The Great War for Empire, Otherwise Known as the Seven Years’ War

The Great War for Empire, otherwise known as the Seven Years’ War or the French and Indian War, took place from 1756-1763. The war began when Great Britain declared war on France over the territories in North America. Both France and Great Britain claimed to have owned the Ohio county, however neither had done much to sustain those claims. In the meantime, Native Americans that were currently living there had their own claims to the territory. In the 1740s the French had become worries that the Native Americans were strengthening trade ties with Pennsylvania and Virginia at the expensive of New France trades. To stall these trades, the French had begun to construct a chain of forts from Lake Erie to the Forks of the Ohio.

Also in the 1740s many Virginians and British enterprisers created several land companies to gain title to the Ohio country. In 1747 on of the companies, the Ohio Company, received a patent for 500,000 acres near the Forks of the Ohio River. In 1748, the Loyal Company was granted 800,000 acres from the Ohio Valley from the Virginia Council. In 1749 the Ohio Company forced Virginias lieutenant governor, William Gooch, to give the Ohio Company another 200,000 acres of land rather he wanted to or not.

The Great War for Empire didn’t come to an end until 1763 when the Treaty of Paris was signed by Great Britain, France, and Spain in February 1763. The war was ended but, in a way, that negatively affected Britain’s government as they nearly went bankrupt. The Treaty of Paris involved a series of land exchanges, the most prominent of which was Frances cession to Spain of Louisiana. Britain had major gains with its colonies in terms of land after The Great War for Empire. Britain received Canada from France, and everything claimed by France east of the Mississippi River. Britain also gained, from Spain, West Florida, Senegal and Minorca. Not only was Britain benefited by the land but also the trades they were able to get from their land. Question 2) How revolutionary was the American Revolution? What political, social, and economic changes did it produce? What stayed the same?

The American Revolution was a colonial revolt that took place between 1765 and 1783. The thirteen American colonies gained independence from Great Britain after defeating them in the American Revolutionary War. American independence was gained in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was adopted by Continental Congress as a result of the American Revolution also known as the United States War of Independence.

The political effects of the American Revolution were that America wanted to get away from Britain’s form of government. America wanted more men as political figures to provide better representation for the citizens. Artisans and farmers made up most the elected officials because they felt it represented the ideal American, being a genuine, hardworking, honest laborer. From 1777-1781 this was known as the Articles of Confederation which soon after was ratified and replaces with the US Constitution in 1789. Also a notable political change was that much more people were participating in politics, as opposed to the elite or upper class running the colonies, they now had to seek the support of the common people.

The American Revolution brought forth major changes in the lives of women. During the war many women made items for war and maintained the farms and businesses of their husbands during their absence. After the revolution American women protested against male power and demanded respect.

Economically after the American Revolution the United States was left with quite a bit of debt. With England being a large trading partner with the US they were slow to resume trades after the war. The United States had a combined debt of nearly $40 million, with no nasional treasury, and a national government, under the Articles of Confederation, with no power to tax the citizens. The American Revolution had an almost entirely negative impact on Native Americans. Most Native American tribes were fighting alongside the British during the war, hoping that the British would win the war, preventing expansion of the US 13 colonies, protecting their tribal land. Other than what was previously mentioned on changes economically during the American Revolution, there was not much that changed economically and socially during this time. Question 3) What were the causes of the War of 1812? Where did Republicans and Federalists stand on declaring and then fighting the war?

The War of 1812 was a war between Britain and America that lasted from June 1812 to February 1815. America had several reasons to declare a war, the first limiting trade limitations of Britain restricted American trade sanctions against France. Another cause of starting the war was impressment. Impressment is the act of forcing men into military service. Between 1803 and 1812 the British Navy reportedly captured between 5,000-9,000 American sailors at sea and forced them into their navy as a way to make up for shortages of manpower. The issue of impressment between Great Britain in America is believed to be one of the main causes of the War of 1812, it caused a public outrage in America. The Federalists were opposed to the War of 1812 because they considered the war to be offensive towards Canada. Another reason for opposing war from the Federalists was rising taxes and increased war expenses as well as a shortage of military troops. The Republicans thought the war was a test of the Republic. The War of 1812 ultimately came to an end in 1815 when the Treaty of Ghent was signed and ratified by the United States senate unanimously on February 17th, 1815.

The treaty restored the relationship between the two nations. Question 4) How did the Market Revolution alter labor patterns for American workers in the early nineteenth century from previous patterns? How did American laborers react to these changes? The Market Revolution in the United States created major changes in the manual labor system originating in the South, shortly after moving to the North and eventually worldwide. During the Market Revolution traditional commerce was made obsolete due to imrovements in communication, transportation, and industry. The Cotton Gin was the first major innovation of the market revolution, created by Eli Whitney in 1793. Most of the southern planters abandoned growing almost all other crops because of how profitable cotton had become with the invention of the Cotton Gin. Because of this planters had a need for a large increase in slave labor to take advantage of the Cotton Gin.

Thousands of more slaves were purchased from Africa and the West Indies before the Slave Trade was banned in 1808. The high yield in cotton from the Cotton Gin caused Northerners to start building factories, and Southern farmers would supply them cotton, at which point the Northern factories would spin the cotton into cloth and ship abroad. The development of these factories resulted in creating the wage worker. The wage worker was someone who was paid by the hour to tend or maintain the machines or cloths in the factory. Railroads were also something that came about during Market Revolution, they allowed people and goods to move more quickly and cheaper.

Railroads were mainly on the eastern seaboard, from Virginia to Boston, but eventually expanded through the rest of the country. Long distance communication was revolutionized during the Market Revolution due to the invention of the telegraph in 1835 by Samuel F. B. Morse. The first transatlantic cable was laid in 1858 allowing fast communication between the United States and Europe. The Market Revolution changed how Americans traveled, worked and communicated it was one of the biggest and most important changes in United States history.

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