1. “The Great War for Empire”
The French & Indian War
(1756 to 1763)
“The Great War for Empire”

2. North America in 1750

3. Competition Population Differences: Beaver Trade
French  80,000
English  Over 1,000,000
Beaver Trade
French have trap and trade agreement with Indians

4. 1754  The First Clash The Ohio Valley British French
Fort Necessity Fort Duquesne * George Washington * Delaware & Shawnee Indians

5. 1754  The First Clash French built Ft. Duquesne
Virginia government granted 200,000 acres in the area to wealthy planters
VA militia sent to encourage the French to leave.

6. The Rise of Washington
22 / 6’2” 200, big hands & feet (Avg. height around 5’6”)
Wealthy family
Adventurous
Leads militia, establishes Ft. Necessity
Attacks small French grp.
French retaliate & crush Virginians

8. 1754  Albany Plan of Union
Ben Franklin  representatives from New England, NY, MD, PA
Albany Congress  Failed. Iroquois broke off relations with Britain & threatened to trade with the French.

9. 1755  Britain Decides to Eliminate French Presence in No. Amer.
Gen. Edward Braddock  evict the French from the OH Valley & Canada (Newfoundland & Nova Scotia)
Killed 10 mi. from Ft. Duquesne  by 1500 French and Indian forces.

10. British-American Colonial Tensions
Colonials
British
Methods of Fighting:
Indian-style tactics.
March in formation or bayonet charge.
Military Organization:
Col. militias served under own captains.
Br. officers wanted to take charge of colonials.
Military Discipline:
No mil. Deference, few serious drills.
Drills & tough discipline.
Finances:
Resistance to rising taxes.
Colonists should pay for their own defense.
Demeanor:
Casual, laid back.
Indulgent.

11. 1757  William Pitt Becomes Foreign Minister
Understood colonial concerns.
Realized that economics could win the war.
Borrows $ for the largest best-equipped army in the world (50,000 Soldiers)
Victories gain support of the powerful Iroquois tribe

12. 1758-1761  The Tide Turns for England

13. 1763  Treaty of Paris
France --> lost her Canadian possessions, most of her empire in India, and claims to lands east of the Mississippi River.
Spain --> got all French lands west of the Mississippi River, New Orleans, but lost Florida to England.
England --> got all French lands in Canada, exclusive rights to Caribbean slave trade, and commercial dominance in India.

14. North America in 1763

15. Effects of the War on Britain?
1. It increased her colonial empire in the Americas.
It greatly enlarged England’s debt (150 million British pounds – 1763)
(15,000,000,000 British pounds – 2009)
(23,700,000,000 U.S> Dollars – 2009)
Britain’s contempt for the colonials created bitter feelings
(British citizens paid 26 Shillings/year in taxes; average colonist paid about 1 Shilling/year)
Therefore, England felt that a major reorganization of her American Empire was necessary!

16. Effects of the War on the American Colonials
1. It united them against a common enemy for the first time.
2. It created a socializing experience for all the colonials who participated.
3. It created bitter feelings towards the British that would only intensify.

17. The Aftermath: Tensions Along the Frontier
1763  Pontiac’s Rebellion
Fort Detroit
British “gifts” of smallpox-infected blankets from Fort Pitt.

18. Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763)

19. BACKLASH!
British  Proclamation Line of 1763.

20. Proclamation Line of 1763
Declares that American colonists cannot move west of the Appalachians.
British do not want to waste resources fighting the Indians
Colonists are mad at being told what to do, but move anyway because the British can’t enforce it.