French Colonies and Conflict with Britain

French Exploration in North America In 1534, the French King Francis I sent explorer Jacques Cartier to the West to find a new route to Asia Like Columbus he found a large land mass in his way He explored and mapped the area around the St. Lawrence River and claimed land for France that would become Canada. He is credited with giving Canada its name from the native word for settlement – “kanata”

French Settlement in North America In 1608, Samuel de Champlain (known as the “Father of Canada”) founded the first French settlement - Quebec City Quebec becomes the capital of New France. Grows very slow…Why? Weather and disease Main Priorities Fur-trading mostly Beaver pelts Make friends with local Native America tribes Algonquians and Hurons

French Territory in North America Robert de LaSalle Led an expedition down the Mississippi River to claim the interior region of North America for France He named it Louisiana after King Louis XIV Purpose: to stop the expansion of the Spanish near the Gulf of Mexico The Spanish are not thrilled and start to build forts to protect their claims in Florida and Texas

By the mid 1700s France controlled more territory than England British Territory Things will get tense on the borders as both countries try to get more land

The Clash of the Empires French and Native American Great Britain and Colonists It’s about to go down and get bloody…

First Blood…Fort Duquesne May 28 1754 Lt. Colonel Washington sent out w/ 160 men to reinforce colonial post Fort Duquesne Finds out French had already taken the post (bloodless) 40 miles out creates Fort Necessity French don’t like it and the battle begins -1st blood of French & Indian war

Tibit info: July 4th Washington & men get butt kicked by French & sent back home with tail b/w legs ☺ Washington earns hero status

Albany Congress June 1754, just before the outbreak of war, leaders from the colonies met in Albany, New York Albany Plan of Union- proposed by Benjamin Franklin Proposed that the colonies unite to form a federal government Colonies rejected it but it shows first movements toward independence

Political cartoon by Ben Franklin…published in Pennsylvania Gazette…encouraged support for the Albany plan

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR (1754-1763) Also called the 7 Years War - Britain and France fought to be the dominant force in North America The French initially had good relations with many Native American tribes and were very successful In the end the British wore them down and ultimately took the win.

Treaty of Paris 1763 Officially Ends the War French booted out of N. America British get Canada Colonies gain all land east of the Mississippi River Spain given Louisiana Territory 1801 secret treaty b/w Spain & France France get Louisiana Territory back

Effects of the F&I War Colonist Great Britain Colonist roamed free No worries about Native Americans or Spain Less dependent on Britain for protection Colonists very confident Myth of British being invincible….GONE!!!! Britain left deeply in debt Needed to find new ways to generate money to cover costs of operating an empire Many in England felt that the colonies should carry the load of paying down the war debt Will put new regulations in place Cause severe resentment by the Colonists

PROCLAMATION OF 1763 King George III draws a line from north to south along Appalachian Mountains Settlers CAN NOT settle west of that line Done to avoid further conflict with Indians Angered many backcountry settlers who wanted access to land