Thesis Statement: The American history has been characterized by many years of war through military struggles, before and after its independence, which includes the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812.
The French Indian war was a struggle between the French and the Britons since 1754 to 1763. In the 1750s, the French and Britons rose against each other in Europe although the war extended to North America.
The British colonists were pursuing the French’s Northern American territory and conger fur trade in the region extending from Virginia up to Nova Scotia. In return, the French Governor-General, Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière, commanded a military expedition in the region to mark their territory, evaluate the British powers and most importantly, astound the Indians through military show off (Cave, 2004).
The British military struggled against the French military as well as the Native Americans, who were afraid that they would lose their land to the Britons. The unrest concluded in 1759 after James Wolfe, British Major general seized Quebec. In the course of the war, a peace treaty was signed in 1763 where the Britons acquired most of the territory that belonged to the French.
Consequently, the Britons avenged against the French by colonists taxation. The war modified the social, political as well as economic interactions that existed among the European nations i.e. Spain, France and Great Britain, as well as the colonies and the Native Americans. Great Britain and France faced heavy financial costs which affected their economic growth (Cave, 2004).
On the other hand, the American Revolution was a political turmoil in the late eighteenth century where 13 North American colonies united to secede from British Empire to comprise the United States of America. It was as a result of social-political as well as intellectual changes better known as the American enlightenment.
Its importance in the American history cannot be underestimated since it led to the formation of the United States. Like the French and Indian War, it happened over a period of seven years, which was initiated by the thirteen colonies disregarding orders from Parliament of Great Britain to rule them from abroad with no representation in America. In 1774, the colonies had created provincial congress as autonomous states.
As a result, the British reacted by commanding their military to re-inflict direct rule (Wallenfeldt, 2009). The new states united to guard their self governance and control the British forces in 1775 and reject British monarchy or aristocracy. On October 1781, the Revolutionary War came to an end as Americans won and became a sovereign nation while the British surrendered under the Treaty of Paris signed in 1783.
Therefore, the result of the struggle was formation of democratically voted delegate administration to serve the interests of the majority population. Issues of national governance were handled to create a federal government through U.S constitution ratification in seventeen eighty eight and United States Bill of Rights in 1791, which offered natural rights and personal liberties to the citizens (Wallenfeldt, 2009).
The War of 1812- 1815 was the initial military struggle between the USA and Great British forces after the U.S its gained independence. It was announced by America in June 1812 since they wanted to expand northwest, trade barriers as a result of France unrest with Britain, British aid to American- Indian tribes to oppose American expansion among other reasons.
Until 1814, British forces were only defending their interests and repelled various invasions from American military in the Canadian border. Following the American revolutionary war, the British did not leave the American land surrounding great lakes, while imposing trade barrier and supporting Indians to resist expansion.
Therefore like the previous wars, the War of 1812 was due to socio-economic and political reasons. The American victory in 1814 led to the amendment of the American foreign policy, its recognition as a world power and its confirmation of independence through signing the Treaty of Ghent (Wallenfeldt, 2009).
In conclusion, French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812 were due to socio-economic and political reasons particularly the issue of land. All the three wars were fought within the American boundaries and notably, the Great Britain was involved in all the three wars. The wars are significant in establishment of a liberal republicanism in the U.S characterized by democracy, which formed the basis of a political tradition apparent today.
References
Cave, A. A. (2004). The French and Indian War. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Wallenfeldt , J. (2009). The American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812: People, Politics, and Power. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group.