The French and Indian War A War for Control of North America

I. British-French Rivalry A. Britain and France had been competing for wealth for centuries. By 1700, they were the two strongest powers in Europe. 1. Their long rivalry aroused bitter feelings between the British and French colonists in North America.

B. As the British American colonies pushed up against French held territory, hostilities increased. 1. The British colonists wanted to explore opportunities in the Ohio Valley, and the French weren’t about to let them in.

C. Native Americans Take Sides 1. French traders and British colonists knew that Native American help would make a difference in their struggle for North America.

2. The French had many Native American allies a. Unlike the British who were taking over Native American land, the French were interested mainly in trading furs.

b. French fur trappers and traders often married Native American women and followed their customs. French missionaries tried to convert many Native Americans to Catholicism.

D. The Iroquois Confederacy 1. The Iroquois Confederacy was the most powerful group of Native Americans in the east. a. Consisted of the Mohawk, Seneca, Cayugo, Onondaga, and Oneida. b. Controlled the area around the Great Lakes.

3. By joining the British, the Iroquois upset the balance of power between the French and British.

II. American Colonists Take Action A. A group of Virginians had plans for settling the Ohio Valley. (Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois) 1. Virginia governor Robert Dinwiddie sent 21 year old major named George Washington to tell the French they were trespassing.

B. Washington’s First Command 1. Washington was sent back by Gov. Dinwiddie in 1754 with a militia - a group of civilians trained to fight in emergencies- to build a fort where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio River. 2.However the French were already there at Fort Duquesne

3. Washington’s forces attacked a French scouting party, and was forced to build Fort Necessity. a. It was easily captured. b. He was later released upon promising to stop fighting the French.

C. Albany Plan of Union 1. In June 1754, representatives from New England, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland met to discuss: a. A way for the colonies to defend themselves b. To find a way to get the Iroquois to join them against the French.

2. Benjamin Franklin’s plan called for 11 colonies to have an elected legislature with the power to collect taxes, raise troops, and regulate trade. 3. Not one colonial assembly voted for it. No colony wanted to give up power.

D. Washington’s defeat marked the start of a full scale war known as the French and Indian War. 1. Called that because the colonists fought two enemies - the French and their Native American allies.

III. The French and Indian War A. This war that raged on from 1754 to 1763 was a part of a larger struggle between England and France for control of world trade and power on the seas.

B. At first, the British colonists (Americans) fought the French and Indians with little help. 1. However, this changed when the British learned of all the forts the French were building.

2. The British sent General Edward Braddock to drive the French out of the Ohio Valley.

C. Braddock set out to attack Fort Duquesne with red coated British soldiers and blue coated colonial soldiers. 1. Washington tried to warn Braddock that his armies style of marching was not suited for frontier fighting.

a. Lined up in columns and rows, the soldiers made easy targets.

2. In an attack on July 9, 1755 Braddock and his men were ambushed by the French and Killed 2. In an attack on July 9, 1755 Braddock and his men were ambushed by the French and Killed A. Washington brought the survivors back to Virginia. A. Washington brought the survivors back to Virginia.

D. Britain Declares War on France 1.The fighting in America helped start a new war in Europe, known as the Seven Years’ War. a. Prussia and England declared war on France. b. Prussia fought France in Europe, while England fought France in the Caribbean, India, and North America. 2. The beginning of the war was disastrous for the British and their American colonies.

E. Pitt Takes Charge 1.Pitt came to power as Prime Minister in London. a. He appointed skilled commanders. b. To avoid dealing with constant arguments between England and the colonists over costs, Pitt said England would pay for all supplies and ran up a HUGE DEBT! (After the war, the British raise American taxes)

2. Pitt wanted more than the Ohio Valley, he also wanted to conquer French Canada. a. Generals Jeffrey Amherst and James Wolfe captured Louisbourg on Nova Scotia.

b. Another force attacks and captures Fort Duquesne and renamed it Fort Pitt. Gave the British control of the Ohio Valley.

IV. The Fall of New France A. The capital of new France was Quebec, it sat perched high on cliffs, and was thought to be impossible to attack. 1. However, General James Wolfe found a way.

2. The British troops assembled outside the fortress Quebec on a field called the Plains of Abraham. 3. James Wolfe and the French commander, the Marquis de Montcalm were both killed.

B. The fall of Quebec and General Amherst’s capture of Montreal brought the fighting in North America to an end.

C. The Treaty of Paris Treaty - formal agreement between two countries. 2. Forced France to give England Canada and most of its territories east of the Mississippi River 3. Great Britain gained Florida from Spain.

4. THIS TREATY MARKED THE END OF FRENCH POWER IN NORTH AMERICA a. The continent was now divided in two: the Mississippi River divided Britain’s land from Spain’s land. b. However, Native Americans still lived on this land.

V. Trouble on the Frontier A. Pontiac’s War 1. Chief Pontiac, of the Ottawa tribe, recognized the British settlers as a threat. 2. Just as Ben Franklin wanted to unite the colonies with the Albany Plan, Pontiac wanted to unite Native Americans to fight against the British. 3. In 1763, Pontiac and his forces attack Fort Detroit and other British forts. a. Series of raids was called Pontiac’s War b. Pontiac was finally defeated in 1766.

VI. The Proclamation of 1763 A. To prevent more fighting, Britain called a halt to settlers westward expansion. B. King George III declared the Appalachian Mountains were the temporary western boundaries for the colonies.

C. Angered many colonists and they moved across anyway. D. Created friction between the colonists and British.