The War That Made America A Short History of the French and Indian War

1. The War That Made AmericaA Short History of the French and Indian War By Fred Anderson

2. Preface “The first world war” Ended the French empire in North America The war undermined and destroyed the ability of Native peoples to resist the expansion of Anglo American settlement The war’s impact on George Washington

3. The war’s violence and brutality encouraged whites, particularly those on the frontier to hate Indians with undiscriminating fury. The widespread Indian hating that the French and Indian War engendered was reinforced by the War of Independence Contributed to the formation of American cultural identity Sanctioned the removal or annihilation of native peoples as necessary to the advance of civilization

4. The story of this book • French & Indian War a prelude to the American Revolution • Struggle for liberty against oppression • Rights against power • Independence against subjugation • Darker story • Imperial ambitions produce unpredictable, violent results • Victory breeds unanticipated disasters for the victor • The benign growth of a population of farmers leads to the wholesale destruction of native peoples

5. PrologueNew York, July 1776 The Seven Years’ War The British colonists called it “The late French War” The French and Indian War 1754 - 1760

6. Three powers compete in war France, a Catholic empire based on trade and Indian alliances that stretched from the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the Great Lakes, the Mississippi Valley, and the Gulf of Mexico British colonies of eastern North America a Protestant empire based on farming settlement and transatlantic commerce, vigorous and growing but still confined to the area east of the Appalachian Mountains The Iroquois Confederacy

7. The Six NationsIroquois Confederacy An independent actor in the imperial drama Misconceptions Assumptions about empires Imagining that Indians were fated to vanish from America once the Europeans arrived This erroneous and pernicious idea prevented Americans from seeing the crucial roles that Native peoples played in shaping the development of the continent Iroquois League practicing imperialism It was other native people over whom the Iroquois Exercised dominion

8. Important to know that for European states and American colonists hinged on decision made by Indian people Indian people assessed their potential to realize advantage and then acted with the same kind of calculation and skill of Europe’s diplomats Depicts the passing of an era Describes the beginning of a new age in which Indians find themselves shouldered aside, marginalized, and largely written out of the American story

9. American Indians and the French and Indian War The War was the product of a struggle for independence The people striving to liberate themselves were Indians living near the site of modern Pittsburgh The group whose control they were fighting to escape were other Indians

10. Part One: The End of a Long PeaceChapter I – A Delicate Balance • European Nations needed Indians as • Trading Partners • Military allies • Sources of labor • Sources of land • Indian groups understood Europeans as • Trading partners • Allies • Providers of weapons • Other manufactured goods • Contact with Europeans altered life in unfathomable ways

11. Disease in Americas “New World and Old World” human populations had been isolated and no exchange of pathogens Indians lacked the immune defenses of colonizers Colonial settlements brought measles, chicken pox, small pox, diphtheria, influenza, etc. The diseases spread along lines of trade among native groups

12. Virgin Soil epidemics Destroyed as much as 90% of the Native population of North America Indigenous population east of the Mississippi numbering more than 2 million in 1600 shrank to less than a quarter million by 1750 The decline did not occur simultaneously everywhere on the continent It occurred piecemeal

13. Mourning Wars One response was war To maintain population levels Undertake raiding expeditions against other groups A response to bereavement To take women and children from enemy groups as captives Adopted into the raiders’ families as replacements for lost members Or enslaved as substitutes for missing workers Sustaining populations was the principal goal of mourning wars

14. European Weapons Commodities Beaver pelts and other animal skins Taking booty Captive taking In a complex, unintended way epidemic disease promoted wars among Indian groups that greatly magnified their demographic losses Commercial enterprise

15. The Five Nations of the Iroquois A religious and ceremonial league Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca Upstate New York Close ties to Dutch traders of Fort Orange Provided guns and ammunition Late 17th century they had eliminated whole peoples from the Ohio River Valley and lower Great Lakes basin Conducted expeditions from Wisconsin to northern New England - Ontario to South Carolina

16. Beaver Wars Success of the Iroquois First Factor external behavior and language of captives more easily altered than deep seated values The adoption of large numbers of captives diluted the cultural coherence of the captors’ communities Adoptees who previously been converted to Catholicism posed a particular threat to the ability of the Five Nations to carry on the warfare against the French and their native allies Pro French groups becoming influential in Iroquois policy

