September 25, 2025
Newsletter
Restoring America
To understand the American Revolution, we need to know what caused the revolution.
The French and Indian War was significant for fundamentally reshaping the North American continent, leading to British territorial dominance and France's removal from most of North America. It fostered a evolving sense of colonial unity, as colonists worked together against a common enemy, but the war also crippled Britain financially. To recover, Britain imposed new taxes on the colonies and restricted westward expansion, sparking resentment, claims of "taxation without representation," and ultimately setting the stage for the American Revolution.
Great Britain found that keeping soldiers in the American colonies and governing this new land was very expensive. Great Britain already had a large amount of debt from the French and Indian War. This meant that the government would need to raise taxes for those in Great Britain to help pay the debt. This ended up leading to more problems for Britain as protests began around the empire. The British government also could not persuade the colonial governments to satisfactorily contribute to the expenses of the war.
After the French and Indian War, the colonists’ attitude began to change. The victory had boosted the colonists’ pride. Removing the French threat in North America gave the colonists a new sense of self-confidence. Many colonists began to question why the British government thought it needed to leave an army in North America. They were also angry that Great Britain continued to increase taxes.
Britain’s 1763 victory over France had ended the hundred years of warring between France and Britain, but conflict in America was far from over. Tensions in the American colonies were rising and soon, North America would never look the same again.
After the French and Indian War, (also known globally as the Seven Years’ War) Great Britain won a lot of land from the French west of the Appalachian Mountains. The colonists, inspired by the war, were eager to move to these new lands. This affected Indigenous groups living there, who fought against the colonists' movements in Pontiac’s Rebellion. This conflict started in May 1763 and led to hundreds of deaths on both sides. British officials wanted to end the rebellion and build trust with the Indigenous peoples. Also, the king and British Parliament wanted time to make a long-term plan for the area west of the Appalachian Mountains. So, King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763 on October 7th, 1763
The proclamation said two important things. The first was that no colonists could build homes west of the Appalachian Mountains. The second required that colonists who had already moved west of the Appalachian Mountains return to the eastern side of the mountains. Because it was a royal decree (issued by the king), neither the colonists nor the Indigenous peoples had any say in it. The plan was supposed to be short-term and only used until a better agreement could be made with the Indigenous peoples. Unfortunately for the king, the colonists didn’t see it that way.
These new rules angered colonists. They believed they had earned the land by fighting in the French and Indian War. Some even had farms in the territory before the war and had to find new homes back east. Wealthy colonists had also already spent money on speculative land companies. These companies hoped to make money by buying large areas of western land from the British government and reselling the land to settlers as they moved across the Appalachian Mountains. The investors, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, lost a lot of money. These losses would be remembered in the years leading up to the American Revolution.
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