It has often been said that had the French power in America not been broken, the colonists would not have dared to rebel against Great Britain. It would be more to the point that if the French threat had not been removed the British government would not have dared to drive the Americans into rebellion. So long as the war with France lasted the colonial Assemblies were masters of the situation; when it was over the assault on their liberty was not long delayed.
Perhaps it is not too much to say that the war called the attention of the British Government to the colonies. They could not have overlooked such letters as that from Dinwiddie to Pitt on June 18, 1757: "I am convinced if alterations are not made in the present constitutions of the colonies, and have a general mode of government under his Majesty's immediate directions, and a coalition of the whole, it will be impracticable to conduct his Majesty's affairs with that spirit which the present emergency requires."[35]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1752-1758: 99.
[2] Executive journals of the Council 5: 385.
[3] Dinwiddie to the Lords of Trade, Jan. 22, 1754.
[4] Jan. 22, 1754.
[5] Journals of the House of Burgesses, 1752-1758: 143, 144.
[6] CO5-1328, pp. 85, 86.
[7] June 16, 1753.