French and Indian War
Before 1763
- Population of the colonies had grown from 50,000 to 1
million people over a century.
-Cheap land, religious tolerance, economic
opportunities
-Because the British government had left the colonies alone they
had to find ways of dealing with their own problems and governing
themselves.
-Each colony elected its own assembly
-These assemblies had the power to pass laws and create
taxes, just like the British Parliament
-The assemblies also had to decide how the colony’s tax
money should be spent.
French and Indian War
- The major powers of Europe are in a struggle for a large empire.
France, Spain, Britain and the Netherlands are all competing for
trade and colonies around the globe.
-France had a large amount of land in North America. Their land
stretched from the St. Lawrence River west to the Great Lakes and
south to the Gulf of Mexico.
-To protect their land they built forts
-At first most of the English settlers had no problem with staying
along the Atlantic coast.
-By 1740s traders from the colonies began crossing the
Appalachian Mountains in search of fur.
-Little by little they tried pushing into the Ohio Valley taking over
the French trade with Indians.
-The French had been very profitable in the fur trade.
-The Ohio River also provided a vital link for the French. It linked
their lands in Canada and their settlements along the Mississippi
River.
-The Native Americans did not want to give up their land to any
European settler.
-However, the conflict between the French and the English kept
growing and the Native Americans were forced to take sides.
- French were allies with the Algonquins and the Hurons.
-However, the British were able to form an alliance with the
Iroquois
- they were able to win the Native American allies in the
Ohio valley by charging lower prices than the French for
trade goods.
-Three times between 1689 and 1748, France and Britain fought
for power in Europe and North America. Always ended with an
uneasy peace.
-1754- French and Indian War brakes out.
- French creates a fort- Fort Duquesne where Pittsburgh stands
today.
-Many of the colonists are alarmed by this- they want the French
out of the Ohio River Valley
- Governor of Virginia orders a militia to drive the French out
-The leader of the militia was George Washington
-Washington moves towards Fort Duquesne( Doo-Kane) and finds
a French scouting party-open fire-easy victory
-The turning point -1759- British troops captured Canada.
-1763- Treaty of Paris- treaty ending the war.
Treaty of Paris
-France gives Canada to England
- France gives all French land east of the Mississippi River to
England
- France gives all French land west of the Mississippi River
to Spain
-Spain had entered the war on the French side in
1762 and had to give up Florida to Britain.
Proclamation of 1763
-King George III comes to power
-With the French and Indian War over, the colonists began pushing west.
-The English Government was afraid that the Native Americans and the colonists
would begin fighting and killing each other as they moved west.
-Proclamation of 1763-King George draws a line down the crest of the
Appalachian Mountains- Settlers must stay to the east and Native Americans
to the west.
-Colonists felt that this was tyranny
-They argued that the lands east of the Appalachians were already mostly
settled. They wanted to farm new land and settle to the west of the
mountains.
-King sends 7,000 British soldiers to enforce laws.