THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR

France vs. England Between 1689 and 1763, these two nations fought against one another 4 times That’s 4 wars in just 70 years!! The last one, King George’s War ended in a stalemate (nobody won) Now…in the 1750s, the Ohio Country (land between Applachian Mountains and Mississippi River is up for grabs…

What’s at stake The French have a vast fur trading empire and are looking to expand Britain’s population is growing in the colonies and if they don’t move in now they will forever be stuck east of the Appalachian Mountains

How it went down A man named George Washington, age 21, attacks the French at Fort Duquesne on a peaceful mission He and his men quickly build a temporary fort called Fort Necessity A larger French army comes back and defeats Washington’s men

Allies for Both Sides The British had the Iroquois Indian tribe fighting on their side The French had the majority of the Indian allies and learned their style of warfare (surprise attacks, ambushing the British from behind trees and rocks) Though they are colonists living 3,000+ miles away from England, the New England men were still incredibly loyal to the British….AND they hated the French Spain fought with the French as well

Help arrives from England The colonists had no sense of unity amongst one another and needed help from the mother country of England The English soldiers believe they are better than the colonial ones and look down upon them Ben Franklin proposes The Albany Plan of Union to unify the colonies so they could settle these kinds of matters on their own His plan is rejected from every direction

The British are victorious The British pour money, troops, and equipment into North America and win the war France loses all of its land and just gets to keep its “fishing rights” in Canada Britain gains Canada, the Ohio land, and Florida Spain gets the Isle of Orleans (a New Orleans port)

North America in 1750North America in 1763

A Bittersweet Victory The British were now in a lot of debt and looking to tax their colonies They were a little disturbed by how “non English” the colonists seemed to be Already there are HUGE differences between colonists and the people in England The colonists feel some resentment toward Britain for how things played out….

Proclamation of 1763 To separate the colonists from the Indians, England rules that the colonists are to stay east of the Appalachian Mountains The colonists are annoyed because there are too many of them in the east and they need to move west To prevent colonists from moving that direction, British sent in soldiers to “protect them from the Indians”

Thoughts? Do the colonists have a right to be angry with the British for the Proclamation of 1763? Or should they just be grateful that England came in to help them win the war? Would the Albany Plan of Union prevented the upcoming Revolutionary War? Or just delayed it? Is it fair to tax the colonists for the debt England is now in because of the French and Indian War?