From Empire to Independence: The History of the United States

The seven-year war was preceded by a great contest between French and England over the control of North America and more specifically focusing on India as the biggest win. The war was fought for years over seaports, land, and trading rights. Island of Saint Lucia and Tobago, Nova Scotia are some of the areas they fought to secure (Bernadowski, Del Greco & Kolencik, 2013) . The greatest turn of event occurred when the Conrad Weiser entered into a trading deal with Miami tribe for fur famously known as the Logstown Treaty. It was dreaded for its potential to crush the Canadian economy while the English settlement into Ohio was perceived as a threat to the French interests. Finally, the two powers confronted each other with Washington leading a force of Virginia militiamen to confront 500 French soldiers and 400 Native Americans. They later surrendered after defeat in July 1754 leading to the rise of French and Indian war (Bernadowski, Del Greco & Kolencik, 2013). 

Some of the consequences suffered by those involved in the war included a loss of life and wealth spent in the war, trade relations, and colonies. The North Americans learned a significant virtue of striving towards independence, which inspired their quest to free themselves from the colonialists (Bernadowski, Del Greco, & Kolencik, 2013). At the end of the war, England faced three major challenges. First, the war had ruined her coffers and left her with huge debts to be settled. The debts made it impossible for her to manage the free colonies that were open to nearly everyone. Secondly, the question of who would occupy the free colonies was largely contested seeing that the region was declared free. Finally, England had to deal with smuggling issues, which threatened her trade laws and made it difficult to collect revenue for operations. The French Indian war and its end acted as a great impetus for the North Americans who then took advantage of the weak British power to conduct numerous revolts and finally break free. 

Reference 

Bernadowski, C., Del Greco, R., & Kolencik, P. L. (2013).  Beyond the Textbook: Using Trade Books and Databases to Teach Our Nation's History, Grades 7-12 . ABC-CLIO.