the french and indian war thesis statement

The French and Indian War and Its Aftermath Thesis

Introduction.

The French and Indian War, named after the main rivals of the British, (Andersen, 2000) is one of the wars in history that had a tremendous impact not only among the countries who were directly involved, but also to their colonies, and even the other nations that were physically far from them and had no involvement in the conflict, whether directly or indirectly.

This paper looks into the war, by re-tracing some of the main events and looking at the countries and nationalities involved. It focuses on the French involvement especially since so little is written about it.

Specific areas that this paper would look into include: why the Indian tribes fought with the French, what the French did differently to befriend so many Indian tribes as compared with the British, reasons behind the eventual failing of the French and the Indians, why the Indians went to the British side at the end of the conflict, the aftermath of war on the native tribes, and the British treatment of the natives after the war.

Prelude to the War

Long before the start of the French and Indian war, the French and the British were already main rivals. Before the start of the eighteenth century, the British had established colonial settlements in New England, along the Atlantic Coast, and in the Chesapeake Bay region. During this time, the French had founded small communities along the St. Lawrence River. They had also laid claim of the entire Mississippi River Valley (Henretta, 2007).

These North American colonies were a part of the intense rivalry between the two countries, as each tried to equal or surpass the other’s economic, political, and military power (Henretta, 2007). For, although the two nations settled in North America independently, their respective settlements were not very far from each other. Moreover, there were no barriers such as mountains between their territories (Copeland, 1997; Bourne, 1990, 215).

British settlers captured Eastern Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia in 1654, but the region was returned to France in 1667. However, ownership of the region would remain disputed for another century.

Since 1669, the British and the French, as well as France’s ally, Spain, had fought a century-long series of wars. They competed to control the lucrative fur trade on the North American mainland, as well as the valuable rich sugar production on the islands of the West Indies.

The first of these battles was The King William’s War (1689–1697), known in Europe as the War of the League of Augsburg. It was followed by Queen Anne’s War (1702–1713), known in Europe as the War of the Spanish Succession, then by King George’s War (1744–1748). These wars were named after the raining British monarch at the time of the war. The last war —French and Indian War — happened during the reign of King William, but since there was already a war named after him, it was named after the British’ main opponents in the war (Henretta, 2007).

The King William’s War was a series of skirmishes that produced no changes in territory, whereas the Queen Anne’s allowed Britain to secure additional territory. It was through this war that Britain obtained Newfoundland, Acadia, the Hudson Bay region of northern Canada, and greater access to the Native American fur trade from the French, and the Mediterranean fortress of Gibraltar and trading privileges in Spanish America from the Spanish, France’s ally (Andersen, 2000, 114; Henretta, 2007).

The French and Indian War: An Overview

The French and Indian War — so called because the Indians sided with the French — is the last of the four North American wars between the British and the French from 1689 to 1763. Lasting from 1754 to 1763, it is the one war between the two superpowers that had the biggest impact in history (Henretta, 2007).

Starting in America then eventually expanded into Europe as the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) and into Asia as the Third Carnatic War, the French and Indian war is the war that enabled the British to extend its power in North America, the West Indies, and the subcontinent of India. Its aftermath was enormous — it stripped France of its North American empire, and it caused Britain to change its relationship to its colonies, a change that eventually led to the American Revolution (Henretta, 2007).

The French and Indian War was precipitated by series of altercations over Upper Ohio Valley (Carnegie Library of Pittsburg, 2003). Both France and Britain claimed Ohio Country, the land west of the Appalachian Mountains. Since the 1940s, both sides had merchants in Ohio, trading fur with the Native Americans. But by the 1750s, the British colonists desired to convert the wilderness into viable farms (Ohio History Central, 1982).

The two superpowers tried to deny the other access to the Ohio Country. French soldiers captured several English trading posts and, in anticipation to territorial threats from the British, they built Fort Duquesne (modern-day Pittsburgh) in the early 1950s, (Ohio History Central, 1982).

Before the war, the main issue that the two countries were fighting over was division of the continent. The British controlled the eastern seaboard, in Georgia, the Carolinas, and what is now the Northeastern United States whereas the French owned Louisiana, Acadia (Nova Scotia) and Northeast Canada. The Indian tribes — Cherokee, Catawabas, Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws — inhabited the mountainous region, somewhere between the territories of the two superpowers. The Indian tribes did not want to participate in the war, preferring to maintain their autonomy, and to trade with both countries (Mott, 52; Sparks, n.d.).

History would tell us, however, that based primarily on the travels of the French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier de Salle in 1682, the French believed they owned all disputed lands in the west, including the Ohio Valley — a claim that the British vehemently disputed (Sparks, n.d).

In the early 1700s, the British slowly expanded their territory. In 1727, they started construction of a trading fort — Fort Oswego — on the banks of Lake Ontario, and then, in 1749, they constructed a permanent settlement in the Ohio region.

