For most of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Britain governed its American colonies with a notably light hand. The policy known as "Salutary Neglect" — never formally declared but consistently practiced — allowed the colonies to grow, trade, and govern themselves with a degree of freedom rarely seen in the imperial world of the era. Colonial assemblies passed their own laws, merchants traded with whomever they pleased, and a distinctly American sense of self-reliance took root. Britain looked the other way not out of generosity, but out of practicality: the colonies were profitable, distant, and largely self-sustaining. Why fix what wasn't broken? But that comfortable arrangement rested on a fragile foundation. It took only one enormously expensive war to shatter it. When Britain emerged from the Seven Years War in 1763 as the world's preeminent imperial power, it also looked towards its future buried in debt and suddenly very interested in what its col...

AKA - That time George Washington might have started the first Global War! Let's look at the territories in the time leading up to the French and Indian War. The map below illustrates the land held by the various parties at this time. France in green, Native Americans in pink and Britian in gold.  The maps set the stage for the events and pressures of the day. In this 1755 map, the English colonists were pushing westward for more fertile farm land, the French were pushing eastward to meet the English before they could claim land that France wanted for themselves, and the Native tribes resented being pushed on both sides. They wanted desperately to hold their ground and maybe gain back a little of what they had lost. The Natives were frequently bargaining with whichever side had the upper hand. It was a volatile time for all. Carte des possessions angloises & françoises du continent de l'Amérique Septentrionale c.1755 Source link - click to enlarge Comparing this map ( link...

Early colonial timelines point to  the French and Indian War and its aftermath as  the flashpoint for  the troubles leading up to the Revolutionary War.  The French and Indian War was part of the larger Seven Years' War 1756-1763 that pitted England and Prussia against France, Austria, Russia, and Spain, with fighting spanning North America, Europe, India, Africa, and the Philippines, focused on colonial power, trade, and resources. Prior to that point, most British colonists were pretty satisfied with their situation. The chance to get ahead while beholden to the king was not the irritant it would become later. This was still a time when they could just settle a little farther into the backcountry if they wished to escape the scrutiny of the colonial  tax collectors, sheriffs, judges. It was easier to ignore and escape too much regulatory attention in the far reaches of the colony. The French and Indian War predates the War of Regulation (1770) and the formati...