French and Indian War

1. French and Indian War 1754-1763

2. Long Term Causes Last in a series of four wars between 1689 and 1763 between Britain & France. Wars originated in Europe Fighting spread to the West Indies, India and North American colonies. Last, called the Seven Years War in Europe and the French and Indian War in America, was the only one that originated in North America. King William’s (1689-1697) New England’s effort to capture Quebec failed. Queen Anne’s (1702-1713) Brits win Nova Scotia and trade with Spanish America. King George’s (1744-1748) New Englanders capture Louisburg, Georgia repulses Spanish attacks. Seven Years War or French and Indian War (1754-1763)

3. British attempts to secure the Ohio River Valley for land speculation clashed with the French desire to retain control of the access to the rivers of the interior. Imperial Land Claims 1754

4. Immediate causes The French attempted to build a series of forts in the Ohio River Valley. Land speculators from Virginia see this as a threat to British colonial expansion.

5. Washington fails Lt. Governor Dinwiddie an investor in the Ohio Company sent a small militia force Untrained colonel in the Virginia militia named George Washington Goal was to prevent French completion of Fort Duquesne near present day Pittsburgh. Washington established a small Fort Necessity but he and his troops were overpowered and forced to surrender. Unknowingly, Washington signed an admission of guilt in starting the hostilities. He vowed to regain his reputation.

6. Colonies fail to unite In 1754, meeting proposed to discuss colonial defense in Albany. Benjamin Franklin published a political cartoon,“Unite or Die” in hisPennsylvania Gazette Proposed a plan for a united body. Only seven of the thirteen colonies attended. None were willing to set aside prerogatives to tax. Government in London was also opposed to the plan. Feared a step towards unity and possible autonomy in the colonies. Parliament felt greater control over “thirteen bickering brats.”

7. War on the frontier The Algonquin allies of the French mercilessly attacked frontier settlements for two years, 1756-1757.

8. Americans lose respect for British military In 1755, the British sent regular troops- redcoats- to fight in American under General William Braddock. Prior to this, the Americans had conducted any fighting on American soil themselves. Braddock’s advance, marching in formation and accompanied by drum corps was routed in a disastrous defeat. Two thousand British regulars and colonials under their command were defeated.

9. Pitt’s New Plan William Pitt, a new British prime minister changed strategy in 1758. Money was provided to the colonial troops to participate in the war to a greater degree. British commanders were horrified that the colonies had to be paid to defend themselves.

10. Defeat of the French Pitt’s new strategy and the focus on Canada were successful. 1758, Louisburg was recaptured. General Wolfe was victorious on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec in 1759, although it cost him his life. The British captured in Montreal in 1760.

11. Geopolitical Effects of the Treaty of Paris 1763 Treaty of Paris of 1763 French lost all their territory on the North American continent. Spanish had to give up Florida. French territory west of the Mississippi River was given to Spain.

12. Indian Relations Deteriorated Native Americans were not at the peace discussions and continued to fight. American colonists began to move further west as soon as the war was over. With the French rival gone, the British no longer felt obliged to “treat” the Indians with guns and manufactured goods. Pontiac, an Ottawa chief led an attack on the settlers and initiated a new war, called Pontiac’s Rebellion or the Conspiracy of Pontiac by the colonists.

13. Colonial Relations with Mother Country Proclamation of 1763 Frontier lands Prohibited Americans from settling west of the Appalachians to prevent future hostilities with the Indians. Americans considered the western land the “spoils of war.” Americans hated the proclamation, largely ignored it and moved west anyway.

14. Conflict grows out of victory American viewpoint British viewpoint Imperial enemies no longer on the borders so defense was not needed British military methods seemed ineffective in the colonial environment. Methods used by the British to discipline their troops were unsuited to free men. Americans were undisciplined. British were already shouldering a heavier tax burden than the colonists. American need to pay for own defense. Britain needs to “crack down.”