Greatly displeased, the French diplomats were dispatched to the British, demanding that they abandon Fort Oswego and to recognize boundaries of French territories. Both countries tried to settle their dispute by calling a conference. However, none came out of this attempt to sort things out. In 1752, when the Marquis Duquesne assumed the office of governor of New France, he was given specific instructions to secure Ohio Valley (Sparks, n.d).

In April 1754, French and Indians traveling down the Allegheny River, whose mission was to claim this prized territory for France, found a small garrison at the forks of the Ohio. The garrison in question was the Fort Prince George, which was established by the British Colonel George Washington while scouting for Virginia’s Ohio Land Company. The area was considered strategic as it was “extremely well-situated for a fort, having command of both rivers.” This would later develop to become the city of Pittsburg (Wood, 243).

The strategic location of the garrison made both the French and the British desire it, as the French were seeking unregulated access between their North American settlements at the Mississippi River and on the Great Lakes, whereas the British wanted a new territory for their colonies’ expansion (Carnegie Library of Pittsburg, n.d.). Moreover, both the French and the British coveted the fur trade with the Indians beyond the Allegheny Mountains because the trade was very lucrative.

The French, the Indians and the British During the War

The french and the british: comparison and contrast.

To analyze the French and Indian war requires a deep look into the similarities and differences of the two major players in the war — the French and the British. This is because these similarities and differences would later define how they would treat the tribes, and consequently, how the French and Indian war would be fought, and which side the Indian tribes would fight with. Finally, these differences would also define the outcome of the war.

Their Purpose in Going to North America

The French and the British had come to North America with different purpose. The French’s missions were three-fold: to build a great New France, to establish a trading network with the North Americans to reap the fur trade and possibly precious metals, and to convert the natives into their own religion. The British, on the other hand, were concerned about establishing farms, towns, and cities where they can export British goods, looking for a place where their growing population back home could settle outside of Britain, and getting the tribes to embrace Christianity (Elson, 1908).

The French initially settled along the Mississippi river and the St. Lawrence river, two most extensive river systems of the continent. These river systems gave them access to the riches of the continent. The British, on the other hand, claimed the coastal plains east of the Appalachians, where the coastal rivers gave them access to the entire east coast and allowed them sea commerce with the British Isles (Hall, 2003).

The British and the French on Marriage

There were some notable differences between the two nationalities on what they brought or did not bring with them when they went to North America, as well as how they tried to acquire what they did not bring with them.

The British found New England by influx migration; whereas, the Frenchman did the same by attempting to turn the Indians into Frenchmen. When the British went to New England, they brought with them their families; whereas, most Frenchmen who went were mostly unmarried.

Among the relatively fewer British who went there without a wife, it was customary for them to choose a wife from among their countrymen, or, if not, they would turn their eyes to the women back home. The Frenchmen, on the other hand, preferred to find a wife from the natives. They would wed the natives, learn their ways, and in the process, try to teach them to become French. The natives, however, were not as interested in learning the French ways as the French were of their ways (Steele, n.d).

Relationship with their government at home

Another difference between the French and the British in North America is their relationship with their respective governments back home. The English colonies were allowed to develop on their own. They were strong and self-reliant. In fact, two of them — Rhode Island and Connecticut — had their own governors of their own choosing, and practically made all their laws on their own. Democratic and almost independent, they could have been one nation, if only they were united.

The French colonies, on the other hand, were never made to develop on their own. They were wholly dependent on their home government; they never learned to stand alone. They were like a branch of a centralized government. And although as men, they had individual freedom, they lacked political or religious freedom, nor did they want to have them (Elson, 1904).

Type of government

The French were a unit whereas the British were separate colonies-republics. At their king’s command, all of Canada was ready to do their kings biddings. The British, on the other hand, had to attempt to unite their colonies-republics, which proved to be difficult, since the colonies-republics had so much liberty and were completely politically separate from the other colonies-republics, even if they were loosely joined together by their mother country. The British government had to appeal to and coerce, and even subsidize the colonies-republics just so they would move to action against France — but no appeal nor coercion made them want to actively join in the fight against the French. It took the British three years to awaken them to their sense of duty. Unfortunately for them, in those three years, the French have won almost every single skirmish against the British (Elson, 1904).

Treatment of the Indians

The Indian involvement in the French Indian war is crucial. However, it should be pointed out that had the Indians were united in whom to support, the side with whom they allied themselves would have doubtless won. But as it happened, they were divided: some staying neutral, some siding with the British, while others with the French.

It is interesting to find out, though, that the majority of the Indians were with the French. This seems natural, because the Frenchmen took every effort to get the Indians to their side, long before the war precipitated. They flattered them, they treated them as brethren, they adopted their customs, and they married into their tribes.

The British, on the other hand, never considered the Natives to be their equal. They never cared for the natives’ confidence, never befriended them, and never even wanted them as neighbors. Though the British and the Native Americans were often friendly with each other, there was always mutual suspicion between them. Moreover, the English wanted land, which of course, the Indian never dreamed of giving over; whereas the French only furs, which the Indians were more than willing to trade (Elson, 1904).

