The Revolt of Pontiac and the American Invasion

The American Revolution

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A Struggle For Control

The Thirteen Colonies established in the seventeenth century in North America prospered and were proud of their local independence. They were governed by legislatures elected through a form of restricted suffrage, and a governor appointed by the King represented British authority. Such authority was not always welcome. During the Seven Years' War, considerable tension between the officers and soldiers of the British army and those of the American provincial regiments had been noted.

Once peace had returned, the British government, in the name of the supremacy of the imperial Parliament and the royal will, took very unpopular measures. It began by levying a variety of taxes, prior to the 1765 vote in favour of the Quartering Act, which required Americans to accommodate British soldiers in their homes, a situation that was widely practised in Canada but which they found intolerable. The rallying cry for the Americans became "No taxation without representation!" Intellectuals such as the inventor, philosopher and journalist Benjamin Franklin put forward the idea of political independence as a solution. With the situation degenerating, England decided to strengthen its garrison in Boston.