Monday October 5

Chapter 4: Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle for Empire to 1763

Classwork for Monday October 5

1-PPT (Battle for the Continent; The Middle Ground through Colonial Identities)

2-Study for 5-question T/F quick quiz tomorrow

The French and Indian War/Seven Years’ War

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vKGU3aEGssThe Seven Years’ War and the Great Awakening: Crash Course US History #5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuQ5SzExJNcThe French & Indian War Explained: US History Review (8m) (Hip Hughes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0qbzNHmfW0The Seven Years’ War: Crash Course World History #26 (12m)

European Empires in North America, ca. 1750

Chapter 4: Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle for Empire to 1763: Battle for the Continent, The Middle Ground

The western frontier of British America, particularly the Ohio Valley, was a battleground that saw nearly constant conflict between France, Britain, and their Indian allies.

Indians were constantly being pushed from their homes into a so-called “middle ground.” On this “middle ground” between European empires and Indian sovereignty, Indians from various tribes lived together, alongside European traders and missionaries.

In 1749, as white settlers began moving into the Ohio Valley, Virginia awarded an immense grant of land there to the Ohio Company, which could sell the land to settlers. The grant threatened the Valley’s Indians and caused the French to reinforce their military presence.

The Ohio Company’s demand for French recognition of its land claims inaugurated the Seven Years’ War.

Chapter 4: Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle for Empire to 1763: The French and Indian War/The Seven Years’ War (1754-

1763)The conflict initially started in 1754 with British efforts to dislodge the French from forts in western Pennsylvania guarding the Ohio Valley, when a small force of soldiers led by George Washington entered the area, conflict ensued.

For the first two years of the war (1754-1756), French and Indian forces successfully attacked the frontiers of the British colonies in North America.

Only in 1757, under British Prime Minister Pitt’s ingenious and brilliant leadership, did the British government turn the tide.

Britain funded Prussia and Austria’s campaigns against France and its ally Spain in Europe, while the British struck back in the colonies.

Chapter 4: Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle for Empire to 1763: A World Transformed

In the Peace of Paris, which officially ended the war, in 1763:

1. France ceded Canada to Britain, and received in return the sugar islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.

2. Spain ceded Florida to Britain in return for the Philippines and Cuba, which the British had seized during the war.

3. Spain also acquired Louisiana from the French.

France’s empire in North America was finished. Entire continent east of the Mississippi River was in British hands.

Attempts to pay for the costs of the war led to events that precipitated both the French and the American revolutions.

(British colonists in America did not want to pay (be taxed) for Britain’s expenses incurred during the French and Indian War)

Chapter 4: Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle for Empire to 1763: Pontiac’s Rebellion

The French had conceded lands that Indians controlled to the British, without their consent.

The Treaty of Paris had caused confusion about land claims, control of the fur trade, and tribal relations in general. In 1763, Indians in the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions rebelled against British.

Chapter 4: Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle for Empire to 1763: The Proclamation Line

By the end of 1763, British forces had quelled the rebellion. But the British government tried to quiet tensions between white settlers in the colonies and Indians by declaring the Proclamation of 1763 prohibiting further colonial settlement in the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains, which were reserved for Indians.

It also banned the sale of Indian lands to private individuals, allowing sales only to colonial governments. The new policy enraged settlers and speculators who wanted these lands, and many colonists, including George Washington, ignored the policy and purchased land anyway, illegally. Not solving the issue of westward expansion, the act instead exacerbated settler-Indian relations.

Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd EditionCopyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & CompanyMap 4.4 Eastern North America after the Peace of Paris, 1763

Chapter 4: Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle for Empire to 1763: Pennsylvania and the Indians

The Seven Years’ War changed all the American colonies, but none more so than Pennsylvania. The war shattered the rule of the old Quaker elite and ended their policy of accommodating the Indians.

Many western settlers pushed the colony’s government into a more aggressive stance towards Indians during the war, and the brutal warfare on the colony’s frontier deepened western farmers antagonism towards the Indians.

During Pontiac’s Rebellion, a group of armed western farmers from Paxton marched on Philadelphia, attacking and massacring Indians along the way. The Paxton Boys successfully pressured the governor into expelling peaceful Indians in that city, and by the end of the 1760s, Penn’s “holy experiment” and his quest for peace between Europeans and Indians was over.

Chapter 4: Slavery, Freedom, and the Struggle for Empire to 1763: Colonial Identities

Although some tensions had arisen between American and British soldiers and officers during the war, the war mostly intensified American colonists’ sense of themselves as Britons, with all the benefits that came from being British.

American colonists believed British triumph in the war was a victory for “Protestant freedom” against “Popish slavery.”

Before too long, however, American colonists would come to believe that membership in the British empire actually jeopardized their freedom, and would soon set out on a road that led to INDEPENDENCE.

Give Me Liberty!: An American history, 3rd EditionCopyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & CompanyBenjamin Franklin produced this famous cartoon in 1754

Homework due Tuesday October 6

Reading and notes on Ch. 4, pp. 166-174 (omit pp. 172-173 if you wish), Battle for the Continent: The Middle Ground through the end of the chapter.

You will have a quick five-question True/False quiz on this reading on Tuesday October 6. (HW grade/10%)