Why the Indian tribes fought with the French

While the French and Indian war is often seen as a battle between two superpowers —England and France — the war is really a fight of three nations, of which the third major party were the Indian nations that lived in these regions.

The Indians, especially the five nations of the Iroquois, played the French and the English against each other in a calculating attempt to maximize the benefits they could get from the two countries. Since the French and the English were both unfamiliar with the terrain, the involvement of the Indian nations as allies in the battle made an enormous difference (Sparks, n.d).

The tribes were mostly neutral believing that the war would eventually lead to an end of the intrusion of the British of the Allgheny Mountains. But for various reasons, most of the Algonquians sided with the French, whereas the Iroquoins fought with the British (u-s-history, n.d.).

During the French and Indian War, the British had tried to win over from the French the tribes in Delaware, Shawnees, and Iroquois but most of the tribes remained neutral.

Although most of the natives in Ohio Country enjoyed trading with both the English and the French, most of them did not like the large number of British colonists in the area. They feared that the number of British colonists would continue to grow and would eventually seek their fortunes in the west, driving them out of lands in the process (Ohio History Central).

Another reason that most of the Indians sided with the French was because the French married into the tribes. Moreover, they treated the Indians nicely, and they only interested with their furs, unlike the British who were interested in their lands as well (Henretta, 2007).

In view of these facts is does not come as a surprise that most of the Natives favored and fought with the French. Nearly all the Algonquin tribes were French allies. The only exceptions were the Iroquois of northern New York who joined the British in the fight.

The Iroquois still had not forgiven the French over the skirmish they had in 1609 where a few Iroquion chiefs were slain. Moreover, there was one British gentleman — William Johnson, British Superintendent of Indian Affairs — who had been a long standing of the Iroquois, having behaved toward them in French manner rather than British. He knew the Iroquois’ language, spent his time there, and married a Native. It was he, above all else, who secured the Iroquois to the British side during the French and Indian war.

Reasons for the French and the Indians’ Initial Winning of the War

There are several reasons why the French won the earlier parts of the French and Indian war.

First, the British were not like the French who were a unit. Whereas all the French king had to do was call its sovereign to arms and they would readily do his bidding, the British government had to go through a lot of process before the British people would support the war.

In the French and Indian war, the British government had to appeal to its colonists before to join in the war, which the colonists — who were already prosperous and almost autonomous — did not like the idea of joining the war. Moreover, the government had to offer subsidies to the colonies just so they would take arms and defend their territory. Despite the subsidies, however, the colonists were still not interested to join in the war. As this was ongoing, the French were already winning the war. This went on for two years (Steele, n.d).

The second reason is differences in military tactic. When Major General Edward Braddock led the advance of a column of 1,450, they were attacked and defeated by Indians and Canadian French whose number was a little more than one half of Braddock’s army. Braddock’s defeat happened because the attackers used guerilla tactic: they hid under cover of the surrounding woods, and flanked the redcoats and fired on them for more than three hours. The defeat was humiliating for the British, mainly because two-thirds of the column were killed or wounded (Steele, n.d.).

The French managed to stop or sabotage some of the other British missions. When Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts led a British army to Fort Niagara, he and his men were stalled about 150 miles from their target. All they accomplished was strengthen the dilapidated Fort Oswego on Lake Ontario.

When British Colonel William Johnson led 1,500 colonials and 300 Iroquois to march to Fort St. Frédéric on Lake Champlain, they too failed to complete their mission. However, unlike Shirley, Johnson won a hard-fought, defensive battle at the Lake George. As Johnson and his men were attempting to cut a sixteen-mile woodland road and haul siege guns north from Fort Edward, they were attacked by a vanguard of 700 Indians, 600 Canadians, and 220 French grenadiers (Wood, 240).

The attackers were led by the newly arrived Major General Jean-Armand, baron de Dieskau. In this battle, Dieskau’s intention was to capture Fort Edward and consequently cut Johnson’s line of supply. However, his Indian allies would not attack the fort.

Dieskau then trapped part of Johnson’s army in a major ambush known as the Bloody Morning Scout. But while he and his men were chasing the survivors back into Johnson’s camp at Lake George, the Indians again stalled him, refusing to face cannons, even though the cannons were still being set up behind overturned boats and wagons. Hence Dieskau was eventually defeated, even if he had displayed tactical brilliance and adaptability. Having been wounded in the battle, he became Johnson’s prisoner-guest (Wood, 242).

Surprise attack was the French and the Indians’ name of the game that ensured French victory over the British during the first part of the war. Braddock’s defeat had made the initially-neutral Indians to ally with the French and not with the British. In fact, even the Iroquois hostility to the French abated after losses in the Bloody Morning Scout.

Having allied with the French, the Indians conducted independent raids. This made the British become wholly preoccupied with defending vast woodland frontiers against surprise attack — but to no avail.

