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This chapter focuses on the imperial policy of Britain. As I read, it seemed to me that a lot of tension was occurring in North America. Between the English, French, Spanish, and the Indians, some sort of war was almost always occurring. Taylor mentioned the Seven Years War, one of the first in America. This war began as a competition between France and Britain. They constantly tried to outdo each other by building bigger forts. Here we first hear about George Washington. It is cool to see how the presidents come to power, because I know very little about them. It is ironic that his first battle was a failure and that he barely made it out alive.
Leadership is extremely important in war. Taylor talked about Edward Braddock, a leader for the British. He was known to be arrogant, and said about the Indians, “These savages may, indeed, be a formidable enemy to your raw American militia, but upon the king’s regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible to believe they should make any impression.” (429) This inexperienced attitude led to a defeat by the Indians and the French, setting the British back. William Pitt took over, and turned it around. Overall, Britain destroyed France, and obtained land in Canada, the Great Lakes, the Ohio Valley, and Florida. Taylor mentioned that in some ways, the loser of the war benefited more than the winner. This paradoxical statement is true because Louisiana, New France, and Florida made France and Spain spend excessive amounts of money, and now they could focus on the more valuable colonies in the Caribbean.
Because of the abundance of war, Britain was in debt. They needed to make money, and North America had been seen as “virtually untaxed beneficiaries of imperial trade and protection.” (442) Britain believed that the colonists had had it too easy, and they should be taxed the same amount as the British people were. This started an antagonistic idea in the minds of the colonists. As my classmate mentioned below, this is the start of the American Dream. People immigrated to the New World in hopes of a better life. They wanted to work hard, and have property of their own. They wanted to have freedom. Once Britain started to tax them, this freedom diminished. These thoughts are the fundamental ideas for the America Revolution. I love learning about the revolution because it is so exciting to hear about an underdog feeling so passionate and eventually beating the biggest, wealthiest nation in the world.