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The
Seven Year's War
Historical
Overview
The
culmination of more than half a century of conflict between
Britain and France over North America, the French and Indian
War (known in Europe as the Seven Years' War) freed the colonists
from the need for British protection against the French. Indirectly,
the war gave a new impetus to antislavery thought.
Debating
the Issues
Most
historical events seem inevitable in hindsight. It seems unimaginable,
in retrospect, that Nazi Germany could have won World War II
or that the Confederacy might have won the Civil War. Yet at
the time, the outcome of these conflicts seemed wholly uncertain.
One of the greatest challenges confronting teachers is to give
students a sense of historical contingency-a recognition that
events did not have to work out the way they did.
In
retrospect, the British victory in the Seven Years' War was
one of the truly pivotal events in American history. Not only
did the war give Britain all French lands in Canada and east
of the Mississippi River (with the exception of two small islands
south of Newfoundland), it also set in motion a train of events
that culminated in the American Revolution.
Yet
at the time that the Seven Years' War began, no one could be
certain of British victory. Despite the fact that the colonists'
population was far greater than that of the French settlers
in Canada, the British colonial system suffered from severe
weaknesses, including a lack of centralized authority and bitter
jealousies among the colonists.
1.
Imagine you are a minister in the British government in 1759.
Explain why it is worthwhile for Britain to fight on behalf
of the American colonies.
2.
What factors would have influenced the decision of Indians to
fight with either the French or the British?
3.
"Wartime victories inevitably cause new problems."
Does the Seven Years' War support this statement? Explain.
By
eliminating the French threat, Britain's victory in the Seven
Years' War made the colonists less dependent on British military
aid. In addition, by creating a huge debt, the war encouraged
British determination that colonists should pay the cost of
their own defense.
4.
What is the significance of the Seven Years' War for the colonists
and for Native Americans? For the colonists, the war planted
the seeds of future conflicts over western settlement and repayment
of war debts. As a result of the British victory, Indians could
no longer play the British and French against one another. The
colonists' encroachment on Indian land provoked frontier wars
and retaliation in the form of Pontiac's uprising.
What
If?
How
would American history have been different:
1.
If the Seven Years' War, like the early conflicts between Britain
and France, had ended in a draw?
2.
If, at the end of the war, Britain had elected to take the Caribbean
island of Guadaloupe instead of Canada?
Interpreting
Maps
Compare
and contrast the political landscape in 1759 and 1763.
Draw
a large outline map of the American colonies around 1759, the
eve of the Seven Years' War. After students read the excerpt
from the Maryland Gazette on pages 126-128 of The Boisterous
Sea of Liberty, have them illustrate the map with symbols that
reflect the distinct economies of each of the colonies.
Analyzing
Primary Sources
John
Adams traced the roots of the Revolution to the French and Indian
War. Britain's victory forever changed the balance of power
in North America. Native Americans could no longer play the
French and British against each other. The war robbed Britain
of powerful diplomatic leverage against the colonists. With
France swept from the continent, the colonists had little need
for British protection against a foreign enemy.
Document
1
What
does the article reprinted from the Maryland Gazette tell us
about the diversity and economic potential of the American colonies?
The
article expresses fear that the French will easily overrun
the colonies because they are disunited. Were the British
right to regard the colonists as fragmented and disunited?
Document
2
Robert
Moses offers a graphic first-hand account of the violence of
war during the mid-eighteenth century. How does warfare then
differ from the highly mechanized warfare of the late twentieth
century?
Much
of the fighting involved cutlasses, hatchets, and bayonets
at close quarters; war was not yet depersonalized.
Document
5
The
Seven Years' War ignited the first collective protests against
slavery in history. The Quaker John Woolman played a critical
role in encouraging antislavery sentiment. Why was he opposed
to slavery?
His
antislavery beliefs were rooted in religion, especially the
biblical precept that "God is no respecter of persons."
He also argues that slaveholders do not respect slave marriages
and fail to provide slaves with adequate clothing.
What
rationalizations did the people Woolman met during his travels
in the South use to justify slavery?
The
belief that life was wretched in Africa and the so-called
Biblical curse of Cain.
Continue
to The Age of Revolution, 1765-1825
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