French and Indian War
The Prelude
Vocabulary: Part II
Northwest Territory (Ohio
Valley)
Ben Franklin
Albany Plan of Union
militia
George Washington
Fort Necessity
French and Indian War
Seven Years War (105)
Colonial Independence Caused Concern:
Triangle Trade was an economic issue . Westward Expansion
by British colonists was a political problem.
England's American empire needed to expand. The colonies pressed westward to
Ohio and Kentucky as colonists sought new agricultural lands and trade
opportunities. Settlers crossed landmasses into French and Indian territory, where
they were not welcome.
Colonists want to move into the Northwest Territory
(Ohio Valley) claimed by the French and Indians.
Land
claimed
by French
The French did not settle the Ohio Valley in the Northwest Territory.
They built trading posts & forts, and paid natives for the use of the land.
They got along with the natives for these reasons.
In addition, French trappers worked with natives. They traded furs, guns,
horses, etc. Both profited from this trade relationship and
lived in
peace.
British colonists from western PA and VA
move “west” into French & Indian territory in
1750s.
1749- British build forts in Ohio
Valley on French land.
1752- French attack the British
forts to drive them out.
1754- Colonel George
Washington, age 22, led his
Virginia militia… civilian military
force, into western PA in May,
captured French scouts, killing
French officers. The he built Fort
Necessity for his men.
1754-The French and Indians
retaliate in July, take the fort, kill
VA militiamen!
Meanwhile in Albany, NY…
Washington’s map of the Ohio River
1753-1754 with notes on French
intentions
On the brink of war, some colonists
urged unity.
Ben Franklin, went to Albany, NY in
June 1754 to meet with delegates
from seven northern colonies.
They met to discuss ways to
strengthen colonial ties with the
Iroquois League of 5 Indian nations.
They hoped to become allies to
protect themselves from the French &
hostile Indians in the west.
In 1754 Benjamin Franklin proposed
the Albany Plan of Union to unite the
British North American colonies. He
wanted a legislative body with the
power to control trade and organize
defenses. His plan called for
legislators to be under the authority of
the king of England.
Ben Franklin’s
political cartoon
from his
newspaper
The Pennsylvania
Gazette 9 May
1754
“Union of the colonies is absolutely necessary for their
preservation.”
Benjamin Franklin,
Reason for the
Albany Plan of Union, July, 1754
The Albany Plan was rejected by
both the colonists and the British
government in England.
The King worried that the Plan
would create a powerful colonial
government, difficult to control.
The colonists did not see the value
of unity & worried about losing
individual power.
No Albany Plan!
No Colonial Unity!
This Means War!!!
July, 1754- French surrounded Fort Necessity. Colonel
Washington surrendered.
The surrender of Fort Necessity starts the French and Indian
War.
The
French
& Indian
War
The British & their American colonists waged war against the French & Indians
along the Great Lakes, in the Ohio Valley and in New France (Canada) from
1754 to 1763 and called it the French and Indian War.
Another war between Britain and France raged in Europe called the Seven
Years’ War from 1756 to 1763.
These wars were all about LAND, ECONOMICS and POWER. Whoever owns
the land, boosts the economy and has domination over over all.
Causes: in Textbook:
American migration (page 89-90)
British and French rivalry (see pages 104-5)
British v French colonization practices (105)
Overall Causes of the War:
• Britain and France fought for land supremacy in the New World for
decades.
• Britain built forts in French-claimed Territory known as the Northwest
Territory in present day western Pennsylvania and in Ohio.
• English and French settlers colonized the Ohio River Valley, causing
conflict.
• English settlers, from Virginia and Pennsylvania, and French settlers, from
the Great Lakes and southeastern Canada, each thought they owned the
rights to the disputed land in these Northwest Territories in the Ohio Valley.
• Washington attacked and killed French officials outside Fort Duquesne in
May, 1754. This was the impetus.