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The George Washington Digital Encyclopedia is the place to learn more about George Washington and the wide range of subjects related to his world and the colonial era.

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Kids learn about the history of the French and Indian War of the American Colonies between 1754 and 1763 including major battles, events, ending, and results.

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When did the French and Indian War begin?

What was the main cause of the French and Indian War?

Which treaty made France surrender Canada to Britain?

French and Indian War, American phase of a worldwide nine years' war (1754-63) fought between France and Great Britain. (The more-complex European phase was the Seven Years' War [1756-63].) It determined control of the vast colonial territory of North America. Three earlier phases of this extended contest for overseas mastery included King William's War (1689-97), Queen Anne's War (1702-13), and King George's War (1744-48).

Causes of the French and Indian War

The French and Indian War began over the specific issue of whether the upper Ohio River valley was a part of the British Empire, and therefore open for trade and settlement by Virginians and Pennsylvanians, or part of the French Empire. Behind this issue loomed an infinitely larger one, however: which national culture was to dominate the heart of North America. Settlers of English extraction were in a preponderance in the coveted area, but French exploration, trade, and alliances with Native Americans predominated.

British territorial claims rested upon explorations of the North American continent by John Cabot in the latter part of the 15th century. In the early 17th century, an English royal charter granted land within certain limits between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to both the Virginia Company and the Plymouth Company. In 1663 the province of Carolina was created to the south of Virginia, with a sea-to-sea grant; the Carolina charter was amended two years later, and the expanded territory would come to form the colonies of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Thus, all the lands to the south of French Canada and to the north of Spanish Florida, stretching from sea to sea, were claimed by England. In conflict with this was France's claim to the whole of the Mississippi valley, including the Ohio Valley, based upon the explorations of René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de la Salle. Starting from Canada, La Salle moved through the Great Lakes and then, after descending the Mississippi River in 1682, took possession in the name of the king of France of all lands drained by the river and its tributaries.

For about 60 years, the conflict over which country had the stronger claim to the lands in the great Mississippi basin was to remain in abeyance. The English gradually settled all along the Atlantic seaboard to the south of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, where more than a dozen colonies-including British Nova Scotia, founded in 1749-came into existence and flourished. In the course of time, the inhabitants of these colonies in the course of time pushed westward from tidewater areas to establish themselves in the Piedmont country. By the middle of the 18th century, the small cabins of Virginians were to be found even to the west of the Appalachians on the upper reaches of such waterways as the New and Holston rivers. By that period, hundreds of Pennsylvanian traders had likewise settled in the villages of Indian peoples of the upper Ohio Valley, with whom Great Britain was allied. The French, firmly in control of Canada from the early 17th century, gradually began expanding into the Great Lakes region, establishing a permanent settlement at Detroit.

Initial hostilities

A conflict between the two colonial powers over their rival North American claims was doubtless inevitable, but because their areas of trade exploitation were widely separated, that conflict might have been delayed for many years had not the governor-general of New France forced the issue. Although the French had a scant presence in the neighbourhood of the Allegheny River and the upper Ohio River where Pennsylvania traders were concentrated, in 1749 the governor-general ordered Pierre-Joseph Céloron de Blainville to compel the trading houses in that region to lower the British flags that flew above them. The traders, regarded as trespassers on French lands, were ordered to retreat to the eastern slopes of the Appalachians. This directive did not have the desired effect, however, and force was applied in 1752 when the important British colonial trading centre at Pickawillany on the upper Great Miami River was destroyed. That move was followed by the capture or killing of every English-speaking trader that the French and their Indian allies could find in the upper Ohio Valley. Those actions struck directly not only at the people of Pennsylvania but also at those of Virginia.

The government of Virginia took the position that the lands of the upper Ohio were clearly included in the colony's 1609 charter. It argued that this grant gave Virginia a claim to the western lands that was more valid than New France's claim, which was based upon La Salle's much later journey down the Mississippi. In harmony with this point of view, the governor and council of Virginia had by the end of 1752 conditionally granted about 2,300 square miles (6,000 square km) of land in the Ohio Valley to settlers. As a result, almost every important Virginia family-including members of the Washington, Lee, and Randolph families-was vitally interested in the fate of the Ohio area. When news reached Williamsburg, the colonial capital, that the French were driving out English traders and building forts on the headwaters of the Allegheny in order to consolidate their positions, Lieut. Gov. Robert Dinwiddie determined to act. In October 1753 Dinwiddie dispatched young George Washington to the French Fort LeBouef (now Waterford, Pennsylvania) to warn the garrison there that it was occupying land that belonged to Virginia. After that mission failed, the Ohio Company of Virginia, which had received a special grant of upper Ohio Valley land, was encouraged to build a fort at the convergence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers (modern Pittsburgh), with the understanding that troops from Virginia would support the undertaking.