This distraction by the British was beneficial to the French, but far more valuable were the Indian’s help. The Indians helped a lot in the Canadian-French offensive operations of 1756 and 1757. French and Indians were able to isolate Camp Oswego. Then, in March 1757, Indians from mission settlements in Canada helped the French in a surprise attack operation on a major supply depot at Fort Bull, New York. In this attack, they destroyed gunpowder, ammunition, and provisions intended for Fort Oswego. They also burned wagons, boats, and Fort Bull itself (Stelle, n.d.).

The highlight of the French offensive was the operation at the Fort William Henry at Lake George’s south end. In this operation, the fort was captured. About 1,800 Indians from as far away as Acadia and the Mississippi valley joined more than 6,000 Canadian and French regulars in Montcalm in the siege. Hundreds of Indian scouts led preliminary raids where they cut the fort’s communications; and killed and captured the British who were spying on French information, strength, and movements (Mott, 1962).

The French and Indians likewise trapped and destroyed some British fleet of twenty-two whaleboats then formed a van of the French army. They isolated the fort as well as the adjoining entrenched camp. They brought with them four mortars and 36 cannon. Without reinforcement from Fort Edward, British Lieutenant Colonel George Monro eventually surrendered.

Why the French and the Indians failed

Although during the first part of the French and Indian war, the French seemed to win the war, the tide soon turned. Eventually, the British overpowered the French, and some of the Indian French allies turned their back on the French and joined the British army.

In the following part of the paper, we will see how the differences between the British and the French with regard to how they dealt with people of different religion, in addition to their differences already mentioned in the first part of the paper, made a lot of difference in the result of the French and Indian war.

Although the British Protestants were intolerant of Catholics — and even of one another — their religious dissension was mainly intellectual and theological. They continued to coexist on the same land.

The French, on the other hand, tended to exclude all non-Catholics from their new domains. So when the French Huguenots, who weren’t comfortable living with the English in Carolina, petitioned their king to allow them to settle in Louisiana where they might remain Frenchmen, and hence, his subjects, the King adamantly refused the request, saying that he did not shoo away heretics from his kingdom only to let them stay in and populate his colonies. And hence, the French Huguenots remained with the English and became a part of them (Elson, 1904).

This decision of the King would soon be revealed to be the nail into the French domination’s coffin. Because the non-Catholic French whom he refused to settle in Louisiana became a part of the British in America, the number of British eventually soared to at least 1.2 million by the time the French and Indian War became imminent, while the French population barely reached 60,000. The French king could have about 250,000 industrious French people dwelling in the Mississippi Valley, but because of his unwise decision, the vast fertile region was only peopled by roving Indian hordes (Elson, 1904).

Hence, although the French controlled a territory that was 20 times bigger than that of the British, the British had a population that was 20 times as great as the French (Elson, 1904). The French territory was marked only by simple forts manned by very few men, whereas the British territory was populated, and the population was fast increasing. (Spark Notes, n.d.).

Another reason that the French eventually lost was the Indians’ decision to turn their back on them, and join the British. In fact, some historians have hypothesized that that particular event was the turning point of the war. Without the advantage of having their Indian allies on their side, just when the British found a way to have greater resources, the French eventually lost the continent and, along with that loss, most of its colonies. (Spark Notes, n.d.)

The shift of Indian support from the French to the British started when William Pitt (the Elder), Britain’s new prime minister, made it his policy to drastically increase aid to the American colonies. This, he was able to do so because the Royal Navy kept the sea lanes open for the British, while the French were finding it hard to send large-scale support to its colonies. As a result, by 1758 the tides were turning against the French and the French started winning in some wars (Leach, 2004).

When in 1758, a British expedition forced Louisbourg to surrender, and then another expedition caused the French to abandon the Forks of the Ohio, the Indian started becoming convinced Indians that Britain would prevail after all. With this realization, the natives started shifting loyalties from the French to the British (Leach, 2004).

Aftermath of the War

The French and American war had great repercussions not just on those who were directly involved, but even the nations who were physically far from the war zone, especially those that were colonies of the two major players of the war.

In the discussion below, we focus on the effect of the war on the major as well as the secondary players.

On the French

The French and Indian war which officially ended in 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris had an enormous impact in world history. The terms in the peace pact reflected the successes of the British military. Great Britain became the most powerful country, having gained control over half of the North American continent, including French Canada, and all French territorial claims in Spanish Florida as well as east of the Mississippi River. In the peace pact, Britain, in turn, gave Cuba and the Philippines back to Spain. Moreover, and France ceded its territorial claim over Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain, its ally, as compensation for the loss of Florida.

With the signing of the treaty, France was humbled, having been stripped of its empire. All it had left were two rocky islands off the coast of Newfoundland and relatively small sugar plantations in the West Indies.

On the British

Despite their win, the effects of the war on the British were mostly negative. First, the war caused them to reevaluate their relationship with their colonial subjects. The British had been hugely disappointed with the colonies’ lack of cooperation during the war.

Before the war, Britain did not closely control its colonies, allowing them to have their own governments, and giving them some degree of autonomy. Britain regarded its colonies and their governments as subordinate bodies who were subject to the authority of the king and the parliament. It even allowed the implementation of instructions from home to be overseen by the colonies’ own governments. Moreover, it did not always enforce its laws upon them (Hall, 2003).

