Topic 3.2 The Seven Years War

King William’s War (1689-1697)

• the British launched expeditions to capture Quebec from the French but they failed

• American Indians supported by the French burned British frontier settlements

Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713)

• the British gained Nova Scotia from France and trading rights in Spanish America

King George’s War (17-1748)

• James Oglethorpe led a colonial army in Georgia that repulsed Spanish attacks

• New Englanders captured Louisbourg in Canada, a major French fortress on Cape Breton Island that controlled access to the St. Lawrence River

• The peace treaty that ended this war returned Louisbourg to the French in exchange for political and economic gains in India — left New Englanders furious

Seven Years’ War

• the final war, also known as the French and Indian War, beginning in 1754, ending in 1763

• a global conflict primarily between France and Great Britain, beginning in 1754 as a dispute over North American land claims

George Washington

• led a small militia sent by the governor of Virginia who hoped to stop the French from completing work on Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) and win control of the Ohio River Valley

• ultimately surrendered to a superior force of Frenchmen and their American Indian allies on July 3, 1754

General Edward Braddock

• led an expedition from Virginia, which ended in a disastrous defeat

• more than 2,000 British regulars and colonial troops were defeated by a smaller force of both French troops and American Indians near Fort Duquesne

Albany Plan of Union

• developed by Benjamin Franklin, the agreement provided for an intercolonial government and a system for recruiting troops and collecting taxes from the various colonies for their common defense

• never took effect because each colony was too concerned about preserving its own taxation powers

William Pitt

• the British prime minister, who concentrated the government’s military strategy on conquering Canada

General James Wolfe

• retook Louisbourg in 1758 and caused Quebec to surrender, accomplishing William Pitt’s objective

• Montreal was later taken as well in 1760

Peace of Paris

• a peace treaty negotiated in 1763 after the British victories

• allowed Great Britain to acquire both French, Canada, and Spanish Florida

• To compensate for Spain’s loss of Florida, France ceded (gave up) its huge territory west of the Mississippi River, Louisiana

• British extended their control of North America, and French power virtually ended

Seven Yeas’ War Effect

• gave Great Britain unchallenged supremacy among Europeans in North America

• challenged the autonomy (independence) of American Indians

• established the British as the dominant naval power in the world

• meant that the American colonies no longer faced the threat of concerted attacks from other Europeans

British View of the War

• held a low opinion of the colonial military abilities, believing the American militia was poorly trained, disorderly rabble

Colonial View of the War

• colonists were proud of their war efforts and believed they could successfully provide for their own defense

• were not impressed with he British troops or leadership

Pontiac’s Rebellion

• began in 1763 when Chief Pontiac led an attack against colonial settlements on the western frontier

• a result of angry American Indians who disliked the growing westward movement of European settlers onto their land

• tested new British imperial policy, as Britain did not rely on colonial forces to retaliate, and sent regular British troops to put down the uprising

Proclamation of 1763

• issued by the British government in an effort to stabilize the western frontier, which prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains

• colonists reacted with anger and defiance, as thousands streamed westward past the imaginary boundary line