Colonists

        Before and during the French and Indian War, the colonists lived in the time period of Salutary Neglect.  During this period there had been tons of smuggling, and the colonists were able to govern themselves without the consent of Parliament.  

 

        During the French and Indian War the colonists of the British empire helped the British in the war against the French.  To assist them they formed colonial militias.  A few times the colonists were not involved in the fighting, especially at Braddock's Defeat because of the stubborness of General Braddock.  Overall the colonists fought alongside the British troops, helping them win the war.  

 

        At the end of the war when the Treaty of Paris was signed, the colonists thought they were going to finally be able to expand and settle the lands west of the Appalachians.  This is not what the British had in mind. In the Proclamation Act of 1763, British colonists were not allowed to settle west of the Appalachians.  This would cause much anger between the Colonists and Britain, becase the colonists wanted the land they had fought over and successfully won from the French.  This is the first time the colonists started to partially view themselves as Americans instead of British subjects.  To help enforce the Proclamation Act, the British had to leave ten thousand soldiers in the colonies so that the colonists  would not go into the land given to the Indians west of Appalachians.  Since Britain decided to leave many of their troops, they had to deal with the payment of them along with their debt from the Seven Years' War. The first way the British thought they should deal with this was to tax the colonists.  Parliament decided to tax sugar and molasses in the Sugar Act in 1764.  For years the colonists had been used to living with Britain's salutary neglect which allowed them to smuggle.  The British thought that if they lowered the price of sugar the colonists would have to buy it instead of smuggling it.  Also to improve more buying of the sugar, vice admiralty courts were implemented. Anyone caught smuggling were sent to these courts where there was no jury, only a judge.  This violated one of the most simple rights that are given to British subjects, to be judged by their peers. The expansion of the British empire forced it to create the Proclamation act of 1763, the Sugar Act, and the vice admiralty courts to control its colonists. This will cause  a snowball effect leading the colonists to revolution later.

 

British

 

       Before the French and Indian War the British implemented the Navigation Acts as a way of making more money.  Due to the Salutary Neglect time period the Navigation Acts were not enforced leaving the colonists in a position were smuggling and self governing was normal.  

 

        During the French and Indian War William Pitt became the head of Parliament and came up with a stradegy to win the war.  William Pitt would focus on winning the war in North America rather than helping Prussia in the Seven Years' War.  This Strategy did end up working but caused the cost of the war to go up astronomically.  By the end of the war when the Treaty of Paris was signed, the Native Americans would have formed a rebellion.  This rebellion was known as Pontiac's Rebellion.  This helped the British come up with an idea that would separate the colonists and the Natives.  

 

        After the French and Indian War the British decided that they needed to create a way to separate the colonists from the Natives to ensure their safety.  From the French and Indian War the British had gained ton of land making colonist want to expand.  If the British allowed the colonists to expand it would be harder to rule the colonies from Britain.  The best way to keep the colonies from expanding was to make a new boundary called the Proclamation of 1763.  This line angered the colonists, but the British thought nothing of it they felt as if they were helping the colonies.  In order to enforce the new act the British left ten thousand troops in North America.  These troops would increase the national debt of Britain.  Now the British felt that since they saved the colonist and they are trying to protect them they should be picking up the slack.  By thinking this way, the British would start to tax the colonist creating the Sugar Act of 1764.  To make sure the Sugar Act would be enforced they placed vice admiralty courts in the colonies.  This allowed any colonists who smuggled or supposedly smuggled have a greater chance of being found guilty.  

 

        The British make many mistakes when it came down to controlling the colonies. these mistakes will allow the Britain to lose their relationship with the colonists.  When the British put the Proclamation line to make it easier on Britain to govern them but in doing so they started making the colonist want to rebel.