The French and Indian War 1754-1763 The war was the product of a clash between the French

and English over colonial territory and wealth. In North America, the war can also be seen as a product of the local rivalry between British and French colonists. Causes 1. Competition over the Forks of the Ohio River 2. Conflict of interests in trade 3. Competition for the business of Native Americans 4. Traditional conflict between French and British 5. Many wars back in Europe increase tensions Who fought the war? French and Indians (Algonquins and Hurons) VS. British and Indians (Iroquois) Mainly over control of Ohio River and valley. French and English Collide The French and Indian War, the colonial part of the Seven Years War that ravaged Europe from 1756 to 1763, was the bloodiest American war in the 1700s. It took more lives than the American Revolution, involved people on three continents, including the Caribbean. Tensions between the British and French in America had been getting worse for some time, as each side wanted to gain more land. In the 1740s, both England and France traded for furs with the Native Americans in the Ohio Country. By the 1750s, English colonists, especially the investors in the Ohio Company, also hoped to convert the wilderness into good farmland. Each side tried to keep the other out of the Ohio Country. In the early 1750s, French soldiers captured several English trading posts and built Fort Duquense (now called Pittsburgh) to defend their territory from English incursions. General Edward Braddock British general who lost an intense battle at Fort Duquesne. He was the British commander in America for a time, and one of his officers was a young George Washington. Braddock ordered a march through the wilderness to a heavily fortified Fort Duqesne. He paid for it with his life. Out of the 1,400 British

soliders who were involved in the battle, 900 of them died. One of them was Braddock. Washington organized the retreat to Fort Necessity, where the British awaited the inevitable French follow-up. What is now considered the French and Indian War (though at the time the war was undeclared), began in 1753, when a young Virginian, Major George Washington, and a number of men headed out into the Ohio region to deliver a message to a French Captain demanding that French troops leave the territory. The demand was rejected by the French. In 1754, George Washington and a small force of Virginia militiamen marched to the Ohio Country to drive the French out. Washington hoped to capture Fort Duquesne but soon realized the fort was too strong, so he retreated and when chased by the French, quickly built Fort Necessity. If he could not drive the French from the area, they would at least have to reckon with the English fortifications. He also hoped to convince native people that England was the stronger force, so that they would ally with the British rather than the French. Washingtons Role George Washington, only 22 Met with French near lake Erie in December 1753 was supposed to tell them the British wanted to move west. Learned the French were willing to fight to keep Ohio River Valley claims. Washington starts the war! Headed west to build a fort and learned the French beat him to it. Attacked and built a quick fort (Fort Necessity). British surrendered, Washington captured and released. 1755-1757: French winning Fort Duquesne key fort for French. British general Braddock too slow and loud French always heard him coming. Bright red uniforms didnt help! Braddock killed, Washington wounded. William Pitt Saves the Brits His goal was to ruin the French in North America. Sent all of the best British generals to the Colonies. Seized Fort Duquesne in 1758 and renamed it Fort Pitt (later became Pittsburg). The Albany Congress As the war began, delegates from the 13 colonies created the Albany Plan of Union, joining all colonies under a central council. Plan rejected in each colony afterward.

Albany Plan of Union Aware of the hard times that war could put on the colonies, English officials suggested a "union between ye Royal, Proprietary & Charter Governments." Some colonial leaders agreed and in June 1754 delegates from most of the northern colonies and representatives from the Six Iroquois Nations met in Albany, New York. They decided on a "plan of union" drafted by Benjamin Franklin. Under this plan each colonial legislature would elect delegates to an American continental assembly presided over by a royal governor. First of all, Franklin anticipated many of the problems that would beset the government created after independence, such as finance, dealing with the Indian tribes, control of trade, and defense. British officials realized that, if adopted, the plan could create a very powerful government that His Majesty's Government might not be able to control. The plan was rejected by the Crown and by the legislatures in several of the colonies. 1759-1763: Drawn out Loss By summer of 1759, Brits took Forts Niagara and Ticonderoga and Quebec. Surprise attack on Quebec causes French in North America to surrender BUT, fighting in Europe continues for 4 more years The French and Indian War

