Semiquincentennial

The Seven Years' War (1756-1763) also known as the French and Indian War was a direct contributor to American colonists' path towards independence.

The costs of the conflict left Britain's treasury depleted and deeply in debt.  To raise revenue Parliament imposed additional trade restrictions and additional taxes on the colonies.  The Sugar Act and the Stamp Act led to heightened resentment.  Furthermore, what little remaining autonomy the colonies enjoyed ended as Britain escalated its control over trade and governance.

Fighting alongside British troops gave colonial militias combat experience  and fostered a sense of shared American identity.  With the France largely banished from mainland North America the colonists felt less dependent on British military protection and grew more confident about the notion of self rule.

Economic pressures at the hand of the crown and British Parliament and a confident post-war attitude on the part of the colonists fed a simmering divisions and the revolutionary movent of the 1970s.

On October 25, 1760 George III ascended the British throne following the death of his grandfather, George II.  He was only 22 years old and his nearly 60 year reign  was marked by three significant events; the Seven Years' War, Britain's loss of the American colonies and the birth of modern party politics in Britain.   

1761 brought the Writs of Assistance - a broad and general search warrant that allowed British officials to enter homes, shops or warehouses without specifying what they were searching-for.  Ostensibly the purpose was to thwart the smuggling of goods that avoided British import duties.  

James Otis was a prominent Boston lawyer who resigned his royal post as Advocate General so he could argue the writs in the Superior Court of Massachusetts on behalf of  incensed Boston merchants.  The colonists were Englishmen after all and Otis contended that the writs violated natural rights afforded under the British constitution; especially protections against unreasonable searches.

Otis lost the case but his courtroom oratory became known far and wide.  John Adams - then a young lawyer - said:  Then and there the child Independence was born.  Historically, this episode was further evidence of strained colonial rights and imperial authority.  Fourth Amendment protections in the US Constitution forbid unreasonable searches and seizures. 

The Sugar Act of 1764 lowered import taxes on foreign molasses but ramped-up enforcement to ensure compliance.  It also taxed imported wine, coffee and textiles to raise revenue and exert control over colonial trade.

The Stamp Act of 1765  required colonists to buy and use special stamped paper for legal documents, newspapers and other printed materials.  It was a direct tax on the colonies to raise revenues to pay Britain's war debts and defense costs.  

On the heels of the Writs of Assistance these taxes led to widespread protests and fed colonial resentment over British taxation.