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French And Indian War: Relationship Between Britain And Its American Colonies

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The French and Indian War occurred between 1754-1763 and once it ended, the relationship between Britain and its American colonies took a turn for the worse. The political, economic, and ideological relations between the two entities changed greatly between 1740 and 1766 because the colonies, once suffering from benign neglect, began being ruled directly. The political aspects, or those concerning decisions applying to every member of a group, of the relationship between Britain and the colonies shifted as Britain no longer ignored the colonies. Previously, Britain adopted the policy of benign neglect. The country ignored the colonies from the founding of Jamestown until the end of the French and Indian War. After the war, Britain went to …show more content…

Before the French and Indian War, there was no debate on the words “constitutional” and “unconstitutional”, but after the war, the Declaratory Act prompted the colonists to define “constitutional” as what was within the parameters of the colonies charters. In contrast, Britain viewed “constitutional” as the totality of laws, customs, and institutions. Additionally, to the British, the definition was obvious. Parliament had sovereign power, as decided by the Glorious Revolution. Also, the colonists’ feelings towards the taxations proved as a strong dislike. A newspaper masthead from October 1765 refers to the Stamp Act. The masthead shows a pair of skulls and crossbones with the words, “The TIMES are Dreadful, Doleful, Dismal, Dolorous, and DOLLAR-LESS.” Furthermore, American soldiers fighting in the French and Indian War had differing opinions towards the Crown and Britain, in general. For example, a soldier from Massachusetts wrote, “...though we be Englishmen born, we are debarred [denied] Englishmen’s liberty.” Also, he states, “...we shall stand in need of good liquors [in order] to keep our spirits,” revealing that the only thing remotely happy comes in the form of alcohol during the war. In contrast, in a letter to Robert Orme on March 15, 1755, George Washington wrote, “...I may have to serve (with my best abilities) my King &

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