The Seven Years War: Critical Turning Point In British-Colonial Relations

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The Seven Years War represented the critical turning point in British-colonial relations. The war provided Great Britain massive territorial gains in North America, however disputes over succeeding frontier policy and paying the wars expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately led to the American Revolution. The war had been expensive, and the British governments attempts to impose taxes on colonists to help cover these expenses resulted in increasing colonial resentment of British attempts to expand authority in the colonies. These disputes ultimately prompted colonial rebellion, which eventually developed into a full-scale war for independence (History.com Staff). After the Seven Years War ended in 1763, Britain prohibited all settlement and fur trapping west of the Appalachian Mountains. Britain passed the Proclamation of 1763 to appease the Indians and to save them the expense of protecting colonists who settled on the frontier. The colonists resented the Proclamation. Many defied the Proclamation and continued expanding west anyway. In 1764, the British put in to play Writs of Assistance. The writs were legal papers, which gave custom officials the right to search any building for any reason. The writs were an attempt to stop smuggling (History.com Staff). The colonists complained these writs …show more content…
The Stamp Act crisis brought a sense of unity to the colonies. The colonists demonstrated social responsibility by calling delegates from every colony to New York. The purpose of this “Stamp Act Congress” was to consider action against the hated Stamp Act. They drew up petitions to the King and Parliament. These petitions rejected the Stamp Act and asserted that Parliament had no right to tax the colonies. Parliament disregarded these petitions ("Colonists' Reaction to New Acts and