In many ways the French and Indian War resulted in the causes leading to the American Revolution. Discuss this statement.

The French and Indian War (1756-1763) was fought in the New World between Britain and France over competing claims to the Ohio River Valley. At the end of the war, Britain gained Canada from France and Florida from Spain, and the war opened up the possibility of westward expansion into the area around the Ohio River Valley. As colonial Americans started to stream westward into the land east of the Mississippi, the Native American tribes...

The French and Indian War (1756-1763) was fought in the New World between Britain and France over competing claims to the Ohio River Valley. At the end of the war, Britain gained Canada from France and Florida from Spain, and the war opened up the possibility of westward expansion into the area around the Ohio River Valley. As colonial Americans started to stream westward into the land east of the Mississippi, the Native American tribes who lived there were understandably alarmed. As a result, many tribes led a revolt under Pontiac of the Ottawa tribe, and the British lost many of their western forts. In reaction, King George III of Britain passed the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade colonists from entering lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. This proclamation was one of the causes of the American Revolution, as it caused resentment among the colonists who had looked forward to moving westward for new opportunities.

In addition, fighting the French and Indian War had been very costly for the British. They had doubled their national debt in fighting the war, and the British authorities felt that the colonists should pay for the war, as it had benefited them. Therefore, the British began to enforce laws about navigation and trade, such as the Sugar Act (which tried to raise money through taxing molasses sent to the colonies). This law had been in effect for decades, but it wasn't enforced until after the French and Indian War. Therefore, the war resulted in the enforcement of mercantilist trade laws that also angered the colonists, who had gotten used to not having these laws enforced, leading to the American Revolution.