Van Hofwegen 1

Kari Van Hofwegen

Professor Thomson

HIST 151

22 July 2018

Treaty of Paris

The Treaty of Paris was a big milestone for the colonies in 1763 following the French and

Indian War. During the French and Indian War, France started to invade Britain’s claimed

territory in North America which led to colonists and the British to both be upset. The colonies

were forced to rally together and fight with Britain to keep the land they had lived on for years.

The colonists had never felt truly united until they all faced a common enemy and had a common

cause to fight for. However, when the French and Indian War was finished, the colonists gained

a confidence that they had never had before—partly due to the Treaty of Paris in 1763.

When the French and Indian War was finished, a document was made called the Treaty

of Paris which formally ended the war between Great Britain and France. France had been

fighting to extend their land in North America, but Great Britain (and the colonists living in

North America) were not happy about this. Once the war was over, the Treaty of Paris stated that

the French no longer had land in North America, “effectively ending any foreign military threat

to the British colonies there” (“Treaty of Paris, 1793). Once the Treaty of Paris was signed, the

British could breathe a sigh of relief since the French had been a threat to them for most of the

time with the British colonies.

As stated before, the colonists living in the British colonies also breathed a sigh of relief.

This land had become their home and many people had died to get the colonies where they were

that day. Now, they no longer had to worry about the French trying to steal the land that they
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worked for but another common foe was starting to emerge. After the French and Indian War,

many of the colonists started to question whether or not they should be independent from Great

Britain. There was no doubt, “on both sides of the Atlantic of the crucial significance of the

colonies to Britain both economically and strategically” (Greene 1). Great Britain was clearly

interested in controlling the colonies in North America, yet they failed to show the colonists

dedication to them as a people.

The people of the British colonies believed that Great Britain was invested in the colonies

since they spend an immense amount of money on the French and Indian War. Yet, there were

also other actions that made the colonists think that they were not acting for the best interest of

the colonists. John Locke was a major philosopher after the Treaty of Paris who, “proposed a

radical conception of political philosophy deduced from the principle of self-ownership…”

(Moseley 1). Essentially, John Locke tried to get across to the colonists that Great Britain was

not treating the colonists correctly. Because the monarchy gains power through inheritance,

Locke was skeptical that the monarchy had the colonists best interest in mind while making

decisions for the colonies.

Other influencers started to step forward such as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and

Thomas Jefferson who spoke openly about the need for the colonists to be independent from

Great Britain. Many of these influencers were upset because of how uninvolved the colonists

were from decision making about the colonies. While the parliament in Great Britain made all

the decisions about the colonies, the colonists were forced to accept whatever decision was made

since the colonists had no representation in parliament.

The Treaty of Paris, while being a blessing to the colonists in one way, was negative to

them in another way. Many of the colonists wanted to expand the territory that they had to the
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west. They had been in North America for some time and were making significant progress on

the size of the colonies. The next step that seemed logical for the colonies was to expand to the

west and grow the population in North America. However, the Treaty of Paris hindered the

colonists from doing so because Great Britain decided to give land to Spain. With no

representation, no movement, and no decision making the colonists felt stuck where they were

under Great Britain’s reign.

With all this being said, the Treaty of Paris did give the colonists one more thing:

confidence. Without the Treaty of Paris, I do not believe the colonists would have had the

confidence to speak up and take part in the American Revolution. While peace was made with

France, “more than a decade before the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, tensions

had been building between colonists and the British authorities” (CITE). Now that France was

out of the way and the colonists knew what they were capable of, the defeat of the British

seemed possible and now desirable because of the tension. It will never be known for sure

whether the Treaty of Paris in 1763 led to the American Revolution in 1775, but it is clear that it

played a key role in the United States gaining their freedom.

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Works Cited

Greene, Jack P. "The Seven Years' War and the American Revolution: The Causal Relationship

Reconsidered." Journal of Imperial & Commonwealth History, vol. 8, no. 2, Jan. 1980,

pp. 85-105.

The article above was written to discuss the relationship between the Seven Years’ War and the

American Revolution. This has been a highly debated topic in history so this article

covers many different points in how the Seven Years’ War brought on the American

Revolution.

Moseley, Alexander. “John Locke: Political Philosophy.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, www.iep.utm.edu/eds/.

This article was written on the topic of John Locke who was a famous political philosopher after

the Seven Years’ War. Locke had a strong opinion on how Britain was treating the

colonists and spoke very openly about this to the colonists.

History.com Staff. “Revolutionary War”. History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009,

www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolution-history.

This article was written about the Revolutionary War by History.com. It discusses briefly why

the Revolutionary War started, what went on during the period of the war, and the

significant impacts it had afterwards.

Treaty of Paris, 1793, Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, 9 May 2017,

history.state.gov/milestones. Accessed 22 July 2018.

This website above went into detail about the Treaty of Paris and the significance that it holds

for America. The Treaty of Paris was a very influential document in history and the

website goes into detail about what it did.