The Duel for North America

APUSH - Chapter 6Mr. Walters

• Founded by Samuel de Champlain– 1608 – Quebec was first French settlement

• Located around St. Lawrence River– Expanded along Great Lakes and Mississippi

River• Made money trapping furs, especially beaver

– Trappers called coureurs de bois– Interaction with French led to disease, alcohol

and challenges to Indian beliefs– Led to exploration of North America

New France

QuebecMontreal

• Champlain made allies with Huron– Was drawn into battle against Iroquois– Iroquois then resisted French attempts at

settlement in Ohio Valley and allied with British

• France paid more attention to Caribbean colonies than American– Caribbean colonies provided sugar and rum

New France• Small population

– Only Catholics allowed to settle, Huguenot were not allowed to immigrate– Farming difficult– Resistance from Iroquois– By 1700 – 18,000 French, 250,000 English– French peasants owned land, so were not motivated to come to America

• Jesuits– Catholic missionaries tried to convert Indians and separate them from fur

traders

Estimated Population in British North America and New France circa 1740

Tensions between England and France• France built forts from Quebec to New Orleans• Detroit founded by Antoine Cadillac to slow British expansion to Ohio Valley• Robert de la Salle sailed Mississippi River and claimed it for France to slow Spanish

expansion– New Orleans created in 1718

• English settlers pushed further west closer to French claims

Clash of Empires

• Imperial Wars between France and England mostly involved coureurs de bois and colonists, not regular military troops– Both sides turned to Indians for allies. French mostly with Algonquin, English

with Iroquois

• Guerrilla warfare was common

• Deerfield Massacre (1707)– French and Indians attack Deerfield MA– 50 people killed, 111 taken prisoner out of 300

inhabitants– Prisoners marched to Canada

• Stragglers were killed– English colonists respond by attacking French strongholds

King William’s War (1689-1697)War of the League of Augsburg

Battle of Boyne

Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713)War of Spanish Succession

Clash of Empires• Treaty of Utrecht (1713)

– Ends Queen Anne’s War– Britain gets Acadia (Nova Scotia), Hudson Bay

and Newfoundland– Pinches French holdings– Britain also gets trading rights in Spanish

America

• King George’s War (1744-1748)– Began as War of Jenkins’s Ear (1739)

• Fought against Spain in Caribbean and Georgia– France allied with Spain– 1745 New Englanders capture French Fort Louisburg

• 1748 Peace treaty – England exchange Louisburg for Madras in India– Americans were angry because they needed

Louisburg for safety

Into Ohio Valley

• France needed Ohio Valley to keep Mississippi Valley connected to Canada• France began building forts to protect its claims, including Fort Duquesne

(modern day Pittsburg)• 1750 Americans begin settling Ohio River Valley– Angered Iroquois, who were trying to prevent further European settlements• Americans ask Britain for forts to protect claims• 1754 - Washington was sent by Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia to tell French to

leave territory• French refuse and defeat Washington at Fort Necessity

Fort Duquesne

Fort Necessity Ohio Valley

French and Indian War (Seven Years War) (1754-1763)

• Was global war between France and England for control of the world– Fought in America, Europe, West

Indies, Philippines, Africa– European war was Britain and Prussia

against France, Spain, Austria and Russia

– French army was focused in Europe, allowed British victory in North America

• Defending America was difficult because colonies were not united

Albany Congress (June 1754)• Americans went to Albany to meet with Iroquois and keep them allies

– Only 7 of the 13 colonies attended• Wanted to unite colonies to defend against French• Iroquois were allies with Britain

– Huron were allies with French

• Benjamin Franklin develops Albany Plan for Union• Union would have:

– Grand Council chosen by colonial legislators– meet once a year– given powers to raise army, levy taxes, manage public lands, make laws for

general good, protect relations with Indians• Rejected by colonial legislatures and King

– legislatures did not want to lose power and wanted more independence– King feared it might make colonies too strong and demand independence

French and Indian War (Seven Years War) (1754-1763)

• Native Americans raid frontier from Pennsylvania to North Carolina

• Britain attacked several wilderness forts, but French won repeatedly through 1756

Wounding of General Braddock

• Fort Duquesne (1755)– British General Braddock sent 1,850

soldiers to attack fort• Indians attacked using guerilla warfare

tactics– British not prepared for this style

fighting– 976 British killed or wounded

including Braddock

French and Indian War (Seven Years War) (1754-1763)

• William Pitt– Became Prime Minister and increased

commitment to win war in America• Shifted focus from West Indies to

Canada• Put new generals in charge

– Pitt fought in America to create global British empire

• promised Britain would pay for war– He did this to get American support

for war– £1 million and 30,000 soldiers sent

to America– Wanted to eliminate France as a rival

• 1758 British take Louisburg, Fort Frontenac, Fort Duquesne

William Pitt

French and Indian War (Seven Years War) (1754-1763)

– British Navy stopped French reinforcements from arriving in Canada

– Montreal (1760)• attacked via Hudson River and Lake

Champlain

• Fall of Montreal signaled end of French presence in North America Wolfe’s attack on Quebec

• Invasion of Canada

– Quebec (1759)• Attacked via St. Lawrence river• General Wolfe able to maneuver troops behind Quebec on Plains of

Abraham• British defeat Marquis de Montcalm of the French

– Both Montcalm and Wolfe died

Treaty of Paris (1763)• Ended the French and Indian War

• France gave England all of Canada and lands east of Mississippi to Appalachian Mountains

• French lost trading posts in India and Senegal• France gave Spain New Orleans and all land west of Mississippi• France kept sugar islands (Martinique and Guadeloupe) in West Indies in exchange for

Canada• Spain gave Florida to Britain in exchange for Cuba

• Pitt wanted Canada to help build its empire

Effects of French and Indian War (Seven Years War) (1754-1763)

• Britain won and established itself as world’s supreme naval power– Empire from India to Mississippi River

• American frustration with Britain– American officers and soldiers were insulted and

treated them with condescension– Americans were not given credit for helping in the fight

• British frustrations with America– Americans continued to trade with France and Spain– Americans also were reluctant to provide soldiers– Geography and demographic rivalries inhibited inter-

colonial cooperation

Effects of French and Indian War (Seven Years War) (1754-1763)

• Benefits for America:– gained combat experience and confidence

• Shattered myth of British soldier invincibility

– discovered commonalities between colonies– France was eliminated as a threat to America,

Spain and Indian threats were reduced significantly

– Indians lost significant European ally to limit British power and American expansionism

• Benjamin Franklin argued new land would make Americans more loyal to England

– Offer plenty of land and opportunity for America to expand into

British North America 1763

• Canada, American Colonies, Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys and Florida

• 200,000 Indians lived in territory west of Appalachian Mountains

• Feared British control over North America, preferred France

• Neolin – Delaware prophet encouraged Indians to resist English encroachment on Indian land

Pontiac’s Rebellion (June 1763)

• Alliance of Indians led by Ottawa Chief Pontiac attacked and beat British– Only Fort Pitt, Niagara and Detroit

remained under British control

• Gradually Indian alliance weakens with defeats

• Britain regains control of Ohio Valley in 1764– by sending blankets with smallpox to

Indians– By sending 10,000 troops to protect

colonists

• British wanted Americans to help pay for army

Proclamation of 1763• To keep peace with Indians Britain

orders no settlement in new territory– Wanted land between Appalachian

and Mississippi as a barrier between Indians and English colonies

• Colonists needed land for wealth– Most were farmers

• Political rights were tied to land ownership

• Americans angered by restrictions on settlement– Many ignored Proclamation and

went west anyway