Chapter 1.0. From the French and Indian War to the Revolution, Introduction

The French and Indian (or Seven Years’) War (1754-63) fundamentally changed political relations in North America. British victory over the French brought an end to French power on the continent. Britain now claimed all the territory east of the Mississippi. But the period of shared rejoicing among both British and British-American settlers was short-lived.

A series of new British policies for the colonies enacted after the war provoked protests by Americans that, by 1765, were more widespread and more organized than anything seen during the more than one hundred and fifty years of prior colonial history (1607-1763).

To examine this crucial period, we will again turn to Craig Yirush’s book, Settlers, Liberty, and Empire, ch. 7-8, pp. 209-43.