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The French and Indian War. British-French Rivalry. British-French Rivalry. Population in the British colonies grew resulting in people moving west into the Ohio River Valley. This land was controlled by French fur traders.
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British-French Rivalry • Population in the British colonies grew resulting in people moving west into the Ohio River Valley. • This land was controlled by French fur traders. • The French controlled this land because they traded fur with Native Americans. • They became very rich! • In the 1740s, British went into the Ohio River Valley and built a fort deep in the French territory. • What is going to happen?????
The French attacked them and drove the British back to their land. • Then France built a string of forts to protect their land. • Two mighty powers - Britain and France – were headed for a showdown in North America. • Britain and France didn’t like each other, and had been competing for wealth for centuries.
In North America, the French and British fought over • land • fur trade • rich fishing in the North Atlantic. • The French defended the Ohio River Valley. • The British feared the French would try to overtake their colonies.
Native Americans Take Sides • Whatever side the Native Americans chose would be important…. WHY??? • The side that received the most help in the war from the Native Americans would win the war and control North America.
The Native Americans decided the support the French for the following reasons: • the French just wanted to trade furs • The British wanted to take their land • the French were more tolerant of Native American customs • some Frenchmen married Native American women • some Frenchmen followed Native American customs
The only group of Native Americans that supported the British were the Iroquois Confederacy.
American Colonist Take Action • Virginia sent a 21 year old planter and surveyor named George Washington to the Ohio River Valley. • Washington’s mission was to tell the French that they were trespassing on territory claimed by Britain and demand that they leave.
The French ignored Washington’s warning. • The governor of Virginia made Washington a lieutenant colonel • And sent him back to the Ohio country with a small army of 150 men • Washington had instructions to build a fort in Pittsburgh. • When Washington and his troops arrived, they found the French already building a fort on that spot.
Washington established a small post called Fort Necessity nearby. • Washington was outnumbered! • he decided to attack the French. • The French, however, surrounded Washington’s soldiers and forced them to surrender • Even though George Washington lost to the French, he became a hero because he struck the first blow against the French. • Washington’s defeat at Fort Necessity marked the beginning of a full scale war known as the French and Indian War.
George Washington Fort Necessity
While Washington struggled with the French, representatives from the colonies met to discuss the threat of war. • The representatives assembled in Albany, NY. • Wanted the colonies to work together to beat the French • They also hoped to persuade the Iroquois to take their side against the French. • The representatives adopted a plan suggested by Benjamin Franklin, the Albany Plan of Union. Benjamin Franklin
The Albany Plan of Union called for the following: • One general government that ruled all the colonies would: • collect taxes • raise troops • regulate trade • No colony approved the plan because they did not want to give up any of its power. • The Albany meeting failed to unite the colonies.
The colonists aren’t united so…… What do you think will happen next?
Gen. Edward Braddock commander of the British army in America • Britain sent him to drive the French out of the Ohio River Valley. • George Washington served as one of his guides. • He tried to tell Braddock that his army’s formal style of marching was not well suited to fighting in frontier country. • Lined up in columns and rows, the troops made easy targets for the French and Native Americans.
Why did George Washington warn General Braddock about his style of marching? What do you think Braddock did?
Braddock ignored the advice!! • The combined force of Native American warriors and French troops ambushed the British. • The Indians fired from behind trees, aiming at the bright uniforms. • The British could not even see their attackers. • Braddock was killed along with nearly 1,000 troops. • Washington led the survivors back to VA.
When news of Braddock’s defeat reached London, Britain declared war on France, beginning the Seven Years’ War. • This war was the name given to the French and Indian War which was fought in Europe.
The first years of the war were disastrous for the British and their American colonies. Native Americans used the roads that Braddock’s troops cut and the bridges they built to raid frontier farms.
They killed settlers, burned farmhouses and crops, and drove many families back toward the coast. • To avoid having to deal w/ constant arguments from the colonies about the costs of the war, Britain decided to pay for supplies needed for the war – not matter the cost. In doing so, Britain ran up an enormous debt. • The turning point of the war was when the British defeated the French and captured Fort Louisbourg.
The treaty made the following provisions: • France was permitted to keep the West Indies • France agreed to give Britain Canada and all the land east of the Mississippi River • Spain, who assisted the French, gave Britain Florida. • France agreed to give Spain all their land west of the Mississippi River • The Treaty of Paris 1763 marked the end of France as a power in North America.
Trouble on the Frontier • The British victory over the French dealt a blow to the Native Americans of the Ohio River Valley. They had lost their French allies and trading partners. • Although they continued to trade w/ the British, the Indians regarded them as enemies. • The British raised the prices of their goods and, unlike the French, refused to pay rent for their forts.
Worst of all, British settlers began moving into their territory. • Pontiac, an Indian chief, recognized that the British settlers threatened the Native American way of life. • Pontiac wanted to join Indian groups to fight the British. He managed to put together an alliance of Native Americans. • He laid siege to the British fort in Detroit while other war parities captured most of the other British outpost in the Great Lakes region.
These series of attacks has come to be known as Pontiac’s War. • The Native Americans, however, failed to capture the important strongholds. The war ended when Pontiac learned that the French had signed the Treaty of Paris 1763. • To prevent more fighting, Britain’s king, George III, issued the Proclamation Line of 1763. This imaginary line prevented settlers from going west of the Appalachian Mountains.
The proclamation angered many people and they felt King George III had no right to impose such a law. • Although the end of the French and Indian War brought peace for the first time in many years, the Proclamation Line of 1763 created friction between Britain and the colonies.