17. Second Factor Growing ability of the French and their allies to fight back Beginning in the late 1650’s French officials, missionary priests and traders established themselves among the refugees who sought shelter from the Iroquois attacks French took on metaphorical role of father A mediator of disputes and a source of trade goods French gave “gifts” to local leaders French built up allies “Middle Ground”

18. Covenant Chain with New York in the 1670’s Indian allies of New France grew strong enough to strike back against the Iroquois Tried to replace the Dutch with the English Forged an alliance – Covenant Chain with New York English proved to be inadequate allies 17th century Five Nations suffered devastating losses Five Nations peace with France

19. Grand Settlement of 1701A set of treaties Concluded simultaneously with the French at Montreal and the English at Albany At Montreal the League pledged to remain neutral in all future wars between the French and the English The French agreed the Iroquois could hunt on lands north of the Great Lakes and trade at Fort Detroit At Albany the League ceded to the English All Iroquois claims to the country north of the Great Lakes Reaffirmed the Covenant Chair alliance with the English Enabled the Iroquois to have a position of neutrality

20. Neutrality Iroquois gained little but destruction and loss as England’s ally and France’s enemy Iroquois discovered that their new position of neutrality gave them considerable leverage against both powers During Queen Anne’s War Iroquois got information bout attacks on French and passed it along to the French Got English diplomatic trade gifts – ammunition, arms, etc.

21. The Long Peace 1713-1744 The cessation of hostilities served the League better Adept at maintaining the delicate balance between the French and English Admission of Tuscaroras to the League in 1726 Six Nations Enabled the League to expand their raids to Southern Indian groups Cherokees and Catawbas

22. Pennsylvania English colony, founded 1681 by Quaker William Penn The Colony no force against native peoples Traded freely with LenniLenape (Delawares) Shawnees, Conestogas, Tutelos, Conoys, Naticokes Indian allies served as defensive shield Rapid growth of colony’s white farmers wanted more Indian lands

23. James Logan saw Indians as a potential threat Saw the French as a threat Logan looked to the Iroquois to provide protection for Pennsylvania Alliance between Pennsylvania and Iroquois provided a means to discipline the Pennsylvania native people The Covenant Chain alliance to Pennsylvania Made the Six Nations custodians of the interests of Pennsylvania’s Indians Eased the process of transferring lands from Indian ownership to the Penn family Ended the French empire in North America

24. Allowed land to be acquired by dealing with the Iroquois The Six Nations willing to sell land The Pennsylvania tribes defined as the wards of the League The Penns’ buy land in quantity and resell to white settlers Walking Purchase 1737 A spectacular land fraud Dispossessed the Delawares of three-quarters of a million acres of land The League confirmed the purchase by treaty in 1742 Forced the Delawares who refused to move to the Susquehanna Valley

25. The diplomacy with the Iroquois League yielded by 1751: Penns had become one of the richest families in England The Iroquois League had achieved alevel of power and diplomatic influence it had not seen in nearly a century The Indians of eastern Pennsylvania had largely been driven from their homes

26. Chapter 2The Half King’s Dilemma Iroquois used a high handed approach on the Pennsylvania Indians Assumed the Pennsylvania Indians would accept subordination without resistance or complaint The Pennsylvania Indians moved west Some Delawares moved to the Susquehanna Valley Most Delawares and Shawnees moved to Ohio country

27. The Mingos, members of the Seneca Nation moved west The Mingos, Delawares, Shawnees shared a strong impulse toward traditionalism The Delawares and Shawnees in the Susquehanna were Christians Iroquois not concerned with the departure of so many Pennsylvania Indians Iroquois appointed a regent to superintend the Mingos and other Ohio Indians Chief Tanghrisson The League authorized Tanghrissonto speak on behalf of the Ohio Indians

28. Tanaghrisson solely responsible for conducting diplomacy on their behalf All agreements made by Tanaghrisson had to be ratified by the Onodaga Hence the nickname “the half King” Half King’s influence on the Ohio Indians European ally – English traders for goods Ohio Company of Virginia Virginians saw trade as a prelude to acquiring real estate for later sale League offered to cede all remaining claims within the limits of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia Recognize the Six Nations as a sovereign over several southern Indian peoples Treaty Council at Logstown in 1752 English settlement offensive to Delawares, Shawnees, Mingos and others Warfare styles Proclamation of 1763