However, when the rich colonies showed no cooperation during the French and Indian war, the British were deeply annoyed, especially when the former refused to support Britain even after generous subsidies were offered to those who would help the British win the war.

For their part, the colonial assemblies refused to send their militiamen to Canada, claiming that their militias were needed to defend home territory. The British, however, suspected that the assemblies took advantage of the war to heighten their own political power. One proof is that the colonists would often demand greater authority over finances, as well as in military appointments in return for their approval of measures related to war. In such instances, the royal governors were often left with no choice but to give in to these demands (Elson, 1904).

Another negative effect of the war on the British was that their government faced huge financial problems after the war. Their national debt, which was about 75 million pounds before the war, soared to 133 million by the time the war was over. Military expenses ate up most of the expenditures. Because money was still needed after the war to maintain the British troops that were occupying their newly acquired territories, Britain was reluctant to offer additional subsidies for the defense of the colonies.

The colonists, on the other hand, feared the permanent presence of a British army. They believed that the presence of the army threatened their liberty and the representative government. When the British demanded imperial reform (as a result of their disappointment over the colonists’ lack of cooperation during the war), imposed direct taxes, and stationed army units in the colonial port cities, the colonists’ fear heightened. This eventually led to the colonists’ active resistance against Britain, which paved the way for the American Revolution that created the United States of America (Elson, 1904; Henretta, 2007).

On the Indian Tribes

The effect of the French and Indian war on the Native Americans — whichever side they fought with — was lasting and even devastating. The British revenged on the Native American nations who fought with the French. This they did by first, cutting off their supplies, and then forcing upon them British rules and laws (Spark Notes, n.d.).

The Native Americans who had fought with the British with the understanding that doing so would lead to an end to European encroachment on their land were also not pleased with the turn of events after the war was won. They were greatly disappointed when many new settlers began to move in. More so when the British started forcing upon them their stifling attention on everything the Native American tribes did.

On the whole, the British victory was bad for the Indian tribes, especially those who had allied themselves with the French for they had earned the wrath of the victorious British. However, the same could be said even to the tribes who had allied themselves with the British — the Iroquois. In terms of treatment from the winning race, they fared only slightly better than those who fought with the French. For another 50 years, the Iroquois continued to contest the British’ control of the Ohio Valley. Unfortunately for them, they were never again in a position to deal with the British in terms of military or political equality (Mooy, 2003).

The French and Indian War is often regarded as merely a prologue to the great revolution of British colonists that created the United States of America. But in this paper, we have seen that the war had a big impact in history, as it changed the history and course of many nations (Fowler, 2005, 241). If that war had not happened, its consequences would not have happened, and the world as we know it today would have been totally different.

In this paper, we have also realized how culture could define our dealings with other people. We have seen how the cultural differences between the French and the British had spelled victory on one and defeat on the other.

We have also seen how failure to understand other culture can have a devastating effect. This is clearly illustrated when the French, who, in their attempt to befriend the Native Americans, had tried to adapt to the latter’s customs and traditions. It seems ironic now that the race that tried hard to learn the ways and habits of the Native Americans would fail to diagnose the latter’s character. Indeed, in the French’s attempt to make French out of the Native Americans, it can be said that it was the French who had, in some ways, learned to be Native Americans while the latter never completely became French.

It is also interesting to note how a simple ambition to dominate the world had led to many conflicts, big or small, between what were once great empires and their allies. For it was ambition that made each want what the other wanted, and deny the other of the chance to rival and outperform him.

It is also interesting to realize how two powerful nations were played against each other by a cunning group of tribes who tried to capitalize on the two powers’ hostilities against each other. It seems ironic that the supposed “barbaric” tribes could play two great powers at their whims. For, as some historians have hypothesized, it was the Native Americans participation that is the crucial part of the war.

It must be pointed out, however, how much the tricks played by the tribes had caused them. They played dirty, and in the end, they reaped the bitter fruit of the seed of treachery that they had sown. According to William Fowler (2005, 332), the impact of the war was greatest on the Indian nations. For, in the end, the victory of the British turned out to be bad for them, whichever side they fought with, and even if they remained neutral. We have learned that the tribes who fought with the French had earned the wrath of the British. But even for those who fought with the British, nothing good came out of the war. They were not treated well by the British and, in fact, they had to contest possession of the Ohio Valley with the British for another five decades.

Another thing that is worth looking into is how the colonists and the Indian tribes behaved during the war. The two groups have but one similarity: they both tried to take advantage of the war to maximize the benefits they could get from it. When the war was just starting, the Indians tried to play the French and the British against each other, while trading with both of them.

The British colonists, on the other hand, not really interested to go into war, had tried to make demands from their home government — many of which were simply to enrich themselves further — just so they would approve of the war. This tactic went on for years, during which one cold imagine how much the colonists might have fleeced from their government back home. We now know how much this tactic caused the British government — they lost most wars during the early part of the war because of this. And then, as we have found out, the colonists did not really completely cooperated in the war, reasoning out that they needed their own militia to defend home territories.

