I. The French and Indian War A. European Rivals in North America 1. By the mid 1700s, the major powers of Europe were locked in a worldwide struggle for empire. a) England, Spain, France, and the Netherlands competed for trade and colonies. 2. The most serious threat came from France. a) It claimed a vast area that stretched from the St. Lawrence River west to the Great Lakes and south to the Gulf of Mexico. b) System of forts for protection.

I. The French and Indian War 3. At first, most English settlers were content to remain along the Atlantic coast. a) By the 1740s, settlers were pushing into the Ohio River Valley to compete for the fur trade. 4. France was determined to stop the English from expanding westward. a) The Ohio River was especially important to the French since it linked Canada with the Mississippi River. 5. Native Americans had hunted animals and grown crops in the Ohio Valley for centuries.

I. The French and Indian War a) Native Americans did not want to give up their lands. b) Some Native American tribes felt that the only way to keep their lands was to take sides. c) The Hurons and the Algonquin sided with the French while the Iroquois sided with the British. 6. An English trader and official, William Johnson, helped gain Iroquois support for England. a) Johnson had married Molly Brant, the sister of the Mohawk chief Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant). B. The French and Indian War Begins

I. The French and Indian War 1. Three times between 1689 and 1748, France and Great Britain fought for power in Europe and North America. 2. In 1754, fighting broke out for the fourth time. a) English settlers called the conflict the French and Indian War because it pitted them against France and its Native American allies. b) Ohio River was at the center of the conflict. c) Started by British colonial troops under George Washington. 3. Washington was only 22 years old in 1754.

I. The French and Indian War a) Grew up on a plantation in VA. b) Son of wealthy parents. c) Gifted mathematician and surveyor. d) Familiar with Western VA. 4. Washington’s second trip to visit the French in the Ohio River Valley he was to build a fort at the merger of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers (The start of the Ohio River). 5. Washington led 150 men into the Ohio country in April 1754.

I. The French and Indian War a) He was too late because the French had already built Fort Duquesne. b) Washington built Fort Necessity. c) Washington at first was successful against the French, but the French counter attacked and forced Washington to surrender. d) This action started the French and Indian War. C. The Albany Congress 1. While Washington was defending Fort Necessity, delegates from seven colonies gathered in Albany, NY.

I. The French and Indian War 2. The delegates in Albany knew that the colonists had to work together to defeat the French. a) Benjamin Franklin, the delegate from PA, proposed the Albany Plan of Union. b) The plan was to create “one general government” for the 13 colonies. 3. The delegates voted to approve the Plan of Union, but the individual colonial assemblies voted against it. a) Not one of the colonies wanted to give up its powers to a central government.

I. The French and Indian War D. A String of British Defeats 1. In 1755, Gen. Edward Braddock led British and colonial troops in an attack on Ft. Duquesne. a) Little experience in fighting in the forest. 2. Braddock’s men moved slowly and noisily through the forest. a) Washington and his Indian scouts warned him of danger. 3. As the British neared Ft. Duquesne, the French and their Indian allies launched a surprise attack. a) Gen. Braddock was killed in the attack.

I. The French and Indian War 4. During the next two years the war continued to go badly for the British. a) British attacks on French forts failed while the French took British forts like Fort Oswego and Fort William Henry. E. The Tide of Battle Turns 1. In 1757, William Pitt became the new head of the British government. a) Pitt made it his first job to win the war in North America. b) In 1758, the British army under Gen. Jeffrey Amherst, captured Louisbourg and Fort Duquesne which was renamed Ft. Pitt. (Pittsburgh)

I. The French and Indian War F. The Fall of New France 1. The British enjoyed even greater success in 1759. a) Fort Niagara, Crown Point, and Ft. Ticonderoga were all captured by the British. b) British Gen. James Wolfe was sent to capture Quebec, the capital of New France. 2. Quebec sat on the edge of the Plains of Abraham on top of a steep cliff above the St. Lawrence River. a) French General, the Marquis de Montcalm, defended Quebec. b) Wolfe landed British troops on the shore, climbed up the cliff and defeated the French troops on the Plains of Abraham.

I. The French and Indian War C Wolfe and Montcalm were killed during the battle. 3. The fall of Quebec sealed the fate of New France. a) In 1763, Britain and France signed the Treaty of Paris, bringing the long conflict to an end. 4. The Treaty of Paris marked the end of French power in North America. a) Britain gained Canada and all French lands east of the Mississippi River. b) Britain also gained FL from Spain.

I. The French and Indian War c) Spain received New Orleans and all French land west of the Mississippi River. 5. A new conflict was coming between the British and her North American colonies.