How Did The French And Indian War Influence The Colonies

The British ruled over the colonies in America very lightly before the French and Indian war. The colonists created their own taxes and ruled themselves practically. Britain made money from all of the trade flowing through itself because of all of the colonies it had. This system worked out very well until a war started in the colonies against the colonies of France. The French and Indian War caused the British to have debts that they had to pay off, and since it was fought partially in the American colonies, the colonies needed to help pay for some of the war debts. Parliament established some taxes on the colonies, which infuriated the rich land owners in the colonies. Some of the elite land owners formed a group called the Sons of Liberty, who wrote letters to Parliament and the King of Britain, asking them to rethink the taxation laws that they had put on the colonies. Parliament decided to repeal that tax but then applied a new tax. This happened one more time before King George III decided that it was time for the colonies to either submit to the authority of Britain or rebel against it. Answering the question “Was taxing the colonies the right thing?” is an important topic because this eventually helped create a nation. Understanding this subject will help historians and students see one of the branches of how money causes rebellion. Looking at the different taxes’ effects on the colonies explains why people do not like governments taxing them. Yes – Taxing the colonies was the right thing: Taxing the colonists seemed fair to Parliament because the colonies had to pay back some of the debt that the war in the colonies caused. …show more content…
The acts that were placed on the colonists after the French and Indian War was the Sugar Act, the Currency Act of 1764, the Stamp Act, the Quartering Act, the Declaratory Act, the Townshend Acts, and the Tea Act. These acts all helped Parliament pay for the war and keep the colonies in order. The first Act that caused fuss in the colonies that Parliament later repealed was the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act’s original document was taken from Stamp Act History, and explains the different duties that are being placed on the colonists. These duties consist of taxes being paid for every official document. Here is one of those duties; “For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on shall be ingrossed, written, or printed, any appeal, writ of error, writ of dower, Ad quod damnum, certiorari, statute merchant, statute staple, attestation, or certificate, by any officer, or exemplification of any record or proceeding …show more content…
This act also caused playing cards and dice to be taxed. Interestingly enough, the playing cards pack’s tax is only one shilling while the pair of dice’s tax was ten shillings. This tax was placed on the colonists without a real second thought because Parliament had already placed these taxes on England. The colonists retaliated with a great force of discontent and used the statement “taxation without representation is tyranny” (Stamp Act History). When they said that, they really meant statement internal taxation