1756: The fighting in America leads to the start of a war in Europe between the French and English known as the Seven Years War The first years of the war went terrible for the British and their American colonies The French captured several British forts including forts at Lake Ontario and Lake George Frances Native American allies began staging raids on frontier farms from New York to what is now West Virginia They killed settlers, burned farmhouses and crops, and chased many families back to the coast French and Indian War

Pitt Takes Charge After William Pitt comes to power as secretary of state and then as prime minister for Great Britain, the tide of the war begins to turn in favor of the British William Pitt was an outstanding military commander who knew how to pick skilled commanders and oversaw the war effort from London To avoid complaints from the colonists Pitt decided to pay for the war However he ran up a huge debt and would raise colonist taxes after the French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The British Under Pitt Pitt intended to conquer French Canada To do so he sent British troops to North America under the command of officers Jeffrey Amherst and James Wolfe 1758: Amherst and Wolfe recaptured the fortress at Louisbourg That same year British officers captured Fort Frontenac at Lake Ontario, and recaptured Fort Duquesne (renaming it Fort Pitt) The French and Indian War The Battle of Quebec September 1759: British general James Wolfe finds a way to attack the capital of New France Quebec Perched high on a cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence River the capital was thought of as impossible to attack A scout for Wolfe found a poorly guarded path up the back of the cliff Wolfes soldiers overwhelmed the guards on the path and scrambled up it at night They waited outside the fort on a field called the Plains of Abraham Here they surprised and defeated the French Army James Wolfe died in the battle Treaty of Paris Signed in 1763 between Britain and France. Britain gains Canada and all French lands east of Mississippi River. Spain (supported the French) had to give Florida to Britain, but gained all of Louisiana west of Mississippi River. British Colonists forbidden from settling west of Appalachian Mts. France keeps some West Indian Islands. Treaty of Paris 1763 The Treaty that officially ended the French and Indian War. The British gained control over the area west of the 13 British Colonies all the way to the Mississippi River. The French agreed to give up any colonies in North America, including all of Canada. Since Spain had helped the French, the Spanish were also forced to give up Florida. But the Spanish still held their territory west of the Mississippi River and in Central and South America. Indians After the War In a sense, the history of the United States began with the fall of Quebec and Montreal The Spanish and Indian menaces were also new substantially reduced. Spain was eliminated from Florida, but it was still in possession of Louisiana and much of western North America

The French removal from Canada deprived the Indians of their most powerful diplomatic weapon the ability to play off the rival European powers against one another Chief Pontiac Sensing the newly precarious position of the Indian peoples, the Ottawa chief Pontiac in 1763 led several tribes, aided by a handful of French traders who remained in the region, in a violent campaign to drive the British out of the Ohio Country. Pontiacs forces overran all but 3 British posts west of the Appalachians The British retaliated swiftly and cruelly. One British commander ordered blankets infected with smallpox to be distributed among the Indians. Such tactics crushed the uprising and brought an uneasy truce to the frontier Result - The bloody uprising convinced the British that they needed to keep regular troops stationed along the restless frontier, a measure for which they soon asked the colonists to foot the bill. This helped to precipitate the American Revolution

Proclamation of 1763 It flatly prohibited settlement in the area beyond the Appalachians and that Native Americans owned the land on which they were residing It wasnt designed to oppress the colonists, but to work out the Indian problem fairly and prevent another bloody eruption like Pontiacs uprising In complete defiance, many colonists went west. The colonists questioned: Was not the land beyond the mountains their birthright? Had they not purchased it with their blood in the recent war? North America 1763: Lasting effects The results of the war effectively ended French influence in North America. England gained massive amounts of land and vastly strengthened its hold on the continent. The war, however, also had subtler results. It hurt relationships between the English and Native Americans; and, though the war seemed to strengthen England's hold on the colonies, the effects of the French and Indian War played a major role in the worsening relationship between England and its colonies that eventually led into the Revolutionary War.