French And Indian War Dbq

The French and Indian War culminated in the Treaty of Paris in 1763, which would end French power in North America and British power would reign over North America east of the Mississippi River (Tindall). The French and Indian War, also called The Seven Years ' War, nearly doubled Britain 's national debt and post-war expenses were expected to remain high because the government decided in early 1763 to keep ten thousand British regular soldiers in the American colonies (Stamp Act).
The primary reason for retaining such a large force was that demobilizing the army would put 1,500 officers, many of whom were well-connected in Parliament, out of work. Stationing 10,000 troops to separate Indians and frontiersmen was one role. The outbreak in May 1763 of Pontiac
With this in mind, the Townshend Act was passed in 1767 that placed new duties on paper, paint, lead, glass, and tea that were imported into the colonies. These were items that were not produced in North America and that the colonists were only allowed to buy from Great Britain (Townshend Acts). This act proved to be short lived and by 1770 most of the Townshend taxes were repealed, but that on tea was retained. Colonists were still opposed to the tax on tea, which resulted in the return of tea back to Britain. In Charleston, the colonists even left the tea on the docks to rot. Things would eventually culminate and on December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor (Boston). Today this iconic event is known as the Boston Tea Party, which was one of the key events leading up to the Revolutionary