The French, however, were too quick. Descending the Allegheny in large numbers in the spring of 1754, French troops overwhelmed the uncompleted fort before Virginia militia under Col. Joshua Fry could arrive. Upon Fry's death in May 1754, Washington assumed command of the militia and entrenched himself at a post that came to be called Fort Necessity (now Confluence, Pennsylvania), about 40 miles (60 km) from the French position at Fort Duquesne. On May 28 Washington's forces engaged a French scouting party, killing the commander, Coulon de Jumonville, and nine others as well as taking 20 prisoners. The French could not ignore such a provocation and descended upon Fort Necessity, besieging it on July 3. Although Washington had been reinforced with militia troops from Virginia and a company of regular British infantry from North Carolina, the combined French and Indian force outnumbered the defenders roughly two to one. Washington surrendered the fort, which was then burned by the French, and withdrew with his forces to Virginia.

The government of Virginia appealed to London for assistance. Fearing the renewal of war with France after just six years of peace, George II at first stubbornly refused to consider the request, agreeing with his prime minister, the duke of Newcastle, who said, "Let Americans fight Americans." When it became clear that raw Virginia militia could not make headway against seasoned French regulars, George ordered Gen. Edward Braddock to go to Virginia with a force and eject the French from Fort Duquesne and its environs. Adm. Edward Boscawen was sent into the region of the Gulf of St. Lawrence with a powerful fleet to prevent further reinforcement of French troops from arriving in Canada. The war thus begun to defend British territorial claims in the Ohio Valley spread like wildfire across the continent.

Early French successes

The first four years saw nothing but severe reverses for the British regulars and American colonials, primarily because of superior French land forces in the New World. Braddock was killed and his army scattered in July 1755 when the force was ambushed while approaching Fort Duquesne. In 1756 the defenders of Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario were obliged to surrender, as were the defenders of Fort William Henry near Lake Champlain in 1757. Lord Loudoun's amphibious expedition from New York City against the great French fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island ended in dismal failure that year. In July 1758 Gen. James Abercrombie attacked the French stronghold at the northern end of Lake George, Fort-Carillon (later renamed Fort Ticonderoga). Despite outnumbering the French defenders under Gen. Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Grozon, marquis de Montcalm, almost four to one, Abercrombie's army was almost destroyed. Moreover, the frontier settlements in what are now central New York, central Pennsylvania, western Maryland, and western Virginia were deserted while thousands of families fled eastward in panic to escape the hostilities.

During those years of defeat, the only notable success scored by the British and colonial forces was the capture in 1755 of the well-fortified Fort Beauséjour on the Chignecto Isthmus, a narrow strip of land connecting Nova Scotia with the mainland. British authorities held the region to be a part of Nova Scotia, ceded by France in the April 1713 treaty of Utrecht. However, the French-speaking Acadians who lived in the region not only steadfastly refused to take an oath of loyalty to the British crown but had provided Fort Beauséjour with provisions and a large labour force to aid the French in consolidating their foothold on the isthmus. As no large contingent of British soldiers was available to garrison the area and subdue the pro-French populace, the British authorities at Halifax decided to disperse the Acadians as a war measure. Transports carried most of the Acadians away from their villages in western Nova Scotia and distributed them among the British colonies to the south. Some returned to the area after the war, while others settled in French Louisiana, where their descendants became known as Cajuns. The exile of the Acadians from Nova Scotia was famously dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's narrative poem Evangeline (1847).

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French and Indian War | Definition, History, Dates, Summary, Causes, Combatants, & Facts

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French and Indian War, American phase of a worldwide nine-year war (1754-63) fought between France and Great Britain. It determined control of the vast colonial territory of North America. Three earlier phases of the contest for overseas mastery included King William's War, Queen Anne's War, and King George's War.

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French and Indian War Mini Documentary James Dunoyer 2010

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Not sure if it's reliable but good info.

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The French and Indian War

The French and Indian War was fought between the colonies of Great Britain and New France, supported by American Indian allies on both sides.

Learning Objectives

Describe the political and economic impact of the French and Indian War on the colonies

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The French and Indian War (1754-1763) is the name for the North American theater of the Seven Years' War.

The war was primarily fought over contested claims between the British and French over the land of the Ohio Country. The outcome of the war was one of the most significant developments in a century of Anglo-French conflict, with Britain gaining control over Canada and Florida.

American Indian tribes supporting France included the Wabanaki Confederacy, Algonquin, Caughnawaga Mohawk, Lenape, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Shawnee, and Wyandot.

American Indian tribes supporting the British included the Iroquois Confederacy, Catawba, and the Cherokee prior to 1758.

Key Terms

Treaty of Paris: A peace agreement signed in 1763 that ended the Seven Years' War, or the French and Indian War; also the name for a peace agreement signed in 1783 that ended the American Revolutionary War and recognized the United States' independence.

Seven Years' War: A global military war between 1756 and 1763 involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines.

New France: France's former possessions and colonies in North America, including Quebec, Acadia, and Louisiana, before 1763.

The Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines. In some countries, the war is alternatively named after combats in the respective theatres: the French and Indian War (North America, 1754-63), Pomeranian War (Sweden and Prussia, 1757-62), Third Carnatic War (Indian subcontinent, 1757-63), and Third Silesian War (Prussia and Austria, 1756-63).

The French and Indian War (1754-1763) is the name for the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War. The war was fought primarily between the colonies of Great Britain and New France, with both sides supported by forces from Europe as well as American Indian allies. In 1756, the war erupted into a worldwide conflict between Britain and France. The primary targets of the British colonists were the royal French forces and the various American Indian forces allied with them.

Background to the War

The Ohio Country

The war was fought primarily along the frontiers separating New France from the British colonies from Virginia to Nova Scotia. The Ohio Country (sometimes called the Ohio Territory or Ohio Valley by the French) was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake Erie. The territory encompassed roughly the present-day states of Ohio, eastern Indiana, western Pennsylvania, and northwestern West Virginia. The issue of settlement in the region is considered to have been a primary cause of the French and Indian War and a later contributing factor to the American Revolutionary War.

In the 17th century, the area north of the Ohio River had been occupied by the Algonquian-speaking Shawnee. Around 1660, during a conflict known as the Beaver Wars, the Iroquois seized control of the Ohio Country, driving out the Shawnee and conquering and absorbing the Erie tribe. The Ohio Country remained largely uninhabited for decades and was used primarily for hunting by the Iroquois.

In the 1720s, a number of American Indian groups began to migrate to the Ohio Country. By 1724, Delaware Indians had established the village of Kittanning on the Allegheny River in present-day western Pennsylvania. The Delawares were migrating because of the expansion of European colonial settlement in eastern Pennsylvania. With them came those Shawnee who had settled in the east. Other bands of the scattered Shawnee tribe also began to return to the Ohio Country in the decades that followed. A number of Senecas and other Iroquois also migrated to the Ohio Country, moving away from the French and British imperial rivalries south of Lake Ontario.

Territorial Dispute

With the invasion of the Europeans, the region was claimed by Great Britain and France, both of which sent merchants into the area to trade with the Ohio Country Indians. The area was considered central to both countries' ambitions of further expansion and development in North America. At the same time, the Iroquois claimed the region by right of conquest. The rivalry between the two European nations, the Iroquois, and the Ohio natives for control of the region played an important part of the outbreak of the French and Indian War in the 1750s.

The Outbreak of War

The war began in May 1754 because of these competing claims between Britain and France. Twenty-two-year-old George Washington, a Virginian surveyor whose family helped to found the Ohio Company, gave the command to fire on French soldiers near present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania. This incident on the Pennsylvania frontier proved to be a decisive event that led to imperial war. For the next decade, fighting took place along the frontier of New France and British America from Virginia to Maine. The war also spread to Europe as France and Britain looked to gain supremacy in the Atlantic World.

After initially remaining neutral, the Ohio Country Indians and most of the northern tribes largely sided with the French, who were their primary trading partner and supplier of arms. The British fared poorly in the first years of the war. In 1754, the French and their American Indian native allies forced Washington to surrender at Fort Necessity, a hastily built fort constructed after Washington's attack on the French. In 1755, Britain dispatched General Edward Braddock to the colonies to take Fort Duquesne. The French, aided by the Potawotomis, Ottawas, Shawnees, and Delawares, ambushed the 1,500 British soldiers and Virginia militia who marched to the fort. The attack sent panic through the British force, and hundreds of British soldiers and militiamen died, including General Braddock. The campaign of 1755 proved to be a disaster for the British. In fact, the only British victory that year was the capture of Nova Scotia. In 1756 and 1757, Britain suffered further defeats with the fall of Fort Oswego and Fort William Henry.

The war began to turn in favor of the British in 1758, due in large part to the efforts of William Pitt, a very popular member of Parliament. Pitt pledged huge sums of money and resources to defeating the hated Catholic French, and Great Britain spent part of the money on bounties paid to new young recruits in the colonies, helping invigorate the British forces. In 1758, the Iroquois, Delaware, and Shawnee signed the Treaty of Easton, aligning themselves with the British in return for some contested land around Pennsylvania and Virginia. Between 1758 and 1760, the British military successfully penetrated the heartland of New France, with Quebec falling in 1759 and Montreal finally falling in September 1760. The French empire in North America began to crumble.

Treaty of Paris

Most of the fighting between France and Britain in continental North America ended in 1760; however, the fighting in Europe continued. The war in North America officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763, and war in the European theatre of the Seven Years' War was settled by the Treaty of Hubertusburg on February 15, 1763. France ceded French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to its ally Spain, in compensation for Spain's loss of Florida to Britain (which Spain had given to Britain in exchange for the return of Havana, Cuba). France's colonial presence north of the Caribbean was reduced to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, confirming Britain's position as the dominant colonial power in the eastern half of North America.

