North America in 1750
CAUSES OF WAR
• Continuous rivalry between British and
French over North American empires
– King William’s War, War of Jenkins Ear,
King George’s War
• Conflicting claims over Ohio River Valley
– England?
• fur trade/expansion
– France?
• fur trade/link b/w Canada & MS Valley
Beaver fur has multiple
layers of different types
of hair.
CAUSES…..
• France’s Fort Duquesne
– Threatened colonial safety
– A barrier to further British
expansion westward
1753  Major
Washington
• VA Gov. Dinwiddie learns FR troops
moved into Ohio River Valley & building
forts
• Major Washington, 21, sent by Gov.
to deliver message to FR to get out
– FR interpreter with him
• Return trip to VA is brutal
– Winter, horses dying, so hike through snow
– Shot at by an Indian who offered to show
them a shortcut (poor aim!)
– Pursued by Hurons (FR allies)
– Falls off raft into ice-choked Allegheny
River
– Spends freezing night on island, guide
suffers frostbite but GW unhurt
• Gov. publishes account of Washington’s arduous
900 mi. journey in both Williamsburg & London
– Washington gains international reputation by age 22
»
- THE LEGEND BEGINS!
1754  The Spark
British
The
Ohio Valley
CONFLICT
BEGINS AT
FORT DUQUESNE
French
Ft. Duquesne, #1
• Colonel GW & 150 VA militia
dispatched by Gov. Dinwiddie
• Skirmish w/FR & kill 10, including
their commander
– BIG mistake militarily
– “I heard the bullets whistle, and believe
me, there is something charming in the
sound.” George Washington
• GW retreats to makeshift fort,
Ft. Necessity…what happens
there?
• Forced to surrender when
surrounded by FR (on July 4th)
– GW humiliated, resigns, but will
later return
• Sparks global war!
Reconstructed model of the
hastily built Fort Necessity.
Depiction of
George
Washington
at age 22.
A young George
Washington
surrenders to
the French.
1754  Albany Plan of Union
Meeting called by BR – 2 purposes:
1) keep Iroquois loyal to BR
2) achieve greater colonial unity /
better defense against FR
 Representatives from only 7 colonies New England, NY, MD, PA
Ben Franklin introduces
plan for colonial
home rule

Albany Congress  failed
(not enough ind.
for colonists / BR think it’s too much ind.)
Iroquois
Plan
broke off relations with BR
rejected by colonies & London
1755  Ft. Duquesne #2
•
British Gen. Edward Braddock
• George Washington & Daniel Boone
Attack Fort Duquesne and are
severely defeated – why?

1500
French and Indian forces,
Over 900 of 1100 BR,
including Braddock, killed
• GW becomes legend!
•
4 bullets pierced coat, 2 horses shot
from under him, Indian belief…
•
BR then seek to invade Canada –fail, why?
1756  War Is Formally
Declared!
Lord
Loudoun
Marquis
de Montcalm
Native American tribes
exploited both sides!
British-American
Colonial Tensions
Colonials
Methods of
Fighting:
• Indian-style guerilla
tactics.
Military
• Col. militias served
Organization: under own captains.
British
• March in formation or
bayonet charge.
• Br. officers wanted to
take charge of colonials.
Military
Discipline:
• No mil. deference or
protocols observed.
• Drills & tough
discipline.
Finances:
• Resistance to rising
taxes.
• Colonists should pay
for their own defense.
Demeanor:
• Casual,
non-professionals.
• Prima Donna BR
officers with servants
& tea settings.
20,000 colonials serve – myth of BR invincibility shattered.
1757  William Pitt
Becomes Foreign Minister


He understood colonial concerns &
offered them a compromise:
Colonial loyalty & mil. cooperationBritish would reimburse colonies
for their costs.
RESULTS?  Colonial morale up by 1758
 TURNING POINT IN WAR!!
Puts
younger BR officers in place;
 “The
enemy of my enemy…..”
Aids FR’s enemies elsewhere
around world & thus forces FR to
withdraw some troops from AM
Battle at Ft. William Henry
“Last of the Mohicans”
• Lake George, NY
• BR Col. Munro vs. FR Montcalm
• BR, unable to get reinforcements,
surrender the fort Aug. 1757
• FR Indian allies massacre BR on
their exit from the fort
1758-1761  The Tide
Turns for England
1758 –
First major
BR victory:
LOUISBURG,
the gateway
to New France
* By 1761, SP has become an ally of FR
Battle of Quebec - 1759
•James Wolfe vs. Montcalm
•Why can’t the BR get Quebec?
•What plan does Wolfe come up with?
Battle of Quebec - 1759
•The End
for France!
•Montcalm &
Wolfe both
die
•Montreal
then taken
in 1760
1763  Treaty of Paris
France --> lost all Canadian possessions,
most of her empire in India, and claims
to lands east of the Mississippi River;
only keeps W Indies sugar islands - Haiti
Spain --> got all lands west of the
Mississippi River & New Orleans from
FR; but cedes Florida to England in
exchange for Cuba.
England --> got all French lands in
Canada, exclusive rights to Caribbean
slave trade, and commercial dominance
in India; owns all lands east of MS River
North America in 1763
Effects of the War
on Britain?
1. It increased her colonial empire
in the Americas.
2. It greatly enlarged England’s
debt – heavy taxation of the
colonies begins!
3. Britain’s contempt for the
colonials created bitter
feelings.
Effects of the War on the
American Colonials
1. It united them against a common
enemy for the 1st time.
2. It created bitter feelings towards
the British that would only intensify.
3. Military experience for officers & men.
4. Shattered myth of BR invincibility.
5. Encourages colonial expansion.
6. Hostility towards Native Americans.
The Aftermath: Tensions
Along the Frontier
1763  Pontiac’s Rebellion
Fort Detroit
• Ottawa Chief / FR Indian allies attack BR & AM
• Destroy 3 BR outposts / 2,000 colonists in PA,
MD, VA
• Biological warfare used by BR in Detroit
– Distribute “gifts” of smallpox-infected
blankets to Indians.
Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763)
RESULT? BR realize need to stabilize Indian
relations & keep troops stationed along the frontier.
Colonists see Pontiac’s defeat as free ticket to
populate the OH Valley.
BACKLASH!
British  Proclamation
Line of 1763.
Goal of the BR?
Colonials  Paxton Boys (PA) 1763-64
Colonial Reaction to
Proclamation?
• Colonists see it as an attack on their
liberty, an attempt to control them
• Ignore it and continued to move West
• DANIEL BOONE helped lead the way!
Collaboration of Susan Pojer and Pamela Montague