The Road to War - Edison Social Studies
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Transcript The Road to War - Edison Social Studies
The French and Indian War
French
and Indian War- Conflict between
France, Spain, and their Native American allies;
and the British and their Native American Allies
for control of lands west of the Appalachian
Mountains
Albany Plan of Union- An attempt to create a
unified colonial government for the defense of
the colonies
Treaty of Paris- The document that brought an
end to the French and Indian War
France
and England along with Spain, and
the Netherlands were the major world
powers in the mid 1700’s
• England’s many colonies led to the coining
of the term “The Sun Never Sets on the
British Empire”
• England and France were the two that had
major holdings in North America
France held land in what is today Canada and
west of the Appalachian Mountains
Early
on, English settlement was
restricted to the Atlantic Coast
• Due to increased settlement, British settlers
started to move west
Fur trappers also worked west of the Appalachians
• The French began to feel threatened by this
expansion
They were eager to protect their land from their rival
The
French won the support of most of
the native tribes in the region
• The French were mainly trappers who worked
with the Native Americans and respected their
land
• British settlers were mainly farmers who took
land to create farms and largely ignored native
American sovereignty
The
British did gain Iroquois support as
they were enemies with a tribe that sided
with the French
Small
scuffles occurred three times between
1689 and 1748
• The French and Indian war broke out in 1754
A young surveyor was sent west to build a fort for the
British
He learned later that the French had built Fort Duquesne at
the very spot at which he was ordered to build
The surveyor launched a successful surprise attack on the
French and then set up a hastily built Fort Necessity
He was forced to surrender the fort after being outnumbered
700- 150 during the French Counterattack
This young surveyors name…
George Washington
Delegates
from 7 colonies met in Albany
to create a unified colonial defense
• Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of
Union
Representatives from all 13 colonies would form a
“Grand Council”
They would make laws, raise taxes and set up the defense of
the colonies
• It was accepted by the delegates but
unanimously defeated by the colonial councils
General
Edward Braddock mounted an ill
fated attack on Fort Duquesne in 1755
• He was warned by the Iroquois and Washington
that the French were ready
He ignored the warning and pushed ahead
• The French launched a surprise attack
Red coats made for easy targets
Braddock had 5 horses shot out from under him
before he was finally hit
Half of the British force was killed or wounded
Washington was nearly killed as well
In
1757, William Pitt became the head of
British Government
• He made defeating the French in North America
priority number one
He felt that if they beat the French in North America, they
would be able to control the entire world
He sent Britain’s top General, and called for support from
the colonists by promising monetary payments for military
services and supplies
The strategy worked and the British won after several more
years of struggle
When the British captured Fort Duquesne, they renamed it
Fort Pitt
The city of Pittsburgh grew around this site
The
official end of the war did not come
until 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of
Paris
• Britain gained Canada as well as all French land
east of the Mississippi
• France was able to keep its holdings in the West
Indies
• Spain gave up Florida to Britain
France had to give Spain all of its land West of the
Mississippi
Also got New Orleans
The
French and Indian War changed the
landscape of Colonial North America
The British gained a great deal of land at
the expense mainly of their rival the
French
The British spent large sums of money
“protecting” the colonies
The first real attempt at uniting the
colonies came about during the war