The Duel for North

America
Chapter 6
Founded by Samuel de Champlain
1608 Quebec was first French settlement
Located around St. Lawrence River
Expanded along Great Lakes and
Mississippi River
Made money trapping furs, especially beaver
Trappers called coureurs de bois
Interaction with French led to disease,
alcohol and challenges to Indian beliefs
Led to exploration of North America
New France


Quebec
Montreal
Champlain made allies with Huron
Was drawn into battle against Iroquois
Iroquois then resisted French attempts at
settlement in Ohio Valley and allied with
British
France paid more attention to Caribbean
colonies than American
Caribbean colonies provided sugar and
rum


New France
Small population
Only Catholics allowed to settle, Huguenot were not allowed to
immigrate
Farming difficult
Resistance from Iroquois
By 1700 18,000 French, 250,000 English
French peasants owned land, so were not motivated to come to America
Jesuits
Catholic missionaries tried to convert Indians and separate them from fur
traders

Estimated Population in British North America and New France circa 1740
Tensions between England and France
France built forts from Quebec to New Orleans
Detroit founded by Antoine Cadillac to slow British expansion to Ohio Valley
Robert de la Salle sailed Mississippi River and claimed it for France to slow
Spanish expansion
New Orleans created in 1718
English settlers pushed further west closer to French claims
Clash of Empires
Imperial Wars between France and England mostly involved coureurs de bois
and colonists, not regular military troops
Both sides turned to Indians for allies. French mostly with Algonquin,
English with Iroquois

Guerrilla warfare was common

Deerfield Massacre (1707)
French and Indians attack Deerfield MA
50 people killed, 111 taken prisoner out of 300
inhabitants
Prisoners marched to Canada
Stragglers were killed
English colonists respond by attacking French strongholds


King Williams War (1689-1697)
War of the League of Augsburg
Battle of
Boyne
Queen Annes War (1702-1713)
War of Spanish Succession
Clash of Empires
Treaty of Utrecht (1713)
Ends Queen Annes War
Britain gets Acadia (Nova Scotia), Hudson
Bay and Newfoundland

Britain also gets trading rights in Spanish
America
King Georges War (1744-1748)
Began as War of Jenkinss Ear (1739)
Fought against Spain in Caribbean and
Georgia
France allied with Spain
1745 New Englanders capture French Fort
Louisburg

1748 Peace treaty
England exchange Louisburg for Madras in India
Americans were angry because they needed
Louisburg for safety

Into Ohio Valley
France needed Ohio Valley to keep Mississippi Valley connected to Canada
France began building forts to protect its claims, including Fort Duquesne
(modern day Pittsburg)
1750 Americans begin settling Ohio River Valley
Angered Iroquois, who were trying to prevent further European
settlements
Americans ask Britain for forts to protect claims
1754 - Washington was sent by Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia to tell French
to leave territory
French refuse and defeat Washington at Fort Necessity

Fort Duquesne
Fort Necessity Ohio Valley
French and Indian War
(Seven Years War) (1754-1763)
Was global war between France and
England for control of the world
Fought in America, Europe, West
Indies, Philippines, Africa
European war was Britain and
Prussia against France, Spain,
Austria and Russia
French army was focused in
Europe, allowed British victory in
North America

Defending America was difficult
because colonies were not united
Albany Congress (June 1754)
Americans went to Albany to meet with Iroquois and keep them allies
Only 7 of the 13 colonies attended
Wanted to unite colonies to defend against French
Iroquois were allies with Britain
Huron were allies with French

Benjamin Franklin develops Albany Plan for Union
Union would have:
Grand Council chosen by colonial legislators
meet once a year
given powers to raise army, levy taxes, manage public lands, make laws
for general good, protect relations with Indians
Rejected by colonial legislatures and King
legislatures did not want to lose power and wanted more independence
King feared it might make colonies too strong and demand independence
French and Indian War
(Seven Years War) (1754-1763)
Native Americans raid frontier
from Pennsylvania to North
Carolina

Britain attacked several
wilderness forts, but French won
repeatedly through 1756
Wounding of General Braddock
Fort Duquesne (1755)
British General Braddock sent
1,850 soldiers to attack fort
Indians attacked using guerilla
warfare tactics
British not prepared for this style
fighting
976 British killed or wounded
including Braddock

French and Indian War
(Seven Years War) (1754-1763)
William Pitt
Became Prime Minister and increased
commitment to win war in America
Shifted focus from West Indies to
Canada
Put new generals in charge
Pitt fought in America to create global
British empire
promised Britain would pay for war
He did this to get American
support for war
1 million and 30,00 soldiers
sent to America
Wanted to eliminate France as a rival

1758 British take Louisburg, Fort
Frontenac, Fort Duquesne

William Pitt
French and Indian War
(Seven Years War) (1754-1763)

British Navy stopped French
reinforcements from arriving in
Canada

Montreal (1760)
attacked via Hudson River and
Lake Champlain

Fall of Montreal signaled end of
French presence in North
America

Wolfes attack on Quebec
Invasion of Canada
Quebec (1759)
Attacked via St. Lawrence river
General Wolfe able to maneuver troops behind Quebec on Plains of
Abraham
British defeat Marquis de Montcalm of the French
Both Montcalm and Wolfe died
Treaty of Paris (1763)
Ended the French and Indian War

France gave England all of Canada and lands east of Mississippi to
Appalachian Mountains
French lost trading posts in India and Senegal
France gave Spain New Orleans and all land west of Mississippi
France kept sugar islands (Martinique and Guadeloupe) in West Indies in
exchange for Canada
Spain gave Florida to Britain in exchange for Cuba

Pitt wanted Canada to help build its empire
Effects of French and Indian War
(Seven Years War) (1754-1763)
Britain won and established itself as worlds supreme
naval power
Empire from India to Mississippi River

American frustration with Britain
American officers and soldiers were insulted and
treated them with condescension
Americans were not given credit for helping in the
fight

British frustrations with America
Americans continued to trade with France and
Spain
Americans also were reluctant to provide soldiers
Geography and demographic rivalries inhibited
inter-colonial cooperation
Effects of French and Indian War
(Seven Years War) (1754-1763)
Benefits for America:
gained combat experience and
confidence
Shattered myth of British soldier
invincibility
discovered commonalities between
colonies
France was eliminated as a threat to
America, Spain and Indian threats were
reduced significantly
Indians lost significant European ally to
limit British power and American
expansionism

Benjamin Franklin argued new land would
make Americans more loyal to England

Offer plenty of land and opportunity for
America to expand into
British North
America 1763

Canada, American Colonies,
Ohio and Mississippi River
Valleys and Florida

200,000 Indians lived in
territory west of
Appalachian Mountains

Feared British control over
North America, preferred
France

Neolin Delaware prophet
encouraged Indians to resist
English encroachment on
Indian land
Pontiacs Rebellion (June 1763)
Alliance of Indians led by Ottawa Chief
Pontiac attacked and beat British
Only Fort Pitt, Niagara and Detroit
remained under British control

Gradually Indian alliance weakens with
defeats

Britain regains control of Ohio Valley in
1764
by sending blankets with smallpox to
Indians
By sending 10,000 troops to protect
colonists

British wanted Americans to help pay for
army

Proclamation of 1763
To keep peace with Indians Britain
orders no settlement in new territory
Wanted land between
Appalachian and Mississippi as a
barrier between Indians and
English colonies

Colonists needed land for wealth
Most were farmers
Political rights were tied to land
ownership
Americans angered by restrictions
on settlement
Many ignored Proclamation and
went west anyway