Britain gained control of French Canada and Acadia, colonies containing approximately 80,000 primarily French-speaking Roman Catholic residents. The British resettled many Acadians throughout its North American provinces, but many went to France, and some went to New Orleans, which they had expected to remain French.

Following the peace treaty, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 outlining the division and administration of the newly conquered territory. To some extent, this proclamation continues to govern relations between the government of modern Canada and the First Nations. In his proclamation, George III placed Ohio Country in the vast Indian Reserve stretching from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River and from Florida to Newfoundland. Existing European settlers (mostly French) were ordered to leave or get special permission to stay. Despite its acquisition by Great Britain, the area remained officially closed to white settlement-at least for the time being-by the Proclamation of 1763, which arose from the British desire to regain peaceful relations with the Shawnee and other tribes in the region.

A New Dynamic

For France, the military defeat and the financial burden of the war weakened the monarchy and contributed to the advent of the French Revolution in 1789. For many American Indian populations, the elimination of French power in North America meant the disappearance of a strong ally and counterweight to British expansion, which over the following decades would lead to their ultimate dispossession. Although the Spanish takeover of the Louisiana territory (which was not completed until 1769) had only modest repercussions, the British takeover of Spanish Florida resulted in the westward migration of tribes that did not want to do business with the British and a rise in tensions between the Choctaw and the Creek, historic enemies whose divisions the British at times exploited. The change of control in Florida also prompted most of its Spanish Catholic population to leave.

The Albany Congress and the Intercolonial Defense

The Albany Congress brought together colonial representatives to discuss relations with American Indian tribes and common defense against the French.

Learning Objectives

Identify the Albany Congress

Key Takeaways

Key Points

In 1754, the British government asked colonial representatives to meet in Albany, New York, to develop a treaty with American Indians and plan the defense of the colonies against France.The Albany Congress was a meeting of representatives from seven of the 13 British North American colonies: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

Representatives met daily in Albany, New York, from June 19 to July 11 to discuss better relations with the American Indian tribes and common defensive measures against the French during the French and Indian War.

Exceeding their limited objectives, the assembly adopted a plan developed by Benjamin Franklin for government of the colonies by a central executive and a council of delegates.

Although rejected by England and the colonies, the Albany Plan became a useful guide in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War.

Key Terms

Albany Plan: A measure proposed by Benjamin Franklin at the Albany Congress in 1754 in Albany, New York.

Overview

In 1754, the British government asked colonial representatives to meet in Albany, New York, to develop a treaty with American Indians and plan the defense of the colonies against France. Exceeding these limited objectives, the assembly adopted a plan developed by Benjamin Franklin for government of the colonies by a central executive and a council of delegates. Although rejected by England and the colonies, the Albany Plan became a useful guide in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War.

The Albany Congress

The Albany Congress was a meeting of representatives from seven of the 13 British North American colonies in 1754: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Representatives met daily in Albany, New York, from June 19 to July 11 to discuss better relations with the American Indian tribes and common defensive measures against the French during the French and Indian War. Delegates did not view themselves as builders of an American nation; rather, they were colonists with the more limited mission of pursuing a treaty with the Mohawks. The episode has achieved iconic status as presaging the formation of the United States of America in 1776, and is often illustrated with Franklin's famous snake cartoon, "Join, or Die."

Franklin's Plan of Union

Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan for uniting the seven colonies that greatly exceeded the scope of the congress. The Albany delegates spent most of their time debating Franklin's Albany Plan of Union, which would have created a unified colonial entity. The original plan was heavily debated by all who attended the conference, and numerous modifications were proposed until the plan proceeded to be passed unanimously.

The delegates voted approval of a plan that called for a union of 12 colonies. The Union Plan included all of the British colonies in North America, except Delaware and Georgia. The plan called for a single executive, known as a president general, to be appointed and supported by the Crown; the president general would be responsible for American Indian relations, military preparedness, and execution of laws regulating various trade and financial activities. The Union Plan also called for a grand council to be selected by the colonial legislatures, where the number of delegates (anywhere from 2 to 7) would be based on the taxes paid by each colony.

The plan was submitted as a recommendation by the Albany Congress, but it was rejected by the legislatures of the individual seven colonies, as it would remove some of their existing powers. The plan was also rejected by the Colonial Office. Many in the British government, already wary of some of the strong-willed colonial assemblies, disliked the idea of consolidating additional power into the hands of the colonists. Instead, they preferred that the colonists' focus remain on the forthcoming military campaign against the French and their American Indian allies.

Even though it was rejected, some features of this plan were later adopted in the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. Franklin himself later speculated that had the 1754 plan been adopted, the colonial separation from England might not have happened so soon.

The War and Its Consequences

The Seven Years' War changed relations between the European powers, their colonies and colonists, and the American Indians in North America.

Learning Objectives

Analyze the results of the Seven Years' War

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The French and Indian War took place in the American theatre of the global Seven Years' War; the Treaty of Paris marked the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763.

