“The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America”, by Colin G. Calloway

240 pages, Oxford University Press, ISBN-13: 978-0195300710

The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America by Colin G. Calloway derives its name from historian Francis Parkman, who wrote regarding the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the conclusion of the Seven Years War, that “half a continent changed hands at the scratch of a pen”. What is commonly referred to in America as the French and Indian War was, in actuality, the First World War, fought as it was across four continents and upon three oceans around the globe, and the participants included not only the British and French, but Americans, Canadians, American Indians, Prussians, Austrians, Russians, Spaniards and East Indians, as well. Nearly a decade of war left both Britain and France in economic ruin, and Britain, though victorious, tried to extricate itself from the financial crisis that followed in the wake of peace by attempting to simultaneously cut costs (reducing gifts the Indians had grown so accustomed to receiving from the French) and increasing its revenue by raising taxes (on the colonials), which NEVER works. Cutting costs led in part to sparking an Indian war, and raising taxes led to an all-out revolt by the colonies. Ultimately, Britain would be unable to benefit from its newly won empire.

Calloway shows in explicit detail how the 1763 Peace of Paris Treaty had a much more tumultuous effect upon the peoples of North America than the war itself. Britain tried to divide its newfound empire into two pieces, one for its Colonists and one for the Indian tribes. The Colonists, however, had a much different view: they saw their hard fought victory in the war as giving them the right to expand into the newly conquered territory, thus relieving some of the Colony's financial burdens through land speculation and settlement. In an attempt to quell the growing anarchy in the new territories, Britain engaged in perhaps one of the first instances of bio-terrorism by purposely infecting Indians with small pox. Though successful in "thinning the herd" so to speak, British lack of government intervention and control in the territory spurred anarchy among both the Indians and the settlers. Throughout, Calloway brilliantly defines both the short and long term effects the Peace of Paris had on every venue of North America, from Hudson Bay, to Florida, to Cuba, to Nova Scotia to the Louisiana Territory. For a much better understanding of American history and the causes that pushed the colonies towards independence, this is essential reading. Professor Calloway holds the reader in his grasp with every page, with the text flowing nicely and being capped off with an exhaustive bibliography that will surely add to one's reading list.

I absolutely loved this book. It has given critical insight to not only the causes behind the revolution, but how the Peace of Paris Treaty of 1763 transformed the lives of so many then and countless millions since.