Colonial America was entangled in tension between both colonists and the British and the colonists and the Indians, thus producing dual sources of fear for the colonists. While one of these things tried to control colonists using attacking as a method, and the other tried to rid their rightful land of the colonists, it is difficult to determine which of these two oppositions were to be more fearful of.
In 1765, the British Parliament initiated the Quartering act, which required colonists to adjust or rebuild their living quarters and provide food for British soldiers which would be staying among the colonists. With thousands of red jacketed soldiers living in colonist’s homes it created an inescapable source of constant anxiety. These soldiers were sent by the English as a way to control the colonists’ behaviors and prevent the frequently occurring attempts at upheaval by driving terror into the colonists’ lifestyles. The soldiers were much a reason to be afraid of the British and the immense power they had over this group of colonies.
A population of about ten thousand Indians were all weakened by newly introduced diseases and driven from the coast inland. As a native people to America, they were disgusted at this invasion, and wished to rid their land of Europeans. Unlike the British, the Indians didn’t have any economic or general benefit from the colonists. This caused them to be un-phased morally whilst attacking the colonists, as the Indians were the real victims of the American revolution, losing masses of members of their society and living in the decimation of newly introduced diseases.
Though the British had more soldiers than there were Indians which used to reside in the colonies, they were relying on the colonies for wealth. The Indians gained nothing from the continuing residence of colonists on the East coast, and were decimated by the modern culture and diseases of the Europeans. Thus they had more of a reason to kill the colonists and no reason not to, but if the British kill the colonists, they do not make profit off of them. Because wealth and profit were the main focuses of the English, and maintaining life was the priority of the majority of colonists, they were less fearsome than the Indians because they had reason to continue the lives of the colonists while the native peoples had the the goal of extirpating the colonists and reclaiming their land and previous lifestyles.
