The Colonial wars was a bunch of wars that stretched from 1689 until 1763. Many different parties were represented in the wars. Among them were Britain, France, Spain, and various Native American tribes. All of these parties fought to retain control of the Colonies in North America. The Colonial wars can be broken down into four wars; King William's War, which started in 1689 and ended in 1697, Queen Anne's War, which went from 1702 until 1711, King George's War, which went from 1744 until 1748, and The French and Indian War, which started in 1754 and ended in 1763. King William's War, the first of the Colonial Wars chronologically, was a war between the English and French. The main cause of the war was because neither country wanted to give up their land in the newly settled America. The French struck first, along with the Wabanaki Confederacy, and attacked several english colonies in the New York and New England areas. The English repelled the attacks with the aid of the Iroquois tribe and then countered by attacking Port Royal. The English took Port Royal under the leadership of Sir William Phips. Then the war consisted mainly of small raids, skirmishes, and various missions to pilage small colonies on both sides until the battle of Quebec came along. The battle of Quebec was the largest battle of the war where the English attacked the city of Quebec with over 2,000 men. The attack was repelled by the French and lead to the Treaty of Ryswick being signed in 1697. The treaty ended King William's War and re-established the old colonial borders. This treaty didn't last long though. The next war in the Colonial wars is Queen Anne's War. This started because the English Colonies decided to attack St. Augustine, Florida. The attack failed and created Queen Anne's War. In repsonse the French and allied Wabanaki Confederacy raided and pillaged many of the New England settlements. This included the famous attack on Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing about 50 settlers and taking over 100 of them captive. The British retaliated by taking Port Royal, again (the French really didn't a good job of protecting this city, huh?). After many more mini battles the English decided to try to attack Quebec The English came up with a plan to invade Quebec with over 5,000 soldiers, double the population of Quebec. At this time the French were struck with a bit of luck. As the English prepared for the attack, many ships were lost due to the rocky shores of Saint Lawrence. Because of this, the attack was cancelled and Quebec remained in the French's control. After some skirmishes in Newfoundland, the two powerhouses agreed to peace once again, signing The Treaty of Utrecht. This gave Britain Acadia, Newfoundland, and the Hudson Bay. The third war, King George's War, was started in 1744. This war wawsn't actually started by either of the the powerhouse countries. It was started by Britain needing to come to the aid of their ally, Austria. Hearing that Britain officially declared war the French decided to attack Annapolis Royal. Unlike the French, the British were able to hold it. The British retaliated by taking Louisberg after a 2 month battle. After the French decided to try to recover Louisberg. They never made it their due to disease and the death of the Commander, Duc d'Anville. After some more fighting the countries decided to make peace, yet again. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was agreed upon and basically restored everything to the way it was before this war, meaning the British had to give back Louisburg. Ofcourse, this didn't last long. The fourth and final "war" was soon to come. The French and Indian War, the last of the colonial wars, because in 1754. It all started due to a conflict of interests. The French wanted control of a few rivers in ohio which would've given them a connection from Canada to Louisiana. The English were trying to expand west which couldn't be done if the French had control of the rivers leading down to the Louisiana territory. It started when George Washington was sent to protect a fort that was supposed to be built. When Washington arrived he discovered that it was already taken. Washington set up a different fort called Fort Necessity nearby. Washington quickly lost Fort Necessity and so the French and Indian War began. The a series of major battles took place including The Battle of the Wilderness, The Battle of Lake George, the battles at Fort Ticonderoga, the battle of Louisburg, and finally the battle to take Quebec. This war went back and forth with both sides winning big battles and both actually taking Fort Ticonderoga at times. The British at the beginning of the war were opposing not only the French, but many Native Americans who were allies of the French. The Biritsh came to a few treaties with a couple of the Native Americans including the Iroquois, the Shawnee, and Delaware Indians. This made fighting the French and other Native Americans much easier. This eventually led to the British taking Quebec. After the British took Quebec the French tried a last effort to take it back and failed. This ended the war and the Treaty of Paris was signed. The treaty of Paris gave all land east of the Mississippi to the British. It also brought the colonial wars to an end. The Colonial Wars were a series of wars that decided which of the two superpowers were going to keep control in North America. Due to it's superior navy and already largely established colonies in North America the British were finally able to decisively beat the French. It seemed liked the British were always one step away from taking complete control of these wars and were finally able to do it in the last of the wars.
Part Two
1) The Sugar Act of 1764 was a tax that taxed sugar in order to help pay debts from the French and Indian war. It also increasedd taxes on coffee, indigo, and wine. The Act was passed without the permission of the colonists and is a classic example of the "taxation without representation". The British Parliament passed this in time of an economic depression after the war which was what really made the colonists angry. This was one of the first taxes that started a chain of taxes that would lead to the American Revolution. James Wilson and Roger Sherman proposed something called the Three-fifths compromise in 1787. It stated that three-fifths of the population for slaves would be counted for representation purposes. People against slavery didn't want this because salves couldn't vote, the slaveholders would be able to vote on their behalf. This gave slavedholders increased representation in the house and the electoral college. Thomas Paine's Common sense was a pamphlet that basically inspired people to fight for independence from Great Britain. It was published in 1776. The Declaration of Independence is even know for having received great influence from the pamphlet. It was read aloud to most soldiers in the revolutionary army during the war. The reason it was so successful is because it was able to explain the need for freedom from Britain to the common man. It used biblical references to make it so people would be able to relate to it since religion was a huge part of the community back then. Shay's Rebellion took place in Massachusetts in late August of 1786. Many farmers took their muskets and went to the county courts so that the government would distribute currency and stop the foreclosure of mortgages on property. They occupied the courts so that rulings couldn't be made on hearings about debts. It was a result of the Articles of Confederation being a weak document. It was stopped when a militia was formed to stop the rebelleion in early 1787. The rebels tried to fight but were easily defeated. Some were killed, most fleed, and those who did were pardoned for the rebellion.
The Whiskey rebellion happened because Alexander Hamilton decided to put an excise tax on Whiskey after the Revolutionary War. Because the citizens just finished a war that started because of taxation they felt negatively towards this. The rebelion started in 1784 when a group of rebels attacked and destroyed a tax inspector's house. The rebellion grew until George Washington got a group of 13,000 militia troops to thwart the rebellion. Before there was any viloence the rebellion collapsed and faded away. The government proved that it could keep order by getting a militia ready to fight the rebels.