By Denis Minchuk 7A1 ID1

The Middle Colonies’ Military and Wars

Middle and New England Colonies vs. the French owned Ohio colonies

In 1689, things between Britain and France began heating up as they started competing to be the most powerful in all of Europe.

Their fighting for the most powerful continued for generations with short intervals of peace. Finally, by 1700 they were both the most powerful in Europe and the American colonies started pushing up towards French territory in America.

France had no intention of sharing their fur trading land with the British, they became furious. The French attacked the British and forced them back to the Middle Colonies.

In the 1740’s, the fighting finally reached the Middle Colonies as France attacked towns in New York. They also pushed toward New England towns in Maine! The French and the British in the colonies began seeking Native American help to fight this war. The French had better relations with the Native Americans, they even married Native American women! To France’s surprise, the Middle Colonies came up with strong Native American allies of their own. Britain had allies in New York! That’s right, the Iroquois joined forces with the British to help fight the French. The Iroquois didn’t exactly always fight by their side, so in June 1754 a meeting was held in Albany.

Britain and France Clash

In June of 1754, the representatives all gathered in Albany, New York. They needed a way to defend themselves and their colonies from the French.

At the same time the representatives were trying to find a way to persuade the Iroquois to fully join them in the fight against the French. They needed some kind of ideas.

Eventually an idea came, it was brought up by none other than Benjamin Franklin. It was called the Albany Plan of Union.

The Representatives Gather

Benjamin Franklin’s plan meant that all the colonies would have to unite to become “One General Government”. An elected legislature would govern all of the colonies. He would be powerful enough to collect all taxes, to raise troops and armies, and to trade with places.

Unfortunately, none of the colonies wanted to give up any of their power so not one colony agreed with Franklin’s plan. On that note the meeting came up with no answer to their problem. They found no way of uniting the colonies to fight the French.

Benjamin Franklin was disappointed and quoted, “Everyone cries, a union is necessary, but when they come to the manner and form of the union, their weak noodles (brains) are perfectly distracted.

George Washington’s defeat at Fort Necessity in Ohio territory marked the start of a full on full- scale war. It was called the France and Indian war because the British were fighting two enemies: The French and their Native American allies.

The Albany Plan of Union

The French and Indian War 1754-1763The Fighting raged on. The French fought fierce, but in the year 1759, the British had many victories. Not only in America. After that, the British took over and in 1763 , the Proclamation was written to prevent more fighting and the Appalachian mountains were named the temporary border between the colonies.

The Middle Colonies Military

In the pre-revolutionary Middle Colonies, the militia was being drafted. Almost every soldier was very young. (18-24 years old)

Also, all soldiers came from the poorest backgrounds.

Every young man in the army was from a poor family, so they were drafted and promised a bounty of cash or land for fighting for their new country.

The British actually usually had larger armies on the battlefield.

The Middle Colonies’ Soldier

A Battle in the beginning of the Revolutionary War. 1770’s

Battles were fierce and soldiers were brave. There were many courageous troops that died in that war. It was vicious, bloody and scary.

The Middle Colonies had specific strategies for fighting wars. They had to think of new plans since fighting in America wasn’t like fighting in Europe.

So instead of fighting in European style (shoulder-to-shoulder), they had to fight in different tactics. Troops had to attack from concealed locations.

On the other side, the British improved their style of fighting with dragoons. This really helped the British.

The British also drafted in German Jaegers. Their marksmanship was very strong against American warfare.

The Americans fought back with very strong riflemen that came from all over the colonies. But they were no match for the Jaegers.

But the Americans fought back in every war they fought and succeeded with their might and power. The Middle Colonies and all other colonies proved to be too strong and eventually, later on in history, won their independence.

The Middle Colonies’ Strategy

Battle of the Cowpens 1700’sAmerica never gave up, the middle colonies’ military was a key strength to all wars fought by America. And the Middle Colonies’ government helped all 13 colonies grow into the wonderful nation that is the United States of America. If it weren’t for the Middle Colonies, who knows what would have happened to this country. For now, let us enjoy what has come of the Middle Colonies and all the others. Lets celebrate America!

URL’S for Pictures: http://www.visionforum.com/news/blogs/doug/2005-06-08_pyle_soldiers_big.jpg http://www.hpssims.com/pages/products/rifmusk/FIW/fiw1.jpg http://web-books.com/eLibrary/Books/B0/B52/MAIN/images/C3S8b.jpg http://www.thecaptainsmemos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Revolutionary-War.jpg http://danielsparks.com/images/cowpens.jpg

URL’S for sources: http://www.genconnection.com/ushistory/chp8.htm http://www.benjaminschool.com/lower/hagy1/middle_colonies.htm http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/revolutionarywar/articles/americanrevolution.aspx

United States History Textbook pgs. 85-97 Definitions: Dragoons- a man that can fight on foot or on horseback. German Jaegers- German men that had very good marksmanship. Bounty- payment of some sort

Sources and Definitions Time!!!

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