Final answer:
Britain planned to pay for the French and Indian War by imposing taxes on the American colonies to help offset the national debt incurred by war expenses.
Step-by-step explanation:
The winner of the French and Indian War, Great Britain, planned to pay for the war by imposing taxes on the American colonies. This decision was influenced by the significant national debt that Britain had incurred as a result of the war. The war nearly doubled Britain's national debt, which necessitated finding new revenues to manage the financial burdens of an empire expanded by victory. The British believed that the American colonies, having benefited from the war through increased security and territorial gains, should contribute to the costs incurred. Thus, they enacted a series of measures designed to raise a revenue to defray the costs of the war.
Colonial opposition to British policies was significant, with tensions escalating between 1763 and 1775. The rallying cry "no taxation without representation" underscored the growing discontent among the colonies regarding the British approach to taxation, which was further complicated by the end of "salutary neglect" following the war. The British government was determined to make the colonies pay part of the expenses of the war; an ambition that contributed to the growing estrangement that would eventually lead to the American Revolution.