There are many other interesting events in the war, and there are still a lot of lessons that we could learn from it. But not, in the writers’ opinion, could rival the lesson that most often, war can bring nothing good. This lesson is true to all parties involved — the Indian Americans, the French, and the British. It could be said all of them lost in the war. The French were humbled, having been stripped of their might; and the Indian Americans suffered the wrath of the British.

Having become the supreme nation, it would be easy to think that the British gained a lot from the war. But this isn’t so. For, though the British won, and as a consequence, they gained so much territory, we have learned that their financial debt ballooned as a direct consequence of the war.

Moreover, we have also learned that because of their annoyance with how their colonists behaved during the war, adopted stifling policies upon their colonists. This action of the British, we have already learned to have caused restlessness among the colonists, which eventually led to a revolution. And this revolution, we now know to have created the United States of America, and hence, causing Britain to lose its North American colonies.

Indeed, nothing good came out of the French and Indian war for all parties involved, especially the main rivals. The wars’ ultimate consequence had stripped both of their power, humbling them, humiliating them.

May this significant lesson of the war remain with us forever, so that the next time we or our own nation would choose to have war, we would be forewarned that the gain we hope to achieve from winning a war might be insignificant when all the things we would lose is taken into account.

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The U-S History. Wars and Battles: Indian Wars Time Table. Web.

War Museum Canada. Clash of Empires and The Battle of the Plains of Abraham . Web.

War Museum Canada. Consequences: The Seven Years’ War . Web.

Ward, Matthew C. 2003. Breaking the Backcountry: The Seven Years’ War in Virginia and Pennsylvania, 1754-1765 . Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Wilkauki Public Museum. Fur Trade . n.d. Web.

Wood, William. 1914. “The Fight for Oversea Empire: Hostilities before the War” in Adam Shortt and Arthur G. DOUGHTY, eds., Canada and Its Provinces . Vol. I. Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Company, pp. 238–246.

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1. IvyPanda . "The French and Indian War and Its Aftermath." September 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-french-and-indian-war-and-its-aftermath/.

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A Clash of Empires: The French and Indian War

Written by: Timothy J. Shannon, Gettysburg College

By the end of this section, you will:.

• Explain the causes and effects of the Seven Years’ War (the French and Indian War)

Suggested Sequencing

Prior to reading this Narrative, students should read the Albany Plan of Union Narrative. This Narrative should be followed by the Wolfe at Quebec and the Peace of 1763 Narrative.

The French and Indian War was the climactic struggle between Great Britain and France for imperial control of North America. The war began in 1754, when a young Virginia militia officer named George Washington engaged in a skirmish with a party of French soldiers, and it ended six years later when the governor-general of New France surrendered to a British army at Montreal. The conflict was part of a much larger global struggle known as the Seven Years’ War that began in 1756 and ended in 1763 among Britain, France, and several other European nations. Although the French and Indian War was only one of several Anglo-French conflicts in North America, it was exceptional for its scale and its influence on the lives of American Indians and colonists.

Unlike many earlier Anglo-French wars, the French and Indian War originated in North America, in a remote region known as the Ohio country. In the early 1750s, this land became the center of a three-way contest among American Indians, the French, and the British. A loose confederacy of Indian nations dominated by the Delawares, Shawnees, and Senecas populated the Ohio country after migrating from other regions taken over by colonists. There they found a new homeland rich with natural resources, especially the animals that supplied the fur trade. British and French traders competed with each other for this business. The Indians generally preferred British trade goods, which were cheaper and more plentiful, but they had better relations with the French because of New France’s effective missionary work and diplomacy among Indian nations living along the Great Lakes. Regardless of their preference for the French or British, the Ohio Indians shared a common desire to keep European soldiers and settlers out of their territory.

Tensions in the Ohio country heated up in 1753, when the French sent troops to fortify the passage from Lake Erie to the Ohio River. This move was intended to cement the French claim to the region and to open a route through the interior of the continent that would connect the French colonies in Canada and Louisiana. Virginia and Pennsylvania had their own designs on the Ohio country. Fur traders from both colonies were active there, and both claimed the Ohio country by right of their original royal charters. Pennsylvania, which lacked a militia because of its Quaker origins, was slow to mobilize against the French, but Virginia acted more forcefully. Its governor, Robert Dinwiddie, was an investor in the Ohio Company, a group of entrepreneurs who hoped to profit by opening western lands to settlers. When he learned that the French were occupying the Ohio country, he sent twenty-one-year-old militia officer George Washington to drive them out.

In his first mission to the Ohio country in 1753, Washington delivered a diplomatic warning to the French, telling them they were encroaching on British territory. The French officers he met politely rebuffed him, and he was disturbed by the efforts he witnessed among the French to win over the Ohio Indians, including his own guide, an influential Seneca named Tanaghrisson. In spring 1754, Governor Dinwiddie sent Washington back to the Ohio country, this time with an army of two hundred militiamen and orders to defend Virginia’s claim to the Forks of the Ohio (modern Pittsburgh). For a guide, Washington again relied on Tanaghrisson, who led him to a party of French soldiers near the British encampment.

