French and Indian Wars (1754-1763)

7/31/2019 French and Indian Wars (1754-1763)

1/22

The French and IndianWars

1754 - 1763


2/22

The French and Indian Wars, the

colonial part of the Seven YearsWar that ravaged Europe from 1756to 1763, was the bloodiest Americanwar in the 1700s.

It took more lives than the AmericanRevolution, and involved people ontwo continents, including the


3/22

CAUSES OF WAR

The war was the product of a clashbetween the French and English overcolonial territory and wealth.

In North America, the war can also be seenas a product of the local rivalry betweenBritish and French colonists.


4/22

Tensions between the British and Frenchin America had been getting worse for

some time, as each side wanted to gainmore land.

In the 1740s, both England and Francetraded for furs with the Native Americansin the Ohio Country.

By the 1750s, English colonists, especially


5/22

WAR BREAKSOUT

In 1754, GeorgeWashington and a smallforce of Virginiamilitiamen marched tothe Ohio Country to drive

the French out.Washington hoped tocapture Fort Duquesnebut soon realized the fort

was too strong, so heretreated and when


6/22

A combined force of French soldiers and theirnative allies attacked Fort Necessity on July 3,1754, marking the start of the French and IndianWar in North America. The French allowedWashington and his men to return to Virginiasafely, but made them promise they would notbuild another fort west of the Appalachian

Mountains for at least a year.

The English and the French would formally declarewar in May 1756.

Most Native American Indians fought on the side of


7/22

The English sent GeneralEdward Braddock,

commander in chief of theBritish forces, to America todrive the French out of theOhio Valley.

June 1755: Braddock sets outfrom Virginia with about1,400 red-coated Britishtroops and a smaller numberof blue-coated colonial

militias including young


8/22

July, 1755: Native American warriors and Frenchtroops ambushed Braddock and his men.

The British lost badly loosing nearly 1,000 soldiers.Both the British commander, Edward Braddock,and the French commander were killed.

23 year old George Washington won accolades forrallying the defeated British and preventing the

battle from turning into a rout.


9/22

For the first three years of the war, theoutnumbered French dominated the battlefield,soundly defeating the English.

In 1758, the tide of the war begins to turn in favorof the Britishbecause: William Pitt came to power first as Secretary of State

and then as Britains Prime Minister

British officers began to make peace with importantIndian allies

They began adapting their war strategies to fit theterritory and landscape of the American frontier.


10/22

William Pitt (The Elder)was an outstandingmilitary commanderwho knew how to pickskilled commandersand oversaw the wareffort from London.

To avoid complaintsfrom the colonists Pittdecided to pay for thewar. Later, he would

raise taxes in the


11/22

The French were also abandoned by many of theirIndian allies (Treaty of Easton, 1758)

Exhausted by years of battle, outnumbered andoutgunned by the British, the French collapsedduring the years 1758-59, climaxing with amassive defeat at Quebec in September 1759.

In 1760, the British captured Montreal.

In the final years of the war, the British defeatedthe French Navy and took French colonies in theCaribbean.

Thus, the French Empire in North America came to


12/22


13/22

TREATY OF PARIS (1763)

The 1763 Treaty of Paris, which also ended theEuropean Seven Years War, set the terms bywhich France would capitulate.

France was forced to surrender all of her Americanpossessions to the British, including Canada.

France is permitted to keep some sugar producingislands in the West Indies.


14/22

The British gained control over the area west ofthe 13 British colonies all the way to theMississippi River (east of the river)

Since Spain had helped the French, the Spanishwere forced to give up Florida to Britain.

However, the Spanish still held their territory westof the Mississippi River (the Louisiana territory).


15/22

The continent was now divided betweenGreat Britain and Spain with theMississippi River marking the boundary.

Native Americans still living on theNative Americans still living on thelands were not given a section of it bylands were not given a section of it by

the European agreement.the European agreement.


16/22


17/22

The British victory over the French was adevastating blow to the Native Americans of theOhio River valley.

They had lost their French allies and tradingpartners. The French held trapping and traderoutes in the Ohio Valley.

They began to trade with the British but saw themas enemies.

The British raised prices of traded goods and,unlike the French, refused to pay Native Americansfor the use of their land.

To make matters worse, British settlers began


18/22

PONTIACS REBELLION The British continued to fight with the Indians over

the issue of land claims. Pontiac's War startedshortly after the Treaty of Paris was signed.

Pontiac, chief of an Ottawa tribe, recognized that

the British settlers threatened the Native Americanway of life.

He forged an unprecedented alliance among the

Huron, Chippewa, Potawatomi, Shawnee, and


19/22

These lakes, theseThese lakes, these

woods and mountainswoods and mountains

were left to us by ourwere left to us by ourancestors. They areancestors. They are

our inheritance andour inheritance and

we will part with themwe will part with them

to no one You oughtto no one You oughtto know that He, theto know that He, the

Great Spirit andGreat Spirit and

Master of Life, hasMaster of Life, has

provided food for us inprovided food for us in

these spacious lakesthese spacious lakes


20/22

It is important that weIt is important that we

exterminate from our lands thisexterminate from our lands this

nation which seeks only to destroynation which seeks only to destroy

us. You see as well as I do that weus. You see as well as I do that we

can no longer supply our needs, ascan no longer supply our needs, as

we have done from our brothers,we have done from our brothers,

the French. The English sells usthe French. The English sells us

goods twice as dear as the Frenchgoods twice as dear as the French

do, and their goods do not last. do, and their goods do not last.

When I go to see the EnglishWhen I go to see the English

commander and say to him thatcommander and say to him thatsome of our comrades are dead,some of our comrades are dead,

instead of bewailing their death, asinstead of bewailing their death, as

our French brothers do, he laughsour French brothers do, he laughs

at me and at you. If I ask forat me and at you. If I ask for

anything for our sick, he refusesanything for our sick, he refuses

with the reply that he has no usewith the reply that he has no use

for us. for us.


21/22

In 1763 the alliance of Native Americans attackedBritish forts in the Great Lake region and killed2,000 settlers in western Pennsylvania and

Virginia.

However, they failed to capture important forts(Fort Niagara, Pitt, and Detroit).

1765: the Native Americans were defeated by theBritish.

In 1766, Pontiac si ned a eace treat and was


22/22

To prevent more fighting King George haltedsettlers westward expansion.

In the Proclamation of 1763 the AppalachianMountains were the temporary western boundaryfor the colonies (see map).

This created friction between the colonies andGreat Britain because the land claims of manycolonists who were already living in the area, or

who had recently purchased land in the area were

French and Indian Wars (1754-1763)

Documents

Transcript of French and Indian Wars (1754-1763)