercantilism had been abandoned when the colonists decided to fight back. In order to increase a nation’s wealth and power, the country have to try to gather as much gold and silver as possible, export more goods than import, have colonies to supply raw materials and markets for goods, forbid colonies to export to other countries and manufacture goods and the colonies must use the parent country’s ship to transport the raw materials.

The stamp act had enraged many of the elite colonists, and they started to boycott by stopping all imports, and by buying things, and all of this harmed the relationship between the American colonies and Great Britain. Colonists that were successful in the boycotts made a difference by uniting with each other. The French and Indian war bought up feelings for the American colonies to go against the British, it also changed the political relationship between England and the American colonies because the English were obligated to unfairly tax them due to their economic issues. So that is how French and Indian war altered to the relations between the American colonies and Great Britain.

US History

Analyze geographic, ethnic, and religious differences among the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies. Evaluate regional differences in the colonial economy.

Colonial America also had regional differences among culture or historical reason for establishment as a colony. The Southern Colonies were established as economic ventures and were seeking natural resources to provide material wealth to the mother country and themselves. In contrast, the early New England colonists were primarily religious reformers and separatists. They were seeking a new way of life to glorify God and for the greater good of their spiritual life. The Middle colonies welcomed people from various and diverse lifestyles. The social-political structure included all three varieties: villages, cities, and small farms. Another difference is clearly noted in the human resources. New England had skilled craftsmen in the industry of shipbuilding. The Mid-Atlantic presented a diverse workforce of farmers, fisherman, and merchants. The Southern Colonies were primarily agricultural with few cities and limited schools. As these regions developed highly specialized economies, each could not supply everything that was needed or at least not as effectively as an interdependent system – they relied on each other for certain items or skills. New England’s economy at first specialized in nautical or boating equipment, while later the region developed mills and factories. The environment is ideal for water-powered machinery (mills), which allowed for finished products to be crafted, such as woven cloth and metal tools. The middles colonies had rich farmland and a moderate climate. This made it a more suitable place to grow grain and livestock than New England. Their environment was ideal for small to large farms. The coastal lowland and bays provided harbors, thus the middle colonies were able to provide trading opportunities where the three regions meet in market towns and cities. The Southern colonies had fertile farmlands which contributed to the rise of cash crops such as rice, tobacco, and indigo. Plantations developed as nearly subsistent communities. Slavery allowed wealthy aristocrats and large landowners to cultivate huge tracts of land. When strictly examining the geography of New England compared to the South, it is plausible that the vast space of the Southern region influenced the way it remained rural and still today holds that as a sense of pride or shared experience.

 New England including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Conneticut, New Hampshire， due to the harsh geographical environment caused by agricultural soil rock hard, leading to the livelihoods of farm, land was granted to a group and towns were subdivided among families, most fishing including whaling (lighting oil) for the industry development of shipbuilding and small factories. Intermediate including New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware there are the "bread basket" of the colony where the river system and harbor provide the back country and the Atlantic Ocean. Southern including Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, farms tend to be scattered , less urban development, requires larger slave population as workforce, export crops: "cash crops", such as tobacco, favorable agricultural climate, planting system developed. The Northern Colonies were mostly mountains with a colder climate and a thin layer of soil only for subsistence farming. And the Northern Colonies were settled mainly for reasons of religious and political freedom. Colonies economic activity was based on manufacturing and trade. Northern Colonies regional characteristics include: common heritage, small villages, shared land, subsistence farmers, busy seaports, difficult and primitive, entertainment involved work. The Southern Colonies were mostly plains with warmer climate and rich fertile soil suitable for cash crop farming. And colonies were settled mainly for economic gain (commercial gain). The Southern Colonies economic activity was based on agriculture. The Southern Colonies regional characteristics include:

contrast between plantations and backcountry, self-sufficient community, slavery, backcountry constant struggle and little money and jealous, coast wealthy, very diverse.