In an ill-advised surprise dawn attack, Washington and his men killed several French soldiers and wounded their commander, Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville. Washington believed he had prevented a French attack on his own men, but Jumonville insisted he had only been on a diplomatic mission, carrying a message from his commander at the French post Fort Duquesne. His protests were cut short when Tanaghrisson stepped forward and killed him with a tomahawk blow to his skull, a move likely intended to force the British into a more aggressive stance against the French.

After Jumonville’s death, a shaken Washington had his men build a stockade that he named Fort Necessity, in anticipation of a counterattack from Fort Duquesne. A superior force of French soldiers and Indian warriors soon surrounded the outnumbered and inexperienced Americans. The French and Indians fired on the garrison from covered positions, demoralizing Washington’s men and exhausting his supplies. Washington decided his only option was to surrender, and he claimed he unwittingly signed articles of capitulation, written in French, that described him as responsible for the “assassination” of Jumonville. This inadvertent admission became the basis for the French declaration of war against Britain.

This engraving by an unknown artist depicts an evening council of George Washington at Fort Necessity. Take a closer look at the details the artist includes. Who is attending the council? What resources are available to Washington and his men?

In 1755, the British returned to the Ohio country, this time with an army of regulars and colonists commanded by General Edward Braddock, whom Washington served as an aide-de-camp. Braddock intended to lay siege to Fort Duquesne and then move north to attack the French at Fort Niagara, which guarded the passage from Canada to the Ohio country. Encumbered by artillery and a supply train, Braddock’s troops slowly cut a road through dense wilderness from Fort Cumberland on the Potomac River toward Fort Duquesne. After crossing the Monongahela River on the morning of July 9, Braddock’s army collided with a French and Indian force that took advantage of high ground and cover provided by the surrounding forest to rain their fire on the British. Braddock suffered a fatal wound and Washington narrowly escaped death himself. The destruction of Braddock’s army left the Ohio country firmly in control of the French. Indians allied with the French launched a devastating war against settlements along the Appalachian frontier from Pennsylvania to Virginia.

This map depicts the events of the French and Indian War. How much did the war affect the relative strength of Great Britain and France in North America? (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license)

For the next three years, the British struggled to regain their position in the Ohio country. Promoted to colonel of a regiment of Virginia soldiers, Washington worked feverishly to build fortifications and restore security along the frontier. Like many other colonial Americans, he disliked the British policy that gave seniority to British army officers over American officers, regardless of their respective ranks. In 1758, he worked closely with British General John Forbes as Forbes planned a new expedition into the Ohio country. Washington wanted Forbes to follow Braddock’s route west, but Forbes decided instead to cut a new road west from the Susquehanna River. This route favored Pennsylvania’s claim to the Ohio country, and Washington resented Forbes for it.

In November 1758, Forbes’s army forced the French to abandon Fort Duquesne, but Washington took little pleasure in the victory and soon returned to his home at Mount Vernon to resume his civilian life. Over the course of five years, he had learned much about military leadership and frontier warfare, but his ambitions to become a commissioned officer in the British regular army had been thwarted more often than helped by his British superiors. He had also lost several battles in the early part of the war, but nonetheless, he emerged as a war hero with a growing continental reputation.

Shortly after Forbes’s victory, the British built Fort Pitt on the ruins of Fort Duquesne. This act, along with the British occupation of other French posts in the Great Lakes region, angered the Ohio Indians because they had been promised in 1758 that the British would evacuate their homelands after the war was won. The Indians were now entirely dependent on the British for their trade goods, and the roads built by Braddock and Forbes became routes for settlers to move into the region.

Violence erupted in 1763 when Indians throughout the Great Lakes attacked western British posts and settlements. This conflict, named Pontiac’s War after the Ottawa chief who led the siege of Detroit, caused the British to issue the Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited land sales and settlement west of the Appalachians and kept soldiers stationed on the frontier to restore peace between Indians and colonists. That policy compounded the frustrations of colonists such as George Washington, who believed the Crown was denying them access to the lands they had helped conquer and had been promised as a bounty for their war service. Britain had won the French and Indian War and driven the French out of North America, but as a result, its empire suffered internal tensions that were to lead to revolution. Great Britain also amassed a massive war debt during the conflict and expected the colonies to begin paying more taxes as a share of their defense.

Review Questions

1. To provide defense against a French counterattack, George Washington built a fort called

• Fort Necessity
• Fort Ticonderoga
• Fort Duquesne
• Valley Forge

2. Despite its name, the French and Indian War was fought between

• the French and Indians
• the French and the Spanish
• the French and the Dutch along with their respective American Indian allies
• the French and the British along with their respective American Indian allies

3. George Washington had his first experience of military authority when leading a group of soldiers from

• Pennsylvania
• Massachusetts

4. Another name for the French and Indian War is

• King George’s War
• the Glorious Revolution
• the War of Spanish Succession
• the Seven Years’ War

5. What natural resource was so abundant in the Ohio River Valley that the American Indians, the French, and the British all desired it?

