American History: A Survey (Brinkley), 13th Edition

Chapter 4: THE EMPIRE IN TRANSITION

Main themes of Chapter Four:

  • The growing enmity between the British and French in North America, culminating in the Seven Years' War


  • The consequences of the Seven Years' War in driving further wedges between England and the people of the colonies


  • The participation of Native Americans in the Seven Years' War and the results of that war for those populations


  • The policies taken by Parliament in the 1760s and 1770s that served to incite resistance and rebellion in British North America


  • The varied responses to English policies made by colonial leaders, and the growing cooperation among the thirteen colonies


  • The outbreak of military hostilities between England and the colonies in Lexington and Concord, and the start of America's War of Independence
A thorough study of Chapter Four should enable the student to understand the following:
  • The primary reasons for the growth of the differences between colonial Americans and the British government in the years leading up to the Revolution


  • The growing conflict between the English, the French, and the Iroquois Confederacy, culminating in the Seven Years' War


  • The three distinct phases of the Seven Years' War, and their implications for the colonies of British North America


  • The effects of the war on the American colonists and on the status of the colonies within the British Empire


  • The effects of the war on the Native American populations, whether they participated or did not participate


  • The options available to the British for dealing with the colonies in 1763, and the reasons for adopting the policies that they chose to implement


  • The importance of the series of crises from the Sugar Act through the Coercive Acts, and how each crisis changed colonial attitudes toward the mother country


  • The change in American attitudes toward Parliament, the English constitution, and the king resulting from the policies of George Grenville, Charles Townshend, and Lord North


  • The meaning and significance of such slogans as "No taxation without representation."


  • The significance and accomplishments of the First Continental Congress


  • The events of Lexington and Concord and the beginnings of the American Revolution

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