Were it not for an explicitly European political event, the British colonies might have been walled off from the Mississippi Valley by the Appalachians, and sep

Were it not for an explicitly European political event, the British colonies might have been walled off from the Mississippi Valley by the Appalachians, and separate countries might have occupied the territory. The Seven Years War (1756–1763) resulted in the British taking control of Canada and French possessions east of the Mississippi. The British colonies on the coast, many of which had no defined western boundary, then wished to extend westward. This was resisted by the British Crown, which asserted control from London over the new territories. The colonists then fought the War of Independence by which then won control of the Ohio Valley and south from Britain. This enabled the colonies to expand via upstate New York and across the mountain passes. The French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars further weakened France and Spain resulting in our acquisition of Florida and Louisiana on very favorable terms.