1999 Dbq

Rebecca Enbar October 20, 2006,

Mrs. Remstein

1999 DBQ

The French and Indian War marked a great turning point in the relationship between England and it's colonies in America. After the war was over, the colonists felt like distinguished Englishmen and were more united than ever. To people in England though, they were regarded as second class citizens with an extremely large debt to pay to the British government. This ended England's policy of neglect toward the colonies and caused the colonies' already growing unity, to strengthen.

Under England's policy of neglect, the colonies had prospered greatly and evolved into a different type of people. Many of them could not identify with a country that was so far away from them (Document B). They were no longer Englishmen. They had intermarried with so many other different nationalities that they could only be identified as Americans (Document H). Although the colonists did want freedom, many still wanted to be part of the British empire (Document E). After the French and Indian war though, his became impossible. The English government wanted to make the colonies pay for the war by imposing taxes on them. After the Boston Tea Party, the English passed the Intolerable acts. This further united colonies such as Connecticut, New Jersey, North Carolina, etc ... who came together to send aid to Boston following the closing down of the Boston Harbor (Document G).

By the eve of the revolution, the colonists had already developed a separate system of culture and beliefs than that of England's. Although they greatly respected the English government and still wanted to remain a part of it, they got to the point where they would defend their liberties "ad infinitum," even if it meant going to war against England (Document C). Even though there were many British sympathizers, who believed that the new united government wouldn't be very different than England's rule (Document D), they came to realize that eventually they'd have to chose between unity and death (Document A).

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