(1378) The FRENCH AND INDIAN War (The Seven Years' War) [APUSH Review Unit 3 Topic 2] Period 3: 1754-1800

Introduction

• Overview of the video topic: French and Indian War (1754-1763)

• Part of the broader Seven Years’ War

Misunderstanding of the Conflict

• Common misconception: Conflict between the French and Indians

  • Correct view: British vs. French, with French allied to several American Indian tribes

Causes of the French and Indian War

• Context: A smaller conflict within the global Seven Years’ War

• Territorial disputes in the Ohio River Valley between British colonists and French.

• Key figure: George Washington

  • Appointed as Lieutenant Colonel in the Virginia militia

  • Sent to warn French of British claims in the Ohio Valley

  • Incident with French commander and Fort Duquesne (1754) led to escalating tensions

Albany Congress (1754)

• Purpose: Discuss organized colonial response to defense, trade, and expansion

• Involvement of the Iroquois Confederacy for potential alliance

• Benjamin Franklin's Albany Plan of Union introduced

  • Proposed council of representatives from the colonies

  • Rejected mainly due to taxation concerns

  • Important for laying groundwork for future revolutionary Congress

Initial Phase of the War

• Early struggles for the British colonists; French had early military successes

• Unpopular British policies worsened colonial relations:

  • Forced impressment of American men into Royal Navy

  • Quartering British troops in colonial homes, leading to resentment

Conclusion of the War

• War ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris

• Major outcomes of the treaty:

  • Spain ceded Florida to Britain

  • French were removed entirely from North America

  • Spanish gained control of lands west of the Mississippi River

  • British gained Ohio River Valley

Effects of the French and Indian War

• Territorial Expansion and Conflict

  • Increased American colonial migration westward into Ohio Valley

  • Led to intensifying conflicts with Native Americans (e.g., Pontiac’s raids)

  • British response: Proclamation Line of 1763 forbidding westward migration

    • Colonists ignored this and pushed west, causing further resentment

• Financial Consequences

  • British national debt doubled due to war expenses

  • Cost of administering colonies increased significantly

  • British Parliament's response: Raised taxes on American colonies, deepening resentment

Conclusion

• The French and Indian War set the stage for colonial discontent leading to future conflicts.