The Treaty of Paris resulted in France's loss of all its North American possessions east of the Mississippi except for two small islands off of Newfoundland, marking the beginning of an era of British dominance in North America.

Following the treaty, King George III signed the Royal Proclamation of 1763 which temporarily blocked colonists' westward expansion and reserved western land for American Indian use.

The proclamation was less about respecting or preserving the American Indians' rights to their land; rather, it gave the British Crown a monopoly on all future land purchases from American Indians.

Though Britain gained the territory of New France and French Canada, France and Britain both suffered financially because of the war, with significant long-term consequences.

The war nearly doubled Britain's national debt, which it chose to pay off by imposing new taxes on its colonies; resistance to these taxes from the colonists would eventually culminate in the American Revolutionary War.

Key Terms

Treaty of Paris: Signed in 1763, a peace agreement that ended the French and Indian War in North America; also the name for the peace agreement that ended the American Revolutionary War in 1783.

Royal Proclamation of 1763: An act issued by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War; it established limits to colonization west of the Appalachian mountains.

speculators: A person who engages in commercial or financial purchasing of a good (or land) with the hope that it will become more valuable at a future date.

The Ending of the War

The Treaties of Paris and Hubertusburg

Most of the North American fighting of the French and Indian War (the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War) ended on September 8, 1760, when the Marquis de Vaudreuil surrendered Montreal-and effectively all of Canada-to the British. However, the war did not officially end until the signing of the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763. The treaty resulted in France's loss of all its North American possessions east of the Mississippi except for Saint Pierre and Miquelon, two small islands off of Newfoundland, marking the beginning of an era of British dominance in North America.

Britain also gained control of French Canada, a colony containing approximately 65,000 French-speaking, Roman Catholic residents. Early in the war in 1755, the British had expelled French settlers from Acadia, some of whom eventually fled to Louisiana. Now at peace and eager to secure control of its hard-won colony, Great Britain found itself obliged to make concessions to its newly conquered subjects. The European theatre of the war was settled by the Treaty of Hubertusburg on February 15, 1763.

Consequences of the War

The war changed economic, political, governmental, and social relations between Britain, France, and Spain; their colonies and colonists; and the American Indians that inhabited the territories they claimed. France and Britain both suffered financially because of the war, with significant long-term consequences.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763

Following the peace treaty, King George III issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 on October 7. The proclamation outlined the division and administration of the newly conquered territory. Included in its provisions was the reservation of lands west of the Appalachian Mountains to its original American Indian population, a demarcation that was at best a temporary impediment to a rising tide of westward-bound British invaders. One of the biggest problems confronting the British Empire in 1763 was controlling land speculators whose activities often led to frontier conflicts in both Europe and the British colonies. Many American Indian peoples-primarily in the Great Lakes region-had a long and close relationship with France and were dismayed to find that they were now under British sovereignty.

The proclamation created a boundary line (often called the proclamation line) between the British colonies on the Atlantic coast and American Indian lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. The proclamation line was not intended to be a permanent boundary between white and indigenous lands but rather a temporary boundary which could be extended further west in an orderly, "lawful" (according to the British) manner. The proclamation outlawed private purchase of American Indian land, which had often created problems in the past; instead, all future land purchases were to be made by Crown officials "at some public Meeting or Assembly of the said Indians." Furthermore, British colonists were forbidden to move beyond the line and settle on indigenous lands, and colonial officials were forbidden to grant grounds or lands without royal approval. The proclamation was less about respecting or preserving the American Indians' rights to their land; rather, it gave the British Crown a monopoly on all future land purchases from American Indians.

Almost immediately, many British colonists and land speculators objected to the proclamation boundary, since there were already many settlements beyond the line and many existing land claims yet to be settled. Indeed, the Royal Proclamation itself called for lands to be granted to British soldiers who had served in the Seven Years' War. Prominent American colonists joined with land speculators in Britain to lobby the government to move the line further west. As a result, the boundary line was adjusted in a series of treaties with American Indians. The Treaty of Fort Stanwix and the Treaty of Hard Labor, both signed 1768, and the Treaty of Lochaber of 1770, opened much of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky to British settlement.

Economic Consequences

In addition to vastly increasing Britain's land in North America, the Seven Years' War changed economic, political, and social relations between Britain and its colonies. It plunged Britain into debt, nearly doubling the national debt. The Crown, seeking sources of revenue to pay off the debt, chose to impose new taxes on its colonies. These taxes were met with increasingly stiff resistance, until troops were called in to ensure that representatives of the Crown could safely perform their duties of collecting taxes. Over the years, dissatisfaction over the high taxes would steadily rise among the colonists until eventually culminating in the American Revolutionary War.

France returned to the North American stage in 1778 to support American colonists against Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. For France, the military defeat and the financial burden of the Seven Years' War weakened the monarchy and eventually contributed to the advent of the French Revolution in 1789.

Pontiac's Uprising

British expansion into American Indian land after the French and Indian War led to resistance in the form of Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763.

