11/5/2018
Crisis in the Colonies:
The French & Indian War
Timeline
I. French/English
Competition Intensifies
Both sought land and rivers in the Ohio River
Valley
Also competed for control of North America’s
resources
Valuable fur trade
Profitable trade with Native Americans
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I. French/English
Competition Intensifies
(cont’d)
France claimed lands west of the English colonies.
Prevented future expansion for England.
Territory stretched from the St. Lawrence River west to
the Great Lakes and south to the Gulf of Mexico
France built a series of forts to protect land claims
II. Native Americans choose
sides
Native Americans weren’t eager to give up their
land to either side.
“You and the French are like the two edges of a
pair of shears. And we are the cloth which is to be cut
to pieces between them.”
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II. Native Americans
choose sides (cont’d)
The French expected the Indians to side with
them.
Traditionally the French had respected their hunting
grounds.
Many French trappers had adopted Native American
lifestyles.
France had strong alliances with the Hurons and
Algonquins.
II. Native Americans
choose sides (cont’d)
Most English settlers were farmers.
Ignored Indian rights in the past.
Still managed to gain an alliance with the Iroquois.
Enemies of the Algonquins.
English also gained further allies by charging lower prices
than the French for trade goods.
III. The French/Indian War
Begins
April 1754 – Major George Washington led 150
men into the Ohio country.
Discovers on the journey the French had completed Ft.
Duquense on the exact spot he had hoped to build a fort.
Washington was forced to improvise and hurriedly built
Ft. Necessity.
Washington’s men fired on French soldiers at Ft.
Duquense.
Battle ended with 700 French and Indians surrounding
Ft. Necessity.
Washington was outnumbered and forced to surrender
Released by the French.
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IV. The British Suffer
Losses
The British suffered many losses.
Due in large part to British soldiers having little
experience fighting in the forests of North
America.
The governments of the British colonies also
could not come to an agreement on how to
approach the war.
V. The Albany Plan of
Union
Delegates from seven colonies met in Albany, NY
to discusss strategy.
Benjamin Franklin a delegate from Pennsylvania
proposes the Albany Plan of Union.
Idea: to create “one central government” for the 13
colonies. (Sound familiar?)
Called for a legislature called the Grand Council.
Made up of reps from each of the colonies.
Council would make laws, raise taxes, and defend the
colonies.
V. The Albany Plan of Union
(cont’d)
The plan is rejected by the colonies for fear of giving up
too much power.
“Everyone cries a union is necessary. But when they come to
the manner and form of the union, their weak noodles
(brains) are perfectly distracted.”– Benjamin Franklin, 1755
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VI. A Slow British Victory
The tide of the war did not turn until the British
government gave the war its full support.
1758 – British trained troops capture Louisbourg,
a key French fort.
Ft. Duquense soon follows.
By summer of 1759, the French had been pushed out of
Ft. Niagra, Crown Point, and Fort Ticonderoga.
VI. A Slow British Victory
(cont’d)
In 1759, the British staged a daring attack.
They scaled the cliffs below the Plains of Abraham and
captured the key French city of Quebec.
British General Wolfe knew that few soliders would be
guarding the cliff – thinking it too steep to climb.
Troops climbed the cliff in the dark and assembled on top.
By morning, the French faced a surprise attack by 4000
British troops.
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VI. A Slow British
Victory (cont’d)
The Fall of Quebec led to the collapse of French power in
North America.
Fighting still dragged on over a period of four years.
VI. A Slow British
Victory (cont’d)
Treaty of Paris
Marks the end of French power in North America.
British gained control of Canada and all French lands
east of the Mississippi (except New Orleans).
Spain, who supported France in the war, gave up Florida
to Britain.
In return, Spain received all French land west of the
Mississippi River (including New Orleans).
Question:
So…..whose responsibility is it to pay for the war?
The British?
The Colonists?
Native Americans?
Stay Tuned!!!!!
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