ABSTRACT
The contrast between the popular discontent over the peace of Paris and the opposition of the powerful West India interest to British expansion deserves some explanation. The arguments in favor of the retention of Canada and the return to France of the sugar islands appeared in a number of pamphlets which have been effectively used by Mr. Beer in his study of the peace of Paris. Whatever else peace might bring; the public was justified in expecting a substantial expansion of British power in the West Indies. New York merchants complained in March 1764 that, since the peace, British planters were less able than ever to supply the demand for sugar. The new islands were advertised as affording relief to old British planters whose profits were declining under the costly conditions of planting in the older islands. Anti-slavery sentiment, moreover, which developed a check on American expansion, exercised, in 1763, no influence in British politics.
