27,000 British Soldiers served in America during the French and Indian War.

Every one of these

soldiers needed a large quantity of supplies. Supplying an Army can be very expensive. Use the
information below to calculate the total cost the British government spent on its soldiers.

1 red coat……………………………………….$25.00
1 leather backpack……………………………..20.00
2 pairs pants……………………………………10.00 ea
1 leather belt……………………………………5.00
1 cartridge box………………………………….7.00
1 cook kit (includes cup, plate, fork)……………2.00
1 Black hat (wool)……………………………….3.00
2 pairs of socks (wool)………………………….1.00 ea
1 Brown Bess Musket…………………………..30.00

Total cost for one soldier 114

Total cost for the whole British Army in America 3,078,000

The British also supplied the American Militia units with the rifles

they needed. There were 15,000 American colonists who served during the French and Indian War.

How much did it cost to supply these men with muskets? 450,000

What was the total cost for Britain at this point? 3,528,000

Every one of these soldiers, militia and regulars, carried a musket, and each of these muskets needed

bullets and gunpowder. Add $30.00 per soldier to your total. 4,788,000

Soldiers cannot survive in the field without food. Add $53.00 per soldier to your total 7,014,000

You should now have a total amount the British spent to field an Army for the French and Indian War.

But this is not the total for the whole war, this cost is simply to field an army; the war went on for nine

years. Multiply the total dollars spent on food and ammunition by nine and add this to your total cost

of fielding an Army. 34,902,000

You should now have a giant number that gives a rough estimate of the British expenditure for the
French and Indian War, turn this page over and answer the questions.
The number you have on the back of this page is the total cost to supply the British Army during the
French and Indian War. Unfortunately, this number is very low.
Missing from this list is the cost of:
 Navy Ships
 All supplies for sailors
 Transportation costs (To move the Army to North America)
 Cannon/Artillery
 Horses/Calvary
 Wagons
 Support personnel (Doctors, Clerks…)
 Pay/salary for all members of the Military

The cost of all these things would be close to 6,500,000£. Adjusted for today’s dollars that might be

1.4 billion. This was all money the British had to spend to win the war against the French.

1. What do you think the British government could do to try to recover some of the money
they spent to fight the French and Indian War? Making the colonies pay taxes like we do
now would help them a lot.

2. As a colonist was would be your hope when you hear the amount of war debt racked up
by Parliament and Crown? What would be your fear?
I would hope that the value in my daily goods won't inflate... that many resources don’t
stop being available. because of the lack of money.

Who do you think is right? The colonists for protesting the taxes, or the British for wanting to pay
for a war fought in North America? Write a paragraph explaining your answer, (practice TEA
method).