Seven Years' War, also called the French and Indian War (1754-1763) affected the American colonies more than any other previous war in history, concerning the Continental powers that be in Europe.

During the war, many Americans served in the British Army, among them a young George Washington. These were the first times that American colonists and English soldiers interacted with one another on a daily basis. 

Americans did not take kindly to the English soldiers, since the soldiers believed that they were superior to the "regulars."

The roots of Anti-British sentiment in the colonies has now been planted.

Pontiac's Rebellion: In response to English victory over the French and the Indians who were fighting as allies, the defeated Indians rebelled against the English, once the English began to increase the price of goods sold to the Indians, and once the English refused to pay rent on western forts to the Indians. Pontiac and his aligned tribes began to attack settlements in the Ohio River Valley. In order to bring to a halt Pontiac's Rebellion, the Crown issued the...

Proclamation of 1763: Which prevented colonial settlement to the west of the Appalachians. Result of the Proclamation:

The root of resentment began to develop as Colonials viewed it as unwarranted interference by the British government.

Due to the heavy financial costs of the war, the British government was indebted.

King George III, along with his Prime Minister, George Grenville, and the rest of His Majesty's Government, believed that the colonists should pay for that war, or at least help pay for it.

To begin with, what the colonists pay in taxes was far lower than the amount of taxes that citizens of Britain paid back in the British Isles.

This brings up an interesting aspect in American History, since it can be argued that the Revolutionary War was an Economic War. It was a war over Acts which were only taxing legislation, and the unwillingness of the colonists to pay for them.

Sugar Act of 1764: The first of them all; Established taxes on sugar, and contained actions which were meant to stop smugglers in the area of smuggling molasses. This act was different from all other previous acts such as the Navigation Acts in that for the first time, its purpose was to create revenue for the British Government.

Currency Act: Prevented the colonists from creating their own paper money.

During the years after the War, the colonists where in a state of economic depression, and all of these acts caused resentment among the colonists, not only simply because they were being taxed, but also the Age of Salutary Neglect had come to a screeching halt, they believed that His Majesty's Government was causing too much interference in Colonial Affairs.

Stamp Act: Very provocative in many aspects: I) Another in the series of Acts created for the sole purpose of increasing His Majesty's Treasury. II) Colonists felt that the right of taxation was being usurped by His Majesty's Government. III) It was a tax on almost everything covering legal documents and licenses, and it affected every one, and it particularly affected lawyers. IV) Established Vice-Admiralty Courts which tried violators, thus removing the judicial process from the colonists grasp.

The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved: Written by James Otis, was the first to publish the famous words: "No Taxation without Representation."

Representation: There were no official representatives of colonists in Parliament, the British legislature. Due to that fact, many believed that Parliament had not the power, nay, the authority to tax the colonists, since there was no opposing votes to be taken in Parliament, they were not being represented to see what they wanted. It was English common law, that Englishmen could not be forced to pay taxes without his consent, and the colonists had not given that consent. Otis did not want the colonies to separate from the British Empire, but instead wanted representation in Parliament. Yet the British, and ironically the Colonists DID NOT want representation in Parliament, even though the colonists rallying call was indeed "No Taxation without Representation." The British did not want representatives in Parliament because they followed the theory of Virtual Representation which stated that M.P.'s (Members of Parliament) from wherever they may be, had the duty to represent all of Britain's citizens including the colonists, so British officials defended their position by stating that the colonists were already being represented. The Colonists did not want to be represented in parliament because whatever the size of their delegation might be, they would always be a minority, and would always be outvoted. At the same time, the colonial powers that be, (I.E. Sons of Liberty, Patrick, Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, etc.) from the start did not want to resolve the issue of representation, and one could argue that from the onset of the crisis, these leaders of the Revolution masterfully created Propaganda in order to persuade the American colonists that what the British were doing was wrong, in order for the masses to take up the plight of the leaders, who were in many cases lawyers and men of professional stride who were being mostly affected by the Stamp Act. These leaders led the masses, and the masses defended their cause, even though their cause only affected the leaders. Our Revolutionary Fathers wanted to CREATE A NEW NATION from the beginning of the crisis, without being open to the idea of trying to resolve the differences between the colonies and His Majesty's Government. 

Virginia Stamp Act Resolves: Proposed by Patrick Henry, protested the tax and asserted self-right to govern.

In Boston... mobs began to burn British government offices and almost destroyed the Mansion of the Governor.

Sons of Liberty: The pre-eminent protest group that formed in the colonies, headed by Samuel Adams.

Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, this led to George III replacing Grenville with Lord Rockingham, who had initially opposed the Stamp Act. Rockingham repealed the Stamp Act, but replaced it with the...

Declaratory Act: Gave the British Government the right to tax and legislate anywhere they wanted in the colonies.

After Rockingham, William Pitt became the new P.M. Yet Pitt allowed colonial affairs to be taken up by the Lord of the Exchequer, Charles Townshend.

Townshend Acts: I) Taxed goods imported directly from Britain. II) Some of the tax revenue was given to the tax collector. III) More Vice-Admiralty courts and new government offices were created in the Colonies to assure compliance with the Crown's wishes. IV) Suspended New York legislature because it refused to comply with the order of quartering British troops.

Protest: Massachusetts sent a letter to the rest of the colonies telling them that they should protest the measures jointly. The Crown tried to censor the letter, yet they failed. The colonists began to hold rallies and boycotts, and their rallies became larger, and the boycotts became more expanded. After two years, Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts.

March 5, 1770: Soldiers fired on a crowd, killing five, this is known as the Boston Massacre.

After the Boston Massacre, there was a period of relatively nothing happening to affect the war. Yet in 1772, the storm once again began to brew.

In 1772, His Majesty's Government put in place an aspect of Townshend which provided for colonial administrators to be paid from revenues of taxation.

Committees of Correspondence were set up throughout the colonies in order to allow a transfusion of ideas and to convince colonies up and down the eastern seaboard, that a revolt in unison would be the most effective.

December 6, 1773: Protesting cheaper tea (they weren't protesting the cheaper tea, but in fact were protesting what they saw as more Government interference), a group of Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Indians, took hold of a ship carrying tea from the British East India Tea Company, and began to dump tea into Boston Harbor. This is known as the Boston Tea Party.

English Response: Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts): Closed Boston Harbor until the tea lost was paid for; increased English control of the Government of Massachusetts, and courts, and made colonists accepts British soldiers.

Quebec Act: I) Granted more liberties to Catholics, and since the colonists were mainly Protestant, this created more resentment, and II) Expanded the Quebec Territory, which prevented Westward Expansion by the Colonists.

First Continental Congress: Attended by all the Colonies except Georgia. Began in late 1774. The goal was to list the grievances of the American colonists, and to develop a Colonial Response to the Grievances. Delegates agreed on the formation of the Committees of Observation in order to impose the boycotts that they had settled upon.

Throughout 1774 and 1775, the Committees of Observation began to expand in their powers..

His Majesty's Government believed that if they began to arrest leaders of the opposition, the rebellion would come to a halt.

In April 1775, the English deployed soldiers to Concord, Massachusetts in order to confiscate arms from the opposition.

The troops passed through Lexington, where they met colonial militia, called the Minutemen. One of the Minutemen fired the shot that was heard 'round the world, and the British Returned Fire.

THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON HAD BEGUN, AND SO HAS THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION...