num_pages: 240
description: In February 1763, Britain, Spain, and France signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the French and Indian War. In this one document, more American territory changed hands than in any treaty before or since. As the great historian Francis Parkman wrote, half a continent changed hands at the scratch of a pen. As Colin Calloway reveals in this superb history, the Treaty set in motion a cascade of unexpected consequences. Indians and Europeans, settlers and frontiersmen, all struggled to adapt to new boundaries, new alignments, and new relationships. Britain now possessed a vast American empire stretching from Canada to the Florida Keys, yet the crushing costs of maintaining it would push its colonies toward rebellion. White settlers, free to pour into the West, clashed as never before with Indian tribes struggling to defend their way of life.
language: English
title: The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America
titlecomplete: The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America
genres: American Revolutionary War, France, History, 18th Century, Canada, American History, American Revolution, Nonfiction, Native American History, Audiobook
ratings_count: 611
series: Pivotal Moments in American History 
awards: awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: The Society of Colonial Wars Distinguished Book Award
publisher: Oxford University Press, USA