1. Imperialism and the struggle for North America

2. First Nations and North America
Before Europeans came to North America, First Nations owned the land. There were towns dotting the continent to a total of 1 million people. The idea that North America was baron is completely untrue.

3. Imperialism means, “How can I get what I want for myself and my country”?
The mindset was, “if you have a bigger, more powerful military, you can dominate other places in the world and get want you want. Today, we use friendly agreement between countries to protect what we have, and there is less reliance on war. However, in this time period, war was an option that was used regularly and often!

4. Europeans came to North America in the 1600’s
They came for land, they came for resources. North America was the “Walmart” of its day. Canada alone had millions of trees, fish and furs. Furs would be the dominate resource that Europe needed, after that, it was wood. All that was needed was people to collect the resources and return them to Europe to be made into goods that people would buy!

5. France and England Create Colonies in North America
Now, with the French in North America, England would soon follow. Why? Furs and timber. Furs were important to make into valuable goods to be sold in Europe. Wood was necessary for the creation of Europe’s Navy to protect resources that European countries wanted and to fight rivals who would most certainly take want you have. The main rivals were Britain and France.

6. France and Britain create forts to protect the colonies that they have in North America.
France and Britain create colonies to protect their claims in North America. Along with the colonies, the major powers created military forts and other fortifications such as the Fortress of Louisburg, the Halifax Citadel and a Fortress at Quebec, to protect their colonies. It was clear that talking out problems and disagreements was not the norm.

7. Eventually, the struggle for resources would lead to conflict between First Nations, France and Britain
France and Britain were the major combatants. France had major military forts in North America; Britain had the most powerful navy and military in the world. They also had the determination needed to be successful in conflict, and that had every desire to dominate North America for themselves.

8. Britain wins control of North America, but finds it difficult to maintain its huge territory
In 1763, France surrenders after a Seven Years War with Britain. France loses all her colonies in North America, except too small islands off the coast of Newfoundland which are still a part of France today!
The trouble Britain had was trying to maintain control over such a vast territory. It cost lots of money and put a tremendous strain on resources that the British had.
Britain also had this “its all about me” attitude. Many people in the new Thirteen Colonies were tired of the British controlling everything and some started calling for a new country of their own.

9. The Thirteen Colonies Rebelled Against the British
Eventually, the colonists in what is now the United States, became tired of the British always telling them what to do. The main issue, the British wanted to raise more money to help with the burden of maintaining the Empire. The British imposed a tax on the American colonies, but would not allow the colonies to have any say in the matter. The result, some leaders in the colonies believed the only way to control their own lives, was to declare war on the British, which eventually they did.

10. Thirteen Colonies Win their Fight Against the British and set their sites on Canada.
Eventually, the British lost the war with America. The United States was born but the hatred between America and the British remained. Over many occasions, Britain tried to get back at America for its defeat. Therefore, when British ships would come across American ships on the ocean, many British captains would try and capture the American vessels and their sailors. This would make America angry, and the end result was that America set its sights on what is now Canada. As we will see, this would cause Britain to do all it could to maintain its possessions in North America, including protecting Canada from a takeover by the United States.