The Colonies Fight for Their Rights

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TAKING NOTES:

  • Key Ideas and Details
    • Organizing Complete a graphic organizer similar to the one below by listing the causes of the French and Indian War.
    • Causes

LESSON 1

The Colonies Fight for Their Rights

  • ESSENTIAL QUESTION - Why do people rebel?
    • IT MATTERS BECAUSE
      • In the mid-1700s, Britain and France fought a war for control of North America.
      • Britain emerged from the conflict victorious.
      • After the war, Parliament's attempts to raise revenue from the colonies met with resistance and protests.

The French and Indian War

  • GUIDING QUESTION How did the French and Indian War affect the colonies?
    • The French and English had been vying for dominance in Europe since the late 1600s, fighting three major wars between 1689 and 1748.
    • Most of the fighting took place in Europe, but whenever France and England were at war, their colonies went to war as well.
    • In 1754 a fourth struggle began.
    • The First Skirmish
      • In the 1740s, the British and French both became interested in the Ohio River valley.
      • Using the Ohio River and the Mississippi River, the French could travel from the St. Lawrence River valley to Louisiana.
      • British fur traders and land speculators, who bought land to sell for profit, were also interested in the valley.
      • The French built a chain of forts from Lake Ontario to the Ohio River.
      • In response, the British governor of Virginia asked George Washington, a young militia officer, to expel the French.
      • As Washington's troops marched toward the Ohio River in the spring of 1754, they encountered a small French force.
      • After a brief battle, Washington retreated a short distance and built a stockade named Fort Necessity.
      • A little over a month later, a large French force arrived and forced Washington to surrender.
      • Meanwhile, the fighting between France and Britain expanded into a world war.
    • The Albany Conference
      • Even before the fighting started, Britain asked its colonies to prepare for war and to negotiate an alliance with the Iroquois.
      • The Iroquois controlled western New York-land the French passed through to reach the Ohio River.
      • In 1754 colonial delegates met with Iroquois leaders in Albany, New York.
      • At the Albany Conference, the Iroquois refused an alliance with the British but did offer halfhearted support.
      • The conference also issued the Albany Plan of Union, a proposal developed by a committee led by Benjamin Franklin.
      • The Plan of Union proposed that the colonies form a federal government.
      • Although the colonies rejected the plan, it showed that some colonial leaders were thinking about joining together for the common defense.
    • The British Triumph
      • In 1755 British general Edward Braddock arrived in Virginia with 1,400 British troops.
      • After linking up with 450 Virginia militia troops, Braddock appointed Lieutenant Colonel George Washington his aide.
      • Braddock began marching west, intending to attack Fort Duquesne, a French fort.
      • Seven miles from the fort, French and Native American forces ambushed the British, and Braddock was killed.
      • Washington rallied the men and organized a retreat.
      • The successful ambush angered the Delaware people who began attacking British settlers in western Pennsylvania.
      • For the next two years, the French and Indian War, as it was called in the colonies, raged along the frontier.
      • Gradually, the British fleet cut off supplies and reinforcements from France.
      • The Iroquois, realizing the British would probably win the war, pressured the Delaware to end their attacks.
      • With their Native American allies giving up, the French were badly outnumbered.
      • The British seized Quebec and took control of New France.
      • The war ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris, which virtually eliminated French power in North America.
  • READING PROGRESS CHECK
    • Summarizing What were the main effects of the French and Indian War on the colonies?

French and Indian War 1754-1763

  • Montreal surrendered to the British on September 8, 1760.
  • Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) captured by British troops on July 26, 1759.
  • Fort Frontenac captured by the British on August 27, 1758.
  • Quebec captured by British forces on September 13, 1759.
  • Louisbourg surrendered to the French on July 26, 1758.
  • British begin deportation of thousands of French Acadians to other British colonies in North America on October 8, 1755.
  • Colonial forces defeat French and Indian troops at the Battle of Lake George on September 8, 1755.
  • Braddock defeated by French and Indian troops at Fort Duquesne on July 9, 1755.
  • Washington surrendered at Fort Necessity on July 4, 1754.

GEOGRAPHY CONNECTION

  • The French and Indian War established British control of North America.
  • The French and Indian War was part of a global conflict that became known as the Seven Years' War.

Analyzing PRIMARY SOURCES

The Right to Tax

  • John Dickinson,