Introduction to the French and Indian War

1. Clash of Empires on the North America continent
Slide 1
Both the English and the French had significant economic interests on the
North American continent. Neither country could afford to give up its trade
with the New World and struggled vehemently to keep whatever territories each
possessed.
The two countries had been battling for the dominance of Europe since the 14th
century, and the establishment of British colonies and French settlements in
the 17th century merely added to this conflict.
Both King William’s War in the late 17th century and Queen Anne’s War in the
early 18th century were bloody conflicts that were fought on the European
continent and colonial America. In both of these wars, neither side thought the
American conflicts were very important, so they did not want to waste real
soldiers on these battles. As a result, the British American colonists fought the
French coureurs de bois (woodsmen) and their Indian allies.
The peace terms at the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 following these two closely-
fought wars were very generous to England; she received Acadia, which she
renamed Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and the Hudson Bay area.
King George’s War in 1744 was the American equivalent of the War of Austrian
Succession. During the war, the American colonists captured Fort Louisbourg
on Cape Breton Island. Their glory was short-lived because the British had to
return this to the French under the terms of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in
1748. This upset the colonists, because they feared the French and their
Indian allies.

2. Slide 2
The flush, fertile Ohio Valley was contested by all three major European
powers: the British, the French, and the Spanish. In 1754, the governor of
Virginia sent 21-year-old George Washington to this valley as a lieutenant
colonel in command of 150 Virginia minutemen. They encountered the French
about 40 miles from Fort Duquesne, began a skirmish with them and killed
their leader. The French returned with a much larger force of French soldiers
and her Indian allies and surrounded Washington’s hastily constructed Fort
Necessity. The two sides fought a 10-hour battle where the Indians loyal to the
French introduced guerilla-style fighting to the colonists; this style of fighting
would later serve the colonists well in the early days of the American
Revolution. Washington’s forces were forced to surrender, but were allowed to
keep their weapons and return to Virginia.
Slide 3
This fourth colonial war was the first actually begun in America, unlike the
first three. The French and Indian War began with Washington’s battle.
England quickly called upon her ally, the Prussians to join her in the struggle
with the European powers of France, Spain, Austria and Russia.
The colonial holdings of the British, French and Spanish in America are
evidenced by the 1754 map showing the British colonies on the eastern coast
and her recently acquired lands north in the Hudson Bay area. France’s
settlements dominated the Ohio Valley and points west, and Spain controlled
the area that would later be named Florida in the south. Between each of
these areas, there is a great deal of mutually contested land. Both Spain and
France were anxious to reduce the British footprint in America.