The document summarizes the colonial conflicts between France and England in North America from the 17th to 18th centuries over control of territory and trade routes. It discusses the founding of settlements by each empire along the St. Lawrence River and Mississippi River for economic and defensive purposes. As populations and tensions grew, clashes escalated into the French and Indian War, with key battles at Forts Duquesne and Quebec ultimately resulting in a British victory and their control of most former French lands east of the Mississippi per the Treaty of Paris in 1763.