At the conclusion of the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War), few within the British Empire or the American colonies could have imagined that fifteen years later the American colonies would be fighting England for independence. Discuss reasons for the American colonies' desire for independence.

There were several reasons for the American colonists to seek independence following the French and Indian War (Seven Years War). The reason that is most often cited by scholars is the taxes that the British Empire began levying on colonists to pay England's debts from the Seven Years War. Prior to this, the colonists had local assemblies who chose what would be taxed, but desperate for funds, the British government implemented laws like the Stamp Act which impacted the colonists. There is also evidence of an ideological gap developing between the colonists and Britain at this time. Men like Sam Adams and the Sons of Liberty did not like that the colonies were being governed by a Parliament that was thousands of miles away. This handful of radical thinkers used a fairly new invention, the printing press, to widely publish their views and win other colonists over to their side.

The American colonies had many reasons to seek their independence after the French and Indian War. The first reason was a general distrust between Britain and the colonies. The colonies tried to unite under the Albany Plan in order to better help the British war effort in America, but Parliament quickly refused this idea. Some in the colonies started to suspect that Parliament did not want to deal with a united front in America. Also, British officials learned firsthand that the Americans were quite adept at smuggling and flouting navigation acts levied by Parliament. American merchants thought nothing of trading with the French or Spanish if it meant getting a better deal—even though these countries were Britain's chief enemies. Britain saw that Americans were good at bribing tax collectors, many of whom did not want to be in the colonies anyway and were more than happy to take a bribe as a perk of the job.
After the war, Parliament realized that it needed to reform its tax plan if it wished to maintain a solvent treasury. Parliament appointed more stringent tax collectors. It also created the Proclamation Line of 1763, which many colonists hated because it promised land west of the Appalachian Mountains to the Indians—Indians who had long threatened American settlement. Parliament claimed that it was doing this to protect Americans from Indians by creating a barrier, but even in 1763, some colonists were claiming that this was an attempt to keep the colonists on the coast in order to make them easier to tax. Britain soon passed the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act, which levied taxes on official documents and sugar. Most colonists grumbled but still paid the tax, but a small group of colonial leaders started to agitate that they were being taxed unfairly and without representation. This practice went against the salutary neglect that the colonists had enjoyed for generations. Parliament claimed that they were not a legislative body. In order to placate colonists, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and issued the Declaratory Act, which gave Parliament the right to govern as they saw fit. Most colonists saw the repeal as a victory and did not care about the Declaratory Act. Britain then taxed tea—not its consumption but its import into the country. Many in America saw this as corrupt, as it gave the East India Tea Company a monopoly on tea, and many individuals in Parliament had money tied in to the business. When citizens of Boston attacked the shipment, Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts, which quartered troops in Boston and closed the port. Instead of isolating the colony, the colonists rushed to Boston's aid by sending supplies. Soon groups of militia started to drill, which led to more British troops being sent to America in order to keep the peace. This escalation would finally end with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, launching the American Revolutionary War.