The Colonies Fight for Their Rights

1. The Colonies Fight for Their Rights Section 1

2. French and Indian War • Struggle over land between the British and the French • 1740s both became interested in the Ohio River valley • French could travel from Lake Ontario to the Ohio River down to Louisiana • British fur traders were interested for business • French build a chain of forts to block British claims • British respond by building a fort in western Pennsylvania • Before it was completed the French seized it • Dinwiddie, Gov. of Virginia, asked George Washington to raise a force and expel the French • Spring of 1754 Washington marched troops toward Ohio River • Encountered a small French force, had a brief battle, Washington retreated

3. Cont. • Build a stockade named Fort Necessity • Month later a large French force arrived and forced Washington to surrender • Washington returned to Virginia after being released • The French were left in control of the Ohio River valley • Washington became a hero for his courageous attempt to resist the French

4. The Albany Conference • Even before the war started the British were urging the colonies to prepare for war • Suggested the colonies negotiate an alliance with the Iroquois • Iroquois controlled Western NY, territory the French would have to pass through to reach the Ohio River • 7 colonies sent representatives to meet with 150 Iroquois leaders at Albany, NY (Albany Conference) • 3 major outcomes from the conference • Iroquois refused an alliance with British, but agreed to remain neutral • Colonies agreed Britain should appoint one supreme commander of all British troops • Albany Plan of Union- plan to unite colonies to form a federal government

5. The British Triumph • 1755 British commander in chief, General Edward Braddock, arrived in Virginia with 1,400 troops • Appointed Lieutenant Colonel George Washington to serve as his aide • Headed west to attack Fort Duquesne • He was cocky and careless about being ambushed • 7 miles from Fort Duquesne he was ambushed by French and Natives • Braddock was shot and killed • Washington took over and formed a retreat • Washington’s bravery and leadership saved many men • Washington had 4 bullet holes in clothing and his hat.

6. Cont. • Fighting continued for the next 2 years • 1756 fighting between France and Britain spread to Europe, Seven Years’ War • Prime Minister William Pitt decided to send most of Britain’s troops and fleet to North America and India to attack the French and seize their empires • British quickly cut off the supplies and reinforcements France had been sending the North America • Iroquois realized the tide had turned and ended their attacks leaving France severely outnumbered

7. Cont. • 1758 General John Forbes was the new British commander • Sent troops to attack Fort Duquesne….again • French burned the fort and retreated knowing they were outnumbered • British built Fort Pitt in its place, later becoming the city of Pittsburgh • British victory at Quebec was the turning point in North America • Spain entered the war in 1761 on the side of France • Britain seized Spain’s colonies in Cuba and the Philippines

8. Treaty of Paris • Finally ended the war in 1763 • Treaty eliminated French power in North America • New France and Louisiana became part of the British empire • Spain gave Florida to Britain in order to get Cuba and the Philippines back

9. Colonies Grow Discontented • The price of victory was high • British gov’t borrowed large amounts of money to pay for the war • Britain was now in debt • British officials thought the colonies should have to pay for part of the war effort • Especially the cost of stationing British troops in the colonies • These policies angered the colonists

10. Proclamation Act of 1763 • Spring of 1763 the Delaware Prophet convinced Pontiac, chief of Ottawa, to go to war with the British • United several Native groups • Ottawa • Delaware • Shawnee • Seneca • Attacked forts along the frontier and burned several towns • British weren’t surprised, they had been expecting this • Due to settlers moving into western territories in defiance of the colony’s treaty • British weren’t ready for another war so they decided to limit western settlement • Royal Proclamation of 1763

12. Customs Reform • George Grenville- prime minister and first lord of the Treasury in Britain • Desperate to find a way to reduce Britain’s debt • New tax policies were the answer • Grenville discovered that British customs agents weren’t collecting a long of money, which tells him that the merchants were smuggling goods in and out of the colonieswithout paying customs duties- taxes on imports and exports • Gets congress to pass a law sending smugglers to a new vice-admiralty in Halifax, Nova Scotia • Vice-admiralty courts were run by navy officers, not juries • They also violated British common law