freedom of worship for Christians in stand the importance of what the
the colonies as well as in England colonial assemblies were doing and
and enforced limits on the Crown . simply neglected them . Nonetheless,
Equally important, John Locke’s Sec- the precedents and principles estab-ond Treatise on Government (1690), lished in the conflicts between as-the Glorious Revolution’s major semblies and governors eventually
theoretical justification, set forth became part of the unwritten “con-
a theory of government based not stitution” of the colonies . In this way,
on divine right but on contract . It the colonial legislatures asserted the
contended that the people, endowed right of self-government .
with natural rights of life, liberty,
and property, had the right to reb-
THE FRENCH AND
el when governments violated their
INDIAN WAR
rights .
By the early 18th century, almost France and Britain engaged in a
all the colonies had been brought succession of wars in Europe and
under the direct jurisdiction of the the Caribbean throughout the 18th
British Crown, but under the rules century . Though Britain secured
established by the Glorious Revolu- certain advantages — primarily in
tion . Colonial governors sought to the sugar-rich islands of the Carib-
exercise powers that the king had bean — the struggles were generally
lost in England, but the colonial as- indecisive, and France remained in a
semblies, aware of events there, at- powerful position in North Ameri-
tempted to assert their “rights” and ca . By 1754, France still had a strong
“liberties .” Their leverage rested on relationship with a number of Na-
two significant powers similar to tive American tribes in Canada and
those held by the English Parlia- along the Great Lakes . It controlled
ment: the right to vote on taxes and the Mississippi River and, by estab-
expenditures, and the right to ini- lishing a line of forts and trading
tiate legislation rather than merely posts, had marked out a great cres-
react to proposals of the governor .
cent-shaped empire stretching from
The legislatures used these rights Quebec to New Orleans . The British
to check the power of royal gover- remained confined to the narrow
nors and to pass other measures to belt east of the Appalachian Moun-
expand their power and influence . tains . Thus the French threatened
The recurring clashes between gov- not only the British Empire but also
ernor and assembly made colonial the American colonists themselves,
politics tumultuous and worked in- for in holding the Mississippi Valley,
creasingly to awaken the colonists to France could limit their westward
the divergence between American expansion .
and English interests . In many cases,
An armed clash took place in
the royal authorities did not under- 1754 at Fort Duquesne, the site where
32
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is now lo- conflict with France, known as the
cated, between a band of French reg- French and Indian War in Ameri-
ulars and Virginia militiamen under ca and the Seven Years’ War in Eu-
the command of 22-year-old George rope . Only a modest portion of it was
Washington, a Virginia planter and fought in the Western Hemisphere .
surveyor . The British government
In the Peace of Paris (1763),
attempted to deal with the conflict France relinquished all of Canada,
by calling a meeting of representa- the Great Lakes, and the territory
tives from New York, Pennsylvania, east of the Mississippi to the Brit-
Maryland, and the New England ish . The dream of a French empire in
colonies . From June 19 to July 10, North America was over .
1754, the Albany Congress, as it
Having triumphed over France,
came to be known, met with the Iro- Britain was now compelled to face
quois in Albany, New York, in order a problem that it had hitherto ne-
to improve relations with them and glected, the governance of its em-
secure their loyalty to the British .
pire . London thought it essential to
But the delegates also declared a organize its now vast possessions to
union of the American colonies “ab- facilitate defense, reconcile the diver-
solutely necessary for their preserva- gent interests of different areas and
tion” and adopted a proposal drafted peoples, and distribute more evenly
by Benjamin Franklin . The Albany the cost of imperial administration .
Plan of Union provided for a pres-
In North America alone, British
ident appointed by the king and a territories had more than doubled .
grand council of delegates chosen by A population that had been predom-
the assemblies, with each colony to inantly Protestant and English now
be represented in proportion to its included French-speaking Catholics
financial contributions to the gen- from Quebec, and large numbers of
eral treasury . This body would have partly Christianized Native Ameri-
charge of defense, Native American cans . Defense and administration
relations, and trade and settlement of the new territories, as well as of
of the west . Most importantly, it the old, would require huge sums of
would have independent authority to money and increased personnel . The
levy taxes . But none of the colonies old colonial system was obviously
accepted the plan, since they were inadequate to these tasks . Measures
not prepared to surrender either the to establish a new one, however,
power of taxation or control over the would rouse the latent suspicions
development of the western lands to of colonials who increasingly would
a central authority .
see Britain as no longer a protector
England’s superior strategic posi- of their rights, but rather a danger
tion and her competent leadership to them .
9
ultimately brought victory in the
33