The French and Indian
War
“The War for North America”
North America – 1750
French vs. English
French
Canada, Mississippi River
Valley
Here for: Fur Trade
Overall good relationship
with Indians
English
Atlantic Coast
Here for: Land, Colonization
Overall shaky relationship
with Natives
• Essential for fur trade
• Not necessary for obtaining
land
Population of New France
in 1750: 55,009
Population of English
Colonies in 1750: 1.5 million
• Trading posts
• Few cities
• Capital city, Quebec, had
8,000 people
• 3 cities over 10,000
 Philadelphia
 Boston
 New York
Bad Blood
The French and English rivalry for North
America had lasted over 80 years
King Williams War (1689-1697)
Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713)
King George’s War (1739-1748)
Both saw North America as essential to
their empire
French and Indian War
Colonial part of the
“Seven Years War”
Would become
Global conflict
Fighting lasted from
1754-1763
Bloodiest American
war in the 1700’s
It took more lives
than the
Revolutionary War
Its affects would
lead to the
American
Revolution
Causes of Conflict
Both the English and French
wanted control of the Ohio
River Valley, and both felt
that it was rightfully theirs
British wanted more land to
expand their colonies westward
• Believed their land claims
stretched from sea to sea
French wanted control of Ohio
River for transportation, trade
& to prevent British
encroachment
• French had claimed the Mississippi
River Valley, including Ohio River
The Forks of the Ohio
In 1752, some Virginians
make a treaty with the
Mingo chief “Half-King”
for the rights to build a fort
at the forks of the Ohio
Present-day Pittsburg
Began building one year later
The following year the
French push the British off
that land
The Half King saw this as an
insult
The French build Fort
Duquesne at the Forks in
1754
Meanwhile in Albany…
England knew that a war might be inevitable and
suggested the colonies form an alliance with the Iroquois
and unite for their own protection
In June 1754 delegates from most of the northern colonies
and representatives from the Six Iroquois Nations met in
Albany, New York
Pennsylvania delegate Benjamin Franklin drafted the
Albany Plan of Union
Attempt to Unite Colonies and ally with Iroquois
• Modeled after the Iroquois League
• Under this plan each colonial legislature would elect
delegates to an American continental assembly presided
over by a royal governor
• 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.
Albany Plan of Union
The plan failed to achieve either of its goals
An alliance was rejected by the Iroquois
The plan of Union was rejected by England, Colonies
• 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
George Washington
In 1754, George Washington, 22,
was sent to the Ohio Country to
take Fort Duquesne and drive out
the French
hoped to convince native people
that England was the stronger
force, so that they would ally with
the British
He joined forces with the Half King
and his warriors
Stumbled upon a small
encampment of French soldiers
Washington attacked
After forcing surrender, the Half
King tomahawked the French
Commander
• This breach of military conduct
would enrage the French
Washington quickly built Fort
Necessity nearby
Washington in his Virginia Militia uniform
Battle of Great Meadows
(Fort Necessity)
July 3, 1754
A combined force of 600 French
soldiers and 100 native allies
overwhelmed Fort Necessity, marking
the start of the French and Indian War
French had allied with the Algonquin and
Huron tribes
Fort Necessity was built hastily and
poorly planned
In a valley
Too near the surrounding forest
After a full day of battle in the rain, and
100 casualties, Washington agreed to
the French terms of surrender
permitted Washington and his men to
return to Virginia safely
they would not build another fort west of
the Appalachian Mts. for at least a year
Placed blame on Washington for the
tomahawking of the French commander
This was the first and only surrender of
George Washington’s military career
Battle of the Monongahela
In July 1755 British general Edward Braddock (aided by Washington)
and other colonial militia again tried to take Fort Duquesne
Marched 1500 soldiers, cannon, etc. 110 miles from Maryland through
Pennsylvania
British were ambushed by 900 French and Indian warriors a few miles
south of the fort
Utilized Indian tactics, where as the British fought in the European style
Huge defeat for the British (over 800 killed compared to 30
French/Indian)
Braddock killed
George Washington would prove heroic
he had two horses shot out from under him, and four bullets pierced his
coat—yet, he sustained no injuries and showed coolness under fire.
After news of debacle reached London, Britain would formally declare
war on France in 1756
Battle of the Monongahela
by Edwin Deming
The Shooting of General Braddock at Fort Duquesne
by Edwin Deming
The Ragin’ Cajuns
The lone British Victory was at
the Battle of Fort Beauséjour
in June 1755 where British
troops took control of Nova
Scotia
Mostly New England militia
Fearing that the French
residents would overpower
them, the British forced them
from their homes
First modern deportation of an
entire people
Made their way to Louisiana,
becoming known as Cajuns
The word Cajun come from
“Acadian”
French Dominance
For the first three years of
the war, the outnumbered
French dominated the
battlefield defeating the
British at
Fort Oswego
Fort William Henry
Fort Ticonderoga.
