Salutary Neglect and Albany Plan Quiz

Salutary Neglect and the Albany Plan

• Mid-1750s: Colonies largely independent, acting as separate entities.
• Common threat: French and Native Americans.
• Albany Plan of Union (1754): Proposed by Ben Franklin, aimed to unite colonies for defense against French/Native threat.
• Plan envisioned a general governor (appointed by the King) overseeing all colonies except Georgia and Nova Scotia, alongside a legislative council elected by colonial legislatures.
• Plan was rejected by colonies, highlighting their desire for independence.

French and Indian War (Seven Years' War)

• French had strong relationships with Native Americans.
• French traders married Native women, and Jesuits converted natives.
• Iroquois Confederacy traded with British, Dutch, and French, actively mediating conflicts between these powers.
• Claim on the Ohio Valley created conflict between France, Great Britain, and Iroquois.
• War in North America (1754-1763), part of a larger 80-year conflict with Britain, (Treaty of Utrecht).
• Iroquois sided mostly with British due to trade.
• British forts in the Ohio Valley threatened the British.
• George Washington initiated conflict at Fort Necessity; French victory and Washington's surrender.
• General Braddock's forces defeated and killed by French and Native forces.
• War expanded to Europe, Caribbean, and India (1756).
• William Pitt brought war under direct British control, initially increasing colonial burdens (supplies, troops).
• Pitt relaxed policies.
• Quebec fell (1759), France surrendered Canada (1760).
• George III sought peace, Treaty of Paris (1763) signed.

Roots of Conflict

• French expansion under Louis XIV.
• Eighty years of conflict with Britain, ending with the Treaty of Utrecht.
• French lost territory in North America (Newfoundland & Nova Scotia).
• Iroquois alliance with Britain.
• French forts in Ohio Valley; Washington's actions ignited conflict.

Treaty of Paris (1763)

• France ceded significant North American territories (Canada, lands east of the Mississippi River, except Louisiana).
• Louisiana and claims west of the Mississippi River transferred to Spain.
• British anger towards colonists for perceived lack of effort during war.
• Native American losses and Iroquois defeat; end of division.

New Views of British Imperialism

• Colonists resisted British control post-war.
• Resisted taxation, and self-taxation.
• Ignored British trade regulations.
• Shift from mercantilism to valuing land and population (increased taxation).
• British empire doubled in size post-war.

Post-War Challenges and Grenville's Policies

• Britain in massive debt; imposed colonial taxes in London.
• George III's involvement and patronage systems.
• George Grenville (1763): Colonies must reimburse Britain for war expenses.
• Increased control and taxation.

Road to Revolution

• Britain's increased prices for goods sold to natives.
• Britain’s payment of rent to natives on western forts.
• Pontiac's Rebellion (1763): Native American uprising against British expansion (failed).
• Proclamation of 1763: Banned British settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains; colonists largely ignored it.

Parliament Acts

• Sugar Act (1764): Tax on sugar and molasses; harmed American trade.
• Currency Act (1764): Colonies banned from using paper money; forced usage of gold/silver.
• Stamp Act (1765): Tax on printed documents, a direct attempt to raise revenue without colonial representation. Affected all colonists, led to a depression.
• Townshend Acts (1767): Taxes on lead, paint, paper, and tea; challenged colonial self-governance.

Important People

• Patrick Henry: Fiery speeches against British taxation.
• James Otis: Advocated for Stamp Act Congress.
• Sam Adams: Organized the Sons of Liberty.

Repeal of Stamp Act & Declaratory Act

• Rockingham, a new Prime Minister, repealed the Stamp Act.
• The Declaratory Act, also passed, asserted Parliamentary authority over the colonies.

Changing Prime Ministers

• Shifting leadership amidst escalating tensions. (Rockingham, Pitt, Townshend, and Lord North)

Boston Massacre

• March 5, 1770: British troops clashed with colonists; five colonists killed.
• Crispus Attucks was a central figure, but the event was highly propagandized.
• Growing colonists' resistance.

Boston Tea Party

• 1773: British East India Company faced bankruptcy, leading to the Tea Act.
• Colonists, disguised as Mohawk Indians, dumped tea in Boston Harbor to protest British policies.

Coercive/Intolerable Acts

• Britain imposed acts to punish Boston: port closure, colonial self-governance restrictions, etc.

Quebec Act (1774)

• Expanded British territory into America; granted political rights to Catholics, further angering colonists.

First Continental Congress (1774)

• Colonies met to protest British policies; rejected political union, but pledged to meet again and prepare for potential conflict.
• Prep for war and formation of "minutemen".

Lexington and Concord

• 1775: British troops marched to seize colonial arms; clashes with Minutemen.
• Start of the American Revolution.

Test your knowledge on the period of Salutary Neglect and the Albany Plan of Union. Explore how these historical events shaped the relationships between the American colonies and their European counterparts in the mid-18th century. Assess the impact of the French and Indian War on colonial unity and independence.