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Chapter 6
Imperial Triumph, Imperial Crisis
1754–1776
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Explain the reasons for and course of the Seven Years’ War.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Rivalry for the control of North America came to a head after 1754. Already, the struggle waged
among the English, the French, and the Native Americans had brought on three wars during the
first half of the eighteenth century. That struggle now culminated in a fourth and final conflict,
the Seven Years’ War (1754–1763). But Britain’s total victory in that fight, and the end of
French power in North America, did not bring lasting peace. Native Americans kept up the battle
THEMES
The Seven Years’ War
The conflict, triggered when the French drove George Washington from Fort Necessity in 1754,
quickly became global. Until 1758, the French and their Native American allies in North
America seemed likely to sweep to victory. Then William Pitt took personal control over the war
for Britain and the tide of battle turned. By 1759 British and colonial forces had claimed most of
Canada. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 officially ended the French presence on the continent of
North America.
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The Seven Years’ War was pivotal because once the French were removed from the frontiers of
British America, George III and his ministers could renew their efforts to centralize and
The Imperial Crisis
Britain did intend to impose tighter controls on American trade and territory—and pay for the
expense by raising revenue in the colonies. But the Proclamation of 1763 intended to reduce
frontier conflicts with a ban on settler-squatters angered colonists with an eye to the West, and
their defiance produced strife with British troops stationed at forts, conflict with natives, and
displeasure among wealthy investors. Additional measures of the early 1760s—the Sugar Act,
tactics. Although Parliament bowed to pressure from British merchants and repealed the Stamp
Act, it reasserted its authority to tax Americans by passing the Townshend Acts in 1767.
Americans renewed and institutionalized their resistance, enforcing boycotts with committees of
inspection, and affirmed their unity in responses to the Massachusetts circular letter. The
stationing of British troops in Boston only increased hostility to imperial authority, erupting into
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Toward the Revolution
This intensifying crisis set the stage for concerted intercolonial action, and the First Continental
Congress convened at Philadelphia in September 1774. Delegates walked a middle course,
resisting radical demands for immediate mobilization for war and conservative appeals for
accommodation. Congress denied Parliament any authority in the colonies except the power to
LECTURE STRATEGIES
Political Ideologies and Economic Realities
It may be a good idea to complement the social history focus of the text with a lecture on
political ideology. The best single source is still Bernard Bailyn’s The Ideological Origins
Extra-Governmental Politics
The topic of crowd actions and the evolution of resistance tactics and extralegal organizations
might also merit a lecture. Information about the character and perception of crowds in early
modern society will help to establish continuities between the popular uprisings of earlier eras
Liberty across the Ocean
The Maier book also performs the important service of placing the American resistance within a
broader context by discussing the kinship that colonial radicals felt with the “friends of liberty”
on the other side of the Atlantic. As early as the 1760s, American leaders became increasingly
TEACHING SUGGESTIONS
Origins of American Resistance
Debate over the imperial crisis focuses on two main issues, the first concerning the origins of
American resistance. Reduced to its simplest terms, the disagreement pits those historians who
locate the sources of American opposition in political ideals and ideology against those who
emphasize the decisive role of economic interests. There is, of course, a middle ground—the
The “Point of No Return”
Another significant contested issue in the historiography of this era devolves upon identifying
the “point of no return” in the imperial crisis: When did the American Revolution become, in
some sense, inevitable? It could be argued that the die was cast in 1763 when the removal of the
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POWER OF PROCESS FOR PRIMARY SOURCES
Power of Process for Primary Sources is a critical thinking tool for reading and writing about
primary sources. As part of Connect History, McGraw-Hill Education’s learning platform, Power
of Process contains a database of over 400 searchable primary sources in addition to the
capability for instructors to upload their own sources. Instructors can then select a series of
strategies for students to use to analyze and comment upon a source. The Power of Process
framework helps students develop essential academic skills such as understanding, analyzing,
and synthesizing readings and visuals such as maps, leading students toward higher order
thinking and writing.