Learning Objectives

Identify Pontiac's Rebellion

Key Takeaways

Key Points

Pontiac 's Rebellion (1763-1766) was an uprising of a coalition of American Indian tribes who sought to prevent Great Britain from expanding further into western lands.

Following the British victory in the French and Indian War, British postwar policies in the Great Lakes region greatly disregarded American Indian rights to their land.

Involved in the rebellion were the numerous tribes of the Great Lakes region and the eastern Illinois Country, both of which had been allied with the French; the tribes of the Ohio Country, allied with neither, were also involved.

The war began at Fort Detroit under the leadership of Ottawa war chief Pontiac and quickly spread throughout the region as word of Pontiac's actions inspired other discontented American Indians to join the revolt.

Relations between British colonists and American Indians deteriorated further during and after Pontiac's Rebellion, contributing to deep racial hatred among colonists against all American Indians.

For American Indians, Pontiac's War demonstrated the possibilities of pan-tribal cooperation in resisting Anglo-American colonial expansion.

Key Terms

General Amherst: An 18th century officer in the British Army and commander-in-chief of the forces.

Pontiac: An Ottawa leader who became famous for his role in the American Indian uprising of 1763, in which a pan-tribal coalition of American Indians resisted British military occupation of the Great Lakes region following the British victory in the French and Indian War.

pays d'en haut: A vast territory west of Montreal covering the whole of the Great Lakes north and south and stretching as far into the North American continent as the French had explored.

Changing Dynamics

After the Seven Years' War, British troops proceeded to occupy the various forts in the Ohio Country and Great Lakes region that had been previously garrisoned by the French. Even before the war officially ended, the British Crown began to implement changes in order to administer its vastly expanded North American territory. While the French had long cultivated alliances among certain of the American Indian tribes, the British post-war approach was to subordinate the tribes, and tensions quickly rose between the American Indians and the British. The most organized resistance, Pontiac's Rebellion, highlighted tensions the settler-invaders increasingly interpreted in racial terms.

Pontiac's Rebellion

Tribes Involved

American Indians involved in Pontiac's Rebellion lived in a vaguely defined region of New France known as the pays d'en haut, "the upper country," which was claimed by France until the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The tribes of the pays d'en haut consisted of three basic groups. The first group included the tribes of the Great Lakes region: the Ottawas, Ojibwas, Potawatomis, and Hurons. The second group was made up of the tribes of the eastern Illinois Country, which included the Miamis, Weas, Kickapoos, Mascoutens, and Piankashaws. Both groups had a long-standing peace agreement with the French. The members of the third group were the tribes of the Ohio Country: the Delawares (Lenape), Shawnees, Wyandots, and Mingos. These people had migrated to the Ohio valley earlier in the century in order to escape British, French, and Iroquois domination elsewhere and did not have strong relations with the British or French.

Amherst's Policies Toward American Indians

General Amherst, the British commander-in-chief in North America, was in charge of administering policy toward American Indians, which involved both military matters and regulation of the fur trade. He believed American Indians were militarily weak and thereby subordinate to the British government. One of his policies was to prohibit gift exchange between the American Indians and the British. Once a tradition with the French, gift giving was a symbol of peaceful relations, and the prohibition of such exchanges was interpreted by many American Indians as an insult. Amherst also restricted the American Indians' gun supply, which generated resentment; American Indian men used gunpowder and ammunition to gain food for their families and fur for trade, and by closing off the supply, Amherst imposed hardships on tribal families.

Additional Conflicts

Land was also a motivating factor in the coming of the uprising. While the French population had been low, there seemed to be no end of incoming settler-invaders from England. Shawnees and Delawares in the Ohio Country, especially, had been displaced by British colonists in the east, motivating their resistance along with food shortages and epidemic disease.

The Outbreak of War

Despite previous rumors of war, Pontiac's Rebellion began in 1763. Senecas of the Ohio Country (Mingos) circulated messages calling for the tribes to form a confederacy and drive away the British. The Mingos, led by Guyasuta and Tahaiadoris, were concerned about being surrounded by British-occupied forts. While the rebellion was decentralized at first, this fear of being surrounded helped the rebellion to grow.

The war began at Fort Detroit under the leadership of Ottawa war chief Pontiac and quickly spread throughout the region. Eight British forts were taken. Scholars believe that rather than being planned in advance, the uprising spread as word of Pontiac's actions at Fort Detroit traveled throughout the pays d'en haut, inspiring already discontented American Indians to join the revolt.

The total loss of life resulting from Pontiac's Rebellion is unknown. About 400 British soldiers were killed in action and perhaps 50 were captured and killed; about 2,000 settler-invaders were killed or captured as well. The war compelled approximately 4,000 Pennsylvanian and Virginian settler-invaders to flee their homes. American Indian losses went mostly unrecorded, though it has been estimated that at least 200 warriors were killed in battle.

