Key Cause of the French and Indian War

• The Ohio River Valley

• French & British both claimed Ohio River Valley

  • Value of Ohio River Valley

    • Lucrative fur trade

    • Access to Mississippi River

France Claims Western Lands

• French were exploring the North American Interior while the English were settling on the Eastern Coast.

• French Explorers had claimed the Ohio River Valley, Mississippi River Valley and the entire Great Lakes region.

• French Main settlements: Quebec, Montreal. Population 80,000 people.

Native American Alliance

• English and French competed for Furs.

• The Fur Trade created an economic and military alliance between the Europeans and their NA trading partners

  • This led to involvement in each other’s wars.

  • When France and England’s wars in Europe fueled wars in the colonies.

Conflict in the Ohio River Valley (ORV)

• The seeds for the French and Indian War were planted when the British fur traders began moving into the ORV

• British and French were planning to settle colonists in the ORV. The French and their N.A. allies became alarmed

• To keep the British out of the valley Charles de Langlade destroyed a nearby village and a British trading post

• The French built forts to protect the region linking their Canadian and Louisiana settlements.

  • This upset the Virginia colony who had laid claims to the ORV

  • The governor of Virginia sent a small group of soldiers to tell the French to leave

George Washington and the Ohio River Valley

• 21-year-old George Washington: colonel in the British Army

  • Ordered to deliver a message to French to leave Ohio River Valley

    • French refused & built Fort Duquesne

      • Washington ordered to return to Ohio River Valley & remove French soldiers

        • French forced Washington to surrender after ⅓ of his men were killed or wounded

Braddock’s Defeat

• British military officer Edward Braddock

  • Many defeats, did not listen to George Washington

• French & their American Indian allies inspired fear on the British frontier by burning and pillaging settlements

The British Take Control of the War

• William Pitt took over wartime operations

  • Turned recruitment & supplies over to local authorities

  • Committed more troops to the war effort

  • Replaced many of the military officers

• British capture Louisbourg

  • Important strategic port

The Decisive Battle

• British commander James Wolfe sent forces up a rocky embankment to surprise the French

• The battle was fought on the Plains of Abraham

• British won and took control of the stronghold

• Shortly after the British won the Battle of Quebec they took control of Montreal

• This was the turning point of the war

Massacre at Fort Loudoun

• Fort Loudoun was key in allying with the Cherokee

• Cherokee warriors killed by Virginia frontiersmen

• Incident after incident began happening

• Fort Loudoun was attacked on March 20, 1760

  • Under siege

• Commander surrenders

• Cherokee attacked again

• All but one officer was killed; the remainder of the party captured

The Treaty of Paris 1763

• The Treaty of Paris (1763) officially ended the French and Indian War

  • Terms of the treaty harsh to French

    • All French territory on mainland North America was lost

      • British received Quebec & Ohio River Valley

        • Ohio River Valley marked by Appalachian Mountains in east & Mississippi River in west

      • Port of New Orleans & Louisiana Territory west of the Mississippi River were ceded to Spain

      • Britain gave Cuba and Philippines back to Spain for Florida

Effects of the French and Indian War

• Experience of the French and Indian War divided the British & American colonists

  • British troops looked down on colonists

  • Puritans in New England found the redcoats profane

  • Resistance among colonists to help British until Pitt promised to reimburse colonists

  • Colonial smugglers continued to trade with French throughout the war

• Experience of the French and Indian War united the American colonies

  • Intercolonial rivalries broken down in the face of a common enemy  ( the British )

  One of the first signs of nationalism in colonies was seen when settlers from all 13 colonies laid down their lives together in battle

Pontiac’s War/Rebellion

• Many Native Americans  continued to fight against European settlement of land west of Appalachian Mountains

  • Pontiac, a chief of the Ottawa, led numerous attacks against British colonial expansion/settlement

  • One factor that lead British to attempt to ban colonists from settling west of Appalachian Mountains

The Proclamation Line of 1763

• Britain set Proclamation Line of 1763

  • Prohibited American colonists from settling west of Appalachian Mountains

• Reasons for Proclamation Line of 1763

  • Widespread settlement = British administration of colonies extremely difficult $$$

  • French inhabitants in Ohio River Valley not willing to give up land/trade routes

  • Britain did not want further conflict with Native Americans

    • Already in debt from French and Indian War

• Colonists outraged by Proclamation

  • Felt entitled to land west of Appalachian Mountains after colonial blood had been shed in French and Indian War

• Proclamation was ignored by many colonists

  • Nearly impossible for British to enforce the law