French Dominance
Battle of Fort William Henry
Perhaps the most notorious battle of the war
was the French victory at Fort William Henry in
1757 (New York)
French laid siege to the Fort
Siege – the surrounding of a location, not letting
anyone in or out
British general Daniel Webb surrendered under
the terms that the 3,000 soldiers and civilians
be allowed to leave the fort peacefully
After the British withdrawal, French-aligned
Native Americans attacked and killed 300+
British men, women, children
The events of the battle were depicted in the
1826 novel The Last of the Mohicans by James
Fennimore Cooper
The tide turns…
The tide turned for the British in
1758, as they began to make peace
with important Indian allies like the
Iroquois
Under the new direction of Prime
Minister Lord William Pitt, Britain
began working more closely with
colonial forces and adapting their
war strategies to fit the territory and
landscape of the American frontier.
Promised that Britain would
reimburse colonial expenses
The French were also slowly
abandoned by many of their Indian
allies
War aims begin to change
More of a battle for North America
than simply the Ohio Country
Britain takes control of the St.
Lawrence River
July 1758, 14,000 British forces
surrounded and captured the French
fort in Louisbourg
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the mouth of
the French supply line
French General Montcalm enters
Quebec mortally-wounded
The British, under general Wolfe,
moved up the St. Lawrence to Quebec
September 1759, A British scout
discovered a hidden path that led up
the cliffs to a lightly defended part of
the French Capital City
During the night, thousands of troops
slipped up the path and past the French
guards to the Plains of Abraham, a
wide open space outside the city of
Quebec. French troops under general
Montcalm awakened the next morning
to find line after line of British troops
waiting for them.
The battle raged for less than an hour
and finally ended with the French
surrender. Both Wolfe and Montcalm
died soon after from injuries sustained
in the battle.
Montreal
One year later, on September 6, 1760 Britain
would descend on Montreal
After only a 3 day siege, the 2,000+ French
soldiers would surrender the city to the British
(17,000 British and 700 Iroquois)
Exhausted by years of battle, outnumbered and
outgunned by the British, the French collapsed,
climaxing with the defeats of Quebec and
Montreal.
By September 1760, the British controlled all
major French cities in North America; the war
between the two countries was effectively over.
Treaty of Paris 1763
The Treaty of Paris 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 (1762), the
Spanish were also forced to give up Florida
the Spanish still held their territory west of the Mississippi
River and in Central and South America.
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.
It hurt relationships between the English
and Native Americans
The effects of the War played a major role in
the worsening relationship between
England and its colonies that eventually led
into the Revolutionary War
The costs of the war would lead to Britain's
taxation of the colonies
Some colonial soldiers would harbor
bitterness towards the British army
• Mockery
• Discipline
The Aftermath…
After the treaty of Paris, Britain replaced
France as the major European power in the
Ohio country
Unlike the French, the British wanted to build
settlements on the land, bringing many new
colonists to the region
This caused new problems with the Native
Americans in the area
Pontiac’s Rebellion
Chief Pontiac of the
Ottawa tribe united the
Huron, Miami, Delaware,
and Shawnee tribes
against the expanding
British
In May 1763 Pontiac and
his forces began the
attack on Fort Detroit
Pontiac’s allies
destroyed or captured 9
forts in the Great Lakes
area in one month’s time
The End of Pontiac’s Rebellion
Chief Pontiac
Fort Detroit, mid 1700’s
After attacking Fort Detroit for nearly 6
months and without much success, Pontiac’s
forces grew tired and returned to their villages
More native warriors began leaving Pontiac
as the British were more and more successful
at resisting attacks. (i.e. Fort Pitt)
Pontiac finally surrendered and made peace
with the English in 1766
Proclamation of 1763
With battles erupting
in the Ohio Country
between British and
Pontiac’s natives, King
George III issued the
Proclamation of 1763
This banned colonists
from settling west of
the Appalachians
Ordered colonists to
remove themselves
from existing western
settlements
Proclamation of 1763
Upset colonists
Felt that they had just fought a war for this land, and they
should be able to settle it
Felt that King George had no business meddling in Colonial
Affairs
Settlers continued to move west, angering native
groups
This proclamation
proved difficult to enforce
The colonists’ disregard
for the proclamation
displayed their continued
dissatisfaction with British
control.
Moving West
Daniel Boone discovered
the Cumberland Gap in
1769
A path through the
Appalachians
Just north of the junction
of the present day states
of KY, TN, and VA
Boone and others would
continue to move west and
lead other settlers into the
Ohio Country
Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the
Cumberland Gap (George Caleb Bingham, 1852)