• Fur-bearing animals

6. Why did the French send troops to secure the Ohio country in 1753?

• To connect their imperial strongholds in Canada and Louisiana
• To negotiate a treaty with the Indians
• To build forts to protect French settlers
• To clear the land for farming

Free Response Questions

• Explain the extent to which the French and Indian War was an imperial conflict, as well as a frontier conflict.
• Explain how the French and Indian War changed the relationship between the British and the American colonists.

AP Practice Questions

“[30 September 1759] Cold weather is coming on apace, which will make us look round about us and put [on] our winter clothing, and we shall stand in need of good liquors [in order] to keep our spirits on cold winter’s days. And we, being here within stone walls, are not likely to get liquors or clothes at this time of the year; and although we be Englishmen born, we are debarred [denied] Englishmen’s liberty. Therefore we now see what it is to be under martial law and to be with the [British] regulars who are but little better than slaves to their officers. And when I get out of their [power] I shall take care of how I get in again. . . . 31 [October]. And so now our time has come to an end according to enlistment, but we are not yet [allowed to go] home. . . November 1. The regiments was ordered out . . . to hear what the colonel had to say to them as our time was out and we all swore that we would do no more duty here. So it was a day of much confusion with the regiment.”

Massachusetts soldier’s diary, 1759

1. Which of the following best describes the point of view of the soldier based on the excerpt provided?

• He is dedicated to the cause of the British in the war.
• He resents that he has not received the benefits of Englishmen’s liberty.
• He will re-enlist at the first opportunity.
• He is comfortable that he has all the supplies he needs in the face of oncoming cold weather.

2. Which of the following most accurately describes the impact on the colonies of the conflict described?

• The colonies won their economic independence from England.
• The French gained permanent possession of the Ohio River Valley, ending English claims on the region.
• The English needed the colonies to help pay the cost of their defense and so increased taxation.
• The Great Awakening began to spread into the interior of North America.

Primary Sources

George Washington’s Letter to Governor Robert Dinwiddie: http://www.wvculture.org/history/frenchandindian/17560804washington.html

Virginia Gazette Advertisement: http://www.wvculture.org/history/frenchandindian/17550523virginiagazette.html

Suggested Resources

Anderson, Fred. Crucible of War: The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 . New York: Vintage, 2001.

Clary, David A. George Washington’s First War: His Early Military Adventures . New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011.

Preston, David L. Braddock’s Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

Shannon, Timothy J. The Seven Years’ War in North America: A Brief History with Documents . Boston: Bedford, 2013.

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French and Indian War

By: History.com Editors

Updated: August 29, 2023 | Original: November 9, 2009

Also known as the Seven Years’ War, the French and Indian war marked another chapter in the long imperial struggle between Britain and France. When France’s expansion into the Ohio River valley brought repeated conflict with the claims of the British colonies, a series of battles led to the official British declaration of war in 1756. Boosted by the financing of future Prime Minister William Pitt, the British turned the tide with victories at Louisbourg, Fort Frontenac and the French-Canadian stronghold of Quebec. At the 1763 peace conference, the British received the territories of Canada from France and Florida from Spain, opening the Mississippi Valley to westward expansion.

Why Did the French and Indian War Start?

The Seven Years’ War (called the French and Indian War in the colonies) lasted from 1756 to 1763, forming 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. In 1754, the French built Fort Duquesne where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers joined to form the Ohio River (in today’s Pittsburgh), making it a strategically important stronghold that the British repeatedly attacked.

During 1754 and 1755, the French won a string of victories, defeating 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 and 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), but 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.

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. 

British Victory in Canada

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 November 1758, General John Forbes captured Fort Duquesne for the British after the French destroyed and abandoned it, and Fort Pitt—named after William Pitt—was built on the site, giving the British a key stronghold. 

The British then closed in on Quebec, where Gen. James Wolfe won a spectacular victory in the Battle of Quebec on the Plains of Abraham in September of 1759 (though 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.

The Treaty of Paris Ends the War

The French and Indian War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in February 1763. The British received Canada from France and Florida from Spain, but permitted France to keep its West Indian sugar islands and gave Louisiana to Spain. The arrangement strengthened the American colonies significantly by removing their European rivals to the north and south and opening the Mississippi Valley to westward expansion.

Impact of the Seven Years’ War on the American Revolution

The British crown borrowed heavily from British and Dutch bankers to bankroll the war, doubling British national debt. King George II argued that since the French and Indian War benefited the colonists by securing their borders, they should contribute to paying down the war debt.

To defend his newly won territory from future attacks, King George II also decided to install permanent British army units in the Americas, which required additional sources of revenue.

In 1765, parliament passed the Stamp Act to help pay down the war debt and finance the British army’s presence in the Americas. It was the first internal tax directly levied on American colonists by parliament and was met with strong resistance. 

It was followed by the unpopular Townshend Acts and Tea