French and Indian War (The French and Indian allies vs. Great Britain and their allies) 1754-1763

1. French and Indian War(The French and Indian allies vs. Great Britain and their allies)1754-1763 Also called the Seven Years’ War The most important of the colonial wars

2. Important people

3. England and France compete for world power • They were vying for control of the seas and possession of India and North America • They fought one another in a series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries, the first 3 beginning in Europe and spreading to the colonies, the 4th beginning in North America • The French and Indians raided English frontier settlements, the British tried unsuccessfully to conquer Canada

4. Comparison of the English and French colonies in 1754

5. Causes of the French and Indian War • The immediate cause was a dispute over possession of land west of the Appalachian Mountains. • Claiming land for themselves, the French started to build a series of forts from Lake Erie to the Ohio Valley (encircling) • Asserting England’s land claim, Virginia Governor Dinwiddie sent 21-year-old George Washington on his “dangerous mission” to demand the French leave the Ohio Valley

6. Outbreak of the French and Indian War (1754) • The French built a fort, Fort Duquesne, (today Pittsburgh) at the point where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers join to form the Ohio River. This was the key to the Ohio Valley and a gateway to the west. • Washington and a small militia were sent to seize Fort Duquesne. They defeated a small band of French soldiers about 40 miles from the fort and constructed Fort Necessity. • The French returned with reinforcements and forced the Virginians to surrender and return home. This marked the opening of the war.

7. Scalping • This soldier also described how the act was executed. "When a war party has captured one or more prisoners that cannot be taken away, it is the usual custom to kill them by breaking their heads with the blows of a tomahawk . . . When he has struck two or three blows, the savage quickly seizes his knife, and makes an incision around the hair from the upper part of the forehead to the back of the neck. Then he puts his foot on the shoulder of the victim, whom he has turned over face down, and pulls the hair off with both hands, from back to front . . . This hasty operation is no sooner finished than the savage fastens the scalp to his belt and goes on his way. This method is only used when the prisoner cannot follow his captor; or when the Indian is pursued . . . He quickly takes the scalp, gives the deathcry, and flees at top speed. Savages always announce their valor by a deathcry, when they have taken a scalp . . . When a savage has taken a scalp, and is not afraid he is be ing pursued, he stops and scrapes the skin to remove the blood and fibres on it. He makes a hoop of green wood, stretches the skin over it like a tambourine, and puts it in the sun to dry a little. The skin is painted red, and the hair on the outside combed. When prepared, the scalp is fastened to the end of a long stick, and carried on his shoulder in triumph to the village or place where he wants to put it. But as he nears each place on his way, he gives as many cries as he has scalps to announce his arrival and show his bravery. Sometimes as many as 15 scalps are fastened on the same stick. When there are too many for one stick, they decorate several sticks with the scalps."3

8. Inter-colonial Congress is held in Albany, NY • Representatives of 7 colonies met in Albany: To secure the allegiance of the Iroquois Confederacy To unite the colonies in matters of defense Ben Franklin of Pennsylvania proposed the Albany Plan of Union with included a Congress of delegates from all the colonies with the power to maintain an army, levy taxes, deal with Indian problems, and control westward expansion This plan was rejected by the colonies and England

9. Ben Franklin’s Political Cartoon • This famous cartoon appeared in Ben Franklin’s newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette, shortly before the Albany Congress convened in 1754.

10. The English suffered early defeats • Braddock’s defeat (1755) • General Edward Braddock was sent to command the British forces in North America • Braddock led his army to against Fort Duquesne and unfamiliar with wilderness warfare was surprised and mortally wounded • Washington rallied the survivors and led them to safety • Over the next few years the French took key outposts including Forts Oswego and William Henry and defeated the British attempts to take Ticonderoga and Louisbourg

11. The tide of war turns • William Pitt became English Prime Minister in 1757 • 1758 was a wonderful year for the British who won many victories throughout the world • He sent reinforcements, supplies, able men to lead troops, obtained support for the war from colonial legislatures and instilled a new spirit in England and the colonies • He also spent a lot of money

12. The English Conquer Canada • Quebec, situated on a high cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence River, was the most powerful French stronghold in North America • In 1759, the British fleet under General James Wolfe sailed up the river and laid siege to the city for 4 months • After climbing cliffs near the city considered unscaleable, the French and British met at the Plains of Abraham • Both Wolfe and French General Montcalm were killed • This was the decisive battle of the war

13. Treaty of Paris (1763) and results of the war • France cede Canada and all land east of the Mississippi (except New Orleans) to the British • New Orleans and French claims west of the Mississippi went to Spain (?) • Spain ceded Florida to England in exchange for Cuba • France kept 2 small islands by the Gulf of the St. Lawrence and several islands in the West Indies

14. (Effects Continued..)

15. Maps before and after the war