Foreshadowing of Future Hostilities

Relations between British colonists and American Indians deteriorated further during Pontiac's Rebellion, and the British government concluded that colonists and American Indians must be kept apart. On October 7, 1763, the Crown issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, an effort to reorganize British North America after the Treaty of Paris. Officials drew a boundary line between the British colonies along the seaboard and American Indian lands west of the Appalachian Mountains, creating a vast (and temporary) "Indian Reserve" that stretched from the Appalachians to the Mississippi River and from Florida to Quebec. This boundary was never intended to be permanent, but was rather created as a way to continued British expansion westward in a more organized fashion.

For American Indians, Pontiac's War demonstrated the possibilities of pan-tribal cooperation in resisting Anglo-American colonial expansion. Although the conflict divided tribes and villages, the war also saw the first extensive multi-tribal resistance to European colonization in North America and was the first war between Europeans and American Indians that did not end in complete defeat for the American Indians.

The Western Lands

Following the French and Indian War, the colonial desire to expand westward was met with resistance from American Indians.

Learning Objectives

Analyze the British policy regarding westward expansion

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The French and Indian War of the 1760s resulted in a complete victory for the British, who took over the lands west to the Mississippi River that had previously been claimed by the French, but was largely inhabited by American Indians.

Following the acquisition of new territory, colonists pushed west into the frontier lands. By the early 1770s, British colonists were moving across the Appalachians into western Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 prohibited the North American colonists from establishing or maintaining settlements west of a line running down the crest of the Appalachian Mountains.

This policy had little to do with respect for tribal rights and was more motivated by the high expense of conflicts with American Indians and lack of British soldiers on the continent.

The reaction of colonial land speculators and frontiersmen to this proclamation was highly negative. From their perspective, they had risked their lives in the recent war only to be denied the lands they coveted.

The attack on a local tribe of Conestoga Indians by a group of Scots-Irish settlers from Paxton, Pennsylvania, in December of 1763, illustrates the deadly situation on the frontier.

Key Terms

fur trade: A worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal pelts.

European Patterns of Westward Expansion

Prior to 1776, the land to the west of the British colonies was of high priority for settlers and politicians. In the earliest days of European settlement of the Atlantic coast, from about 1600 to 1680, the "frontier" was essentially any part of the forested interior of the continent beyond the fringe of existing settlements along the coast.

English, French, Spanish, and Dutch patterns of expansion and settlement differed widely. Only a few thousand French migrated to Canada; these habitants settled in villages along the St. Lawrence river, building communities that remained stable for long stretches; they did not leapfrog west the way the British did. Although French fur traders ranged widely through the Great Lakes region, they seldom settled down and instead maintained a nomadic lifestyle. The Dutch set up fur trading posts in the Hudson River valley, followed by large grants of land to rich landowning patroons who brought in tenant farmers to create compact, permanent villages. They did not push westward.

In contrast, the English colonies generally pursued a more systematic policy of widespread settlement of the New World for cultivation and exploitation of the land, a practice that required the application of "legal" property rights to the new conditions. (These policies were legal according to British law but largely disregarded or exploited the rights of American Indians.) The typical English settlements were quite compact and small, typically under a square mile. Conflict with American Indians quickly arose as the British expanded further into their territory.

The French and Indian Wars of the 1760s resulted in a complete victory for the British, who took possession of the lands west to the Mississippi River, which had formerly been claimed by the French but were largely inhabited by American Indian tribes. By the early 1770s, British settler-invaders were moving across the Appalachians into western Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio.

American Indian Land

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 prohibited the North American colonists from establishing or maintaining settlements west of a line running down the crest of the Appalachian Mountains. There were two motivations for this policy: first, the British wished to avoid warfare with the American Indians. This aim had little to do with respect for tribal rights and was more motivated by the high expense of conflicts with American Indians and the lack of British soldiers on the continent. Some American Indians welcomed this policy, believing that the separation would allow them to resume their traditional ways of life; others realized that the proclamation, at best, would only provide some breathing room before the next onslaught of invaders.

The other intention of the proclamation was to concentrate colonial settlements on the seaboard, where they could be active participants in the British mercantile system. The first priority of British trade officials was to populate the recently secured areas of Canada and Florida, where colonists could reasonably be expected to trade with the mother country; settlers living west of the Appalachians would be highly self-sufficient and have little opportunity to trade with English merchants.

The reaction of colonial land speculators and frontiersmen to this proclamation was highly negative. From their perspective, they had risked their lives in the recent war only to be denied the lands they coveted. Most concluded that the proclamation was only a temporary measure; a number ignored it entirely and moved into the prohibited area anyway. Almost from its inception, the proclamation was modified to suit the needs of influential British people with interests in the American west, including many high British officials as well as colonial leaders. Prominent American colonists joined with land speculators in Britain to lobby the government to move the line further west. As a result, the boundary line was adjusted in a series of treaties.

