3.1 The French & Indian War A. Europeans Fight Over North American Land 1. The most serious threat to the English colonies came from France. a) France claimed a vast area that circled the English colonies from the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes and then south to the Gulf of Mexico. b) French forts blocked the British colonies from expanding westward. 2. At first, most British colonists were content to remain along the Atlantic coast. a) By the 1740s, however, traders were crossing the Appalachian Mtns. In search of furs.

3.1 The French & Indian War b) Pushing into the forests of the Ohio Valley, British settlers tried to take over the profitable fur trade with the Native Americans. c) The French were determined to stop the expansion of the British westward. 3. The Native Americans had hunted animals and grown crops in the Ohio Valley for centuries and they did not want to give up their land to Europeans, French or British. a) Some Native Americans decided it was better to pick sides between the British and the French. 4. The French expected the Native Americans to side with them.

3.1 The French & Indian War 5. Many British settlers were farmers. a) Most French in North America were trappers and traders. b) The French did not destroy Native American hunting grounds by clearing forests to farm. c) The French also married Native American women and adopted their ways. d) The French had strong alliances with the Native Americans. 5. Many British settlers were farmers. a) The British ignored Native American rights by clearing land to plant crops. b) However, an English trader and official, William Johnson, helped gain Iroquois support for the British. c) Johnson had an Iroquois wife and he was respected among the Iroquois. d) His wife, Molly Brant, was the sister of the Mohawk chief Thayendanegea, known to the British as Joseph Brant.

3.1 The French & Indian War 6. The Iroquois were the long time enemies of the French Native American allies, the Algonquins and the Hurons. B. The French and Indian War Begins in the Ohio Valley 1. In 1754, fighting broke out and was called the French & Indian War. a) The French & Indian War was part of a larger war called the Seven Years War. b) In North America, the Ohio River Valley was at the center of the dispute. c) The opening shots of the war were fired by soldiers led by George Washington. 2. When Washington took part of the conflict in the Ohio River Valley, he was only 22.

3.1 The French & Indian War a) George Washington had grown up on a plantation in VA, the son of wealthy parents. 3. Washington was gifted at mathematics, he began working as a land surveyor at the age of 15. a) His job made him familiar with lands in western VA. 4. In 1753, the VA governor sent Washington to deliver a letter to the French asking them to withdraw from the Ohio River Valley. a) The French refused. b) Washington was sent west again to build a fort where the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers meet to form the Ohio River. (Present day Pittsburgh) c) Along the way, Washington learned that the French had just completed Fort Duquesne at the same spot he was going to build his fort.

3.1 The French & Indian War 5. Washington and his men hurried on to confront the French and their Native American allies. a) Washington attacked some Native American scouts in woods near Fort Duquesne. b) The Iroquois helped Washington fight against the French allies, the Algonquins. 6. Washington’s success was brief. a) Washington learned that the French and the Algonquins were going to counter attack. b) Washington and his men quickly built a makeshift stockade known as Fort Necessity. c) The French surrounded the stockade and made Washington and his men surrender. d) Washington was soon released and he and his men returned home.

3.1 The French & Indian War C. A Meeting in Albany e) These brief military engagements were the beginning of the French & Indian War. C. A Meeting in Albany 1. While Washington was fighting the French, delegates from 7 colonies gathered in Albany, NY. a) Cement the alliance with the Iroquois. b) Plan a united colonial defense. c) Benjamin Franklin (PA) proposed the Albany Plan of Union, which suggested “one general government” for the British colonies. d) The proposal also created a grand council made up of a delegate from each of the 13 colonies. e) The delegation approved the plan, but when it was submitted to each of the colonial assemblies, no colony approved it.

3.1 The French & Indian War D. British Defeats in the Ohio Valley 1. In 1755, General Edward Braddock led British and colonial troops in an attack against Fort Duquesne. a) Braddock lacked experience in fighting in wooded environments. b) Braddock’s men moved slowly and noisily through the forests. c) As the British neared Fort Duquesne, the French launched a surprise attack. d) Braddock was fatally wounded in the battle that saw half of the British force killed. e) Washington was nearly killed as well. 2. During the next two years, the war continued to go badly for the British.

3.1 The French & Indian War E. Quebec and New France Fall a) British attacks against several French forts failed while the French captured Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario and Fort William Henry on Lake George. b) The capture of Fort William Henry is dramatized in the James Fenimore Cooper novel, The Last of the Mohicans. c) All of these British defeats put a strain on the alliance between the Iroquois and the British. E. Quebec and New France Fall 1. In 1757, William Pitt became prime minister, the head of the British government. a) Pitt made his first job to win the war in North America. b) Pitt sent his best generals to North America and encouraged colonists to support the war by offering large payments for military service.

3.1 The French & Indian War 2. Under Pitt’s leadership, the tide of war turned for the British. a) Major General Jeffrey Amherst captured Fort Louisbourg, the most important fort in French Canada. (Nova Scotia) b) Fort Duquesne was captured and renamed Fort Pitt. (Pittsburgh) 3. The British enjoyed even greater success in 1759. a) British forces captured Fort Niagara, Crown Point, and Fort Ticonderoga. 4. Pitt then set his sights on the city of Quebec, the capital of New France. a) Pitt sent General James Wolfe and an army of 4,000. b) Quebec sat on a high cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence River. c) Quebec was defended by a French army commanded by General Marquis de Montcalm.

3.1 The French & Indian War d) The city sat on the Plains of Abraham. 5. Wolfe decided to attack up the cliffs to surprise the French. a) The British force rowed across the river in darkness, climbed up the cliff, and assembled on the Plains of Abraham. b) Marquis de Montcalm marched the French out to join the battle. c) Wolfe and Montcalm were both killed during the battle. d) The British won the battle and captured Quebec. 6. In 1763, the British and the French signed the Treaty of Paris bringing the long conflict to an end. 7. The Treaty of Paris marked the end of French power in North America. a) France lost all of Canada and its land east of the Mississippi River to the British. b) France was allowed to keep two islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and its islands in the Caribbean.

3.1 The French & Indian War c) Spain gave FL to Britain and was given all lands west of the Mississippi. d) Spain also kept all of its land in Central America and South America.