The French and Indian War Analyze the causes of the American Revolution, including the Proclamation of 1763… and British economic policies following the French and Indian War. French and Indian War Paintings by Nat Youngblood usccls.org

The French and Indian War Or… The Seven Years War Or…  La guerre de la Conquête Fourth Intercolonial War Great War for the Empire

Who Fought? God Save the King!! The French and Indian War was fought by the British against the French and their Indian (Native American) allies. The British had Indian allies, too. Remember, the colonists were still Englishmen. They were loyal subjects and did not think of themselves as anything but Englishmen.

The Albany Plan of Union

The Albany Plan of Union 7 of the 13 colonies sent representatives to a conference in Albany, New York Benjamin Franklin proposed a Union so the colonies could: Make decisions over Indian affairs Handle trade issues Defend themselves against the French

The colonies said, “No thanks!”

Why did they Fight??? French claims Spanish claims English claims

Remember the “G” in Glory? England, France and Spain were competing with each other, and with other European countries, for wealth and power. France claimed the Ohio River Valley. As the 13 colonies prospered, many colonists began looking west toward the land claimed by the French.

One Part of a Bigger War The war was driven by the antagonism between Great Britain (in personal union with Hanover) and the Bourbons (in France and Spain), resulting from overlapping interests in their colonial and trade empires, and by the antagonism between the Hohenzollerns (in Prussia) and Hapsburgs (Holy Roman Emperors and Archdukes in Austria), resulting from territorial and hegemonial conflicts in the Holy Roman Empire. The Diplomatic Revolution established an Anglo-Prussian Camp, allied with some smaller German States and later Portugal, as well as an Austro-French Camp, allied with Sweden, Saxony and later Spain. The Russian Empire left its offensive alliance with the Habsburgs on the succession of Peter III, and like Sweden concluded a separate peace with Prussia in 1762. The war ended with the peace treaties of Paris (Bourbon France and Spain, Great Britain) and of Hubertsburg (Hohenzollerns, Habsburgs, Saxon elector) in 1763. The war was characterized by sieges and arson of towns as well as open battles involving extremely heavy losses; overall, some 900,000 to 1,400,000 people died.

Just kidding… You don’t have to learn all that stuff! But as you learned yesterday, and as you can see on the map, this was a World War England and her Allies France and her Allies

George Washington George Washington, a young Major in the Virginia Militia, was sent into western Pennsylvania to counter the French His group encountered a party of French scouts and there was a fight. A French officer was killed. This was one of the first events that sparked the world-wide conflict. A young George Washington Washington-Custis-Lee Collection, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia

Peace Before After

England’s North American Territory is now HUGE!! France cedes (gives up) all land EAST of the Mississippi to England France gives New Orleans to Spain Spain gives Florida to England (who will later give it back, but that’s another story) In North America, the only land France possesses is some islands in the Caribbean (West Indies)

The Result? So….. England is in debt (big time!) England needs money to pay for the war Fighting Indians was and would continue to be too expensive So…..

England’s Plan Enforce existing taxes on the colonists. The State of Salutary Neglect was over. Salutary Neglect: The unofficial policy England had toward her colonies; tax and trade restrictions were loosely enforced. (The colonists liked it that way!) Impose new taxes. After all, the war was to protect the colonists, so they should pay, right? Declare that there were to be no settlements west of the Proclamation Line of 1763. The Proclamation of 1763: Colonists were forbidden to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains because England wanted to avoid wars with the Native Americans.

Choose which assignment you want to complete on your table. Britain’s King George III declared that colonists were not to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. To enforce this new rule, the British planned to keep 10,000 troops in America. The Proclamation of 1763 helped remove a source of conflict with Native Americans. It also kept colonists on the coast where the British could control them. Colonists believed the proclamation limited their freedom of movement. They feared that the large number of troops might interfere with their liberties. As a result, distrust began to grow between Britain and its American colonies. Choose which assignment you want to complete on your table. Make a T chart - British Action vs. American Colonial Reaction After the French and Indian War, tensions between the American colonies and Britain got worse because…

Colonial Reaction