Before 1689 almost all of the land belonged to Spain and France with Britain only starting.
By 1713 France was dominating North America and Britain was spreading up and down the coast.
Differences between French and British colonization
The French mostly had fur traders and posts in North America so they could get goods
The French were more inland and made friends with the Indians.
At the same time the English were settling for good on the shore, making homes and government.
They were all there to start a new life.
Wars Before
King William’s War: In Europe a war fought between the Grand Alliance and France which also embroiled the colonies. The entire war was battled over who would reign in England. In the colonies the Indians were fighting for the French. In 1697 fighting ceased due to the Peace of Ryswick which restored Port Royal to the French.
Queen Anne’s War: The second of the four imperial wars that were fought between Britain, France and Spain. It took place from 1702-1713. Though many Spanish colonial towns were captured and burned by English forces, American colonists met with military failure creating a feeling of dependence on Britain. The war ended with Peace of Utrecht.
Wars Before…
Peace of Utrecht: Treaty that ended Queen Anne's War in 1713. Due to this treaty France had to give up Acadia, Newfoundland and the Hudson Bay territory to England but got to keep Cape Breton Island. The treaty also introduced a period of peace in which the American colonists experienced growth economically and politically.
War of Jenkin’s Ear: This war was British versus Spain. It was fought in Georgia and North Carolina. The Treaty would draw the boundary officially between Florida and Georgia.
Wars Before…
King George’s War: War fought between Britain, France and Spain. It took place not only in Europe but also in North America with American colonists supporting the British with thousands of troops. In the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle; Britain gained lands in India but lost Louisburg, which embittered Anglo-American relations.
1754-1760
The Seven Years' War (called the French and Indian War in the colonies) lasted from 1756 to 1763
It formed a chapter in the imperial struggle between Britain and France called the Second Hundred Years' War.
In the early 1750s, France's expansion into the Ohio River valley repeatedly brought it into conflict with the claims of the British colonies, especially Virginia.
What happened?
During 1754 and 1755, the French defeated in quick succession the young George Washington, Gen. Edward Braddock, and Braddock's successor, Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts.
In 1755, Governor Shirley, fearing that the French settlers in Nova Scotia (Acadia) would side with France in any military confrontation, expelled hundreds of them to other British colonies; many of the exiles suffered cruelly.
Throughout this period, the British military effort was hampered by
lack of interest at home
rivalries among the American colonies
France's greater success in winning the support of the Indians.
In 1756 the British formally declared war
marking the official beginning of the Seven Years' War.
Their new commander in America, Lord Loudoun, faced the same problems as his predecessors and met with little success against the French and their Indian allies.
Important People
Edward Braddock: commander of British forces in America in 1754. General Braddock led British and colonial troops in an expedition against the French at Fort Duquesne.
Most of the troops, (900 out of 1200) including Braddock, were killed in an ambush.
Young George Washington, a member of this expedition, managed to organize the survivors and lead the retreat to safety
Iroquois Federation: A federation of Indian tribes in New York — Cayugas, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, and Senecas. Known as the "Five Nations," they fought with the British during the French and Indian War and the American Revolution
William Pitt: He joined the British leaders and turned things around. He began to treat the Americans like equals or allies instead of subordinates. This lead Americans to feel a sense of pride and a renewed sense of spirit that sent them into several victories that made France eventually concede.
Important Battles
Fort Duquesne: This was the fort that General Braddock tried to take during the French and Indian War but him and his troops were slaughtered in an ambush at the Monongahela, where 900 of the 1200 troops were wounded or killed. Later General Amherst captured the fort.
Wolfe, Montecalm, Quebec- the Plains of Abraham: The battle between General Wolfe and General Montecalm in which both were killed . It ended with the capturing of Quebec and was one of the final steps that lead Montreal to surrender, thus making Canada no longer a threat.
The Tide Turns…
The tide turned in 1757 because William Pitt, the new British leader, saw the colonial conflicts as the key to building a vast British empire.
Borrowing heavily to finance the war, he paid Prussia to fight in Europe and reimbursed the colonies for raising troops in North America.
In July 1758, the British won their first great victory at Louisbourg, near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.
A month later, they took Fort Frontenac at the western end of the river.
In 1759 they closed in on Quebec, where Gen. James Wolfe won a spectacular victory on the Plains of Abraham, September 1759
although both he and the French commander, the Marquis de Montcalm, were fatally wounded.
With the fall of Montreal in September 1760, the French lost their last foothold in Canada.
Soon, Spain joined France against England, and for the rest of the war Britain concentrated on seizing French and Spanish territories in other parts of the world.
At the peace conference in 1763, the British received Canada from France
But permitted France to keep its West Indian sugar islands and gave Louisiana to Spain.
Spain recovered Cuba and the Philippines, but ceded Florida to England.
The treaty strengthened the American colonies significantly by removing their European rivals to the north and south and opening the Mississippi Valley to westward expansion.
Why was it Important?
This war spanned three different continents and it was the main factor in the ending of "salutary neglect."
In 1763, with the Treaty of Paris, Britain became the overwhelming power in the North America.
This war planted the seeds of misunderstanding between Britain and the colonies and indirectly was one of the causes of the Revolutionary War.
