d obeying all of the acts passed by British Parliament was not what most of the other members had in mind. A lot had changed with regard to Parliament's attitude toward the colonies since the Seven Years War.The Seven Years War was fought primarily on the continent of America, and when it ended in 1763, the colonists were the ones that benefitted the most from it. Throughout the Seven Years War (1756 - 1763), the English government continually supplied the colonies with British troops so that they might be protected from the French as well as the Indians who had taken sides with the French in this particular war. These troops were maintained in America even after the French had surrendered their holdings in Canada to Great Britain. Their continued presence was to protect the colonists from Indian invasions as well as French retaliation along the borders. In all, the English Crown incurred $2 million in debt while fighting against the French and protecting the colonies. Along with all of the money that was spent to protect these colonies, there were still ten thousand troops maintained in the American colonies every year. The colonies had, and still were, reaping the benefits of being citizens of the British Empire while Great Britain was taking care of all of the costs. George Grenville, the Prime Minister of Parliament in 1763, did not appreciate the fact that England was paying the bill for the protection of the American colonists while they were gaining so much from the placement of troops there. In 1763, the time had come to "pay the piper," and the most logical way to do this was to tax the colonies.Most of the members of Parliament agreed with Lord Grenville, even if he was an "insufferable bore" as King George III so eloquently mentioned once [9]. Lord Grenville was entirely correct in his assessment of the situation concerning the American colonies. The debt incurred to defend them was great, and the colonists were paying very l...