Conestoga Massacre

In December of 1763, following the end of the French and Indian War and the signing of the proclamation, a vigilante group made up of Scots-Irish frontiersmen known as the Paxton Boys attacked the local Conestoga, a Susquehannock tribe who lived on land negotiated by William Penn and their ancestors in the 1690s. In the aftermath of the French and Indian War, the frontier of Pennsylvania remained unsettled. A new wave of Scots-Irish immigrants encroached on American Indian land in the back country. These settlers claimed that American Indians often raided their homes, killing men, women, and children.

Many Conestoga were Christian, and they had lived peacefully with their European neighbors for decades. Although there had been no American Indian attacks in the area, the Paxton Boys claimed that the Conestoga secretly provided aid and intelligence to the hostiles. On December 14, 1763, more than 50 Paxton Boys marched on the Conestoga homes near Conestoga Town, Millersville, and murdered six people and burned their cabins. The colonial government held an inquest and determined that the killings were murder. The new governor, John Penn, offered a reward for their capture. The ruthlessness of these conflicts reflected a growing divide between the British colonists and American Indians.

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The French and Indian War was fought between the colonies of Great Britain and New France, supported by American Indian allies on both sides. Describe the political and economic impact of the French and Indian War on the colonies Key Points The French and Indian War (1754-1763) is the name for the North American theater of the Seven Years' War.

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The French and Indian War was the North American conflict in a larger imperial war between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years' War. The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The war provided Great Britain enormous territorial gains in North America, but disputes over subsequent frontier policy and paying the war's expenses led to colonial discontent, and ultimately to the American Revolution.

The French and Indian War resulted from ongoing frontier tensions in North America as both French and British imperial officials and colonists sought to extend each country's sphere of influence in frontier regions. In North America, the war pitted France, French colonists, and their Native allies against Great Britain, the Anglo-American colonists, and the Iroquois Confederacy, which controlled most of upstate New York and parts of northern Pennsylvania. In 1753, prior to the outbreak of hostilities, Great Britain controlled the 13 colonies up to the Appalachian Mountains, but beyond lay New France, a very large, sparsely settled colony that stretched from Louisiana through the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes to Canada. (See Incidents Leading up to the French and Indian War and Albany Plan)

The border between French and British possessions was not well defined, and one disputed territory was the upper Ohio River valley. The French had constructed a number of forts in this region in an attempt to strengthen their claim on the territory. British colonial forces, led by Lieutenant Colonel George Washington, attempted to expel the French in 1754, but were outnumbered and defeated by the French. When news of Washington's failure reached British Prime Minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle, he called for a quick undeclared retaliatory strike. However, his adversaries in the Cabinet outmaneuvered him by making the plans public, thus alerting the French Government and escalating a distant frontier skirmish into a full-scale war.

The war did not begin well for the British. The British Government sent General Edward Braddock to the colonies as commander in chief of British North American forces, but he alienated potential Indian allies and colonial leaders failed to cooperate with him. On July 13, 1755, Braddock died after being mortally wounded in an ambush on a failed expedition to capture Fort Duquesne in present-day Pittsburgh. The war in North America settled into a stalemate for the next several years, while in Europe the French scored an important naval victory and captured the British possession of Minorca in the Mediterranean in 1756. However, after 1757 the war began to turn in favor of Great Britain. British forces defeated French forces in India, and in 1759 British armies invaded and conquered Canada.

Facing defeat in North America and a tenuous position in Europe, the French Government attempted to engage the British in peace negotiations, but British Minister William Pitt (the elder), Secretary for Southern Affairs, sought not only the French cession of Canada but also commercial concessions that the French Government found unacceptable. After these negotiations failed, Spanish King Charles III offered to come to the aid of his cousin, French King Louis XV, and their representatives signed an alliance known as the Family Compact on August 15, 1761. The terms of the agreement stated that Spain would declare war on Great Britain if the war did not end before May 1, 1762. Originally intended to pressure the British into a peace agreement, the Family Compact ultimately reinvigorated the French will to continue the war, and caused the British Government to declare war on Spain on January 4, 1762, after bitter infighting among King George III's ministers.

Despite facing such a formidable alliance, British naval strength and Spanish ineffectiveness led to British success. British forces seized French Caribbean islands, Spanish Cuba, and the Philippines. Fighting in Europe ended after a failed Spanish invasion of British ally Portugal. By 1763, French and Spanish diplomats began to seek peace. In the resulting Treaty of Paris (1763), Great Britain secured significant territorial gains in North America, including all French territory east of the Mississippi river, as well as Spanish Florida, although the treaty returned Cuba to Spain.

Unfortunately for the British, the fruits of victory brought seeds of trouble with Great Britain's American colonies. The war had been enormously expensive, and the British government's attempts to impose taxes on colonists to help cover these expenses resulted in increasing colonial resentment of British attempts to expand imperial authority in the colonies. British attempts to limit western expansion by colonists and inadvertent provocation of a major Indian war further angered the British subjects living in the American colonies. These disputes ultimately spurred colonial rebellion, which eventually developed into a full-scale war for independence.

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Milestones: 1750-1775 - Office of the Historian