In the mid1700s,
colonists
continued to
move west
into the Ohio
River Valley.
The French also claimed the land
in the Ohio River Valley.
The French wanted control for
their fur trade. They traded with
the Native Americans in the
region.
The British
started trading
more with the
Native
Americans, and
paid higher
prices for the
fur than the
French did.
This made the French mad
because it hurt their business,
so they started building forts in
the area.
In 1753 the French built Fort
Presque Isle (Erie) and Fort Le
Boeuf (Waterford).
In 1754 they built
Fort Duquesne.
(Pittsburgh)
*It was actually
on the site of a
fort the British
were starting
to build.
These forts angered the British,
and they wanted the French to
leave. But the Quakers in
charge of Pennsylvania at the
time did not want to attack the
French forts.
The governor of the Virginia
colony, Robert Dinwiddie,
wanted the land of the Ohio
River Valley for Virginia.
Remember,
the colonies
did not have
the same
borders in the
1750s as our
states do
today.
Dinwiddie sent
a young man
from the
British army
named George
Washington to
Fort Le Boeuf
to tell them to
leave. The
French
refused.
Several months later, Washington
was sent back to the area with
soldiers to protect British
colonists in the area from the
French.
Worried about being attacked by
a larger French force from Fort
Duquesne, Washington built
Fort Necessity for protection.
On July 3, 1754, the French did
attack, laid siege to the fort, and
forced Washington to surrender.
Washington and his troops
returned to Virginia. Many say
this was the beginning of the
French and Indian War.
The British lost many early
battles in the war to the French.
One of those
losses was on
July 9, 1755,
when General
Edward Braddock
lost the Battle of
the Monongahela.
Braddock was
killed in the fight.
The French, along with their
Native American allies, fought
the British for control of the
North American continent for
nine years.
As the war continued, things
started going better for the
British, and they began to win
more battles.
One victory for the British was in
1756 when Pennsylvanian John
Armstrong led an attack on the
Native American village of
Kittanning, capturing it.
Fort Duquesne finally fell into
British hands in September of
1758. The French burned it down
so the British couldn’t use it.
The British built Fort Pitt in
place of Fort Duquesne.
Remains of Fort
Pitt today.
The British finally won the war,
and in 1763 the British and
French signed the Treaty of
Paris.
This officially ended the war and
gave England control of North
America from the Atlantic Ocean
to the Mississippi River.
Knowing that there could be
trouble with Native Americans
still living in the new area now
controlled by England,
Parliament needed a way to
control their colonists and new
territory.
The Proclamation
of 1763 was given
which created a
line along the
frontier.
Colonists were
not to settle on
land west of the
Proclamation Line
of 1763.
Native Americans living in the
Great Lakes region and Ohio
River Valley did not like the way
they were being treated by the
British and were afraid their
land would be taken away.
Many Native American tribes
joined together to fight the
British and colonists. One of the
main leaders was an Ottawa
named Pontiac. The fighting that
followed is called Pontiac’s War or
Pontiac’s Rebellion.
Native American warriors
attacked forts, destroyed farms in
the frontier, and killed many
colonists living on the frontier.
Fort Venango (Franklin) and Fort
Le Boeuf (Waterford) were
captured by Native Americans in
June of 1763.
Fort Pitt was attacked by
Delaware Indians on June
22,1763. They couldn’t capture
the fort, so they laid siege to it.
Many people from the area had
fled to Fort Pitt for protection
from Native American raids. The
fort normally only held 300
people. During the siege, over
1,500 people sought shelter
there.
Colonel Henry Bouquet of
Lancaster, along with 500
soldiers were sent to relieve Fort
Pitt. The Delawares laying siege
to the fort left it to attack
Bouquet’s men.
The two forces clashed on August
5, 1763, and fought the Battle of
Bushy Run for two days.
Bouquet and his men won,
relieved Fort Pitt, and ended
Pontiac’s War in Pennsylvania
and the surrounding area. The
war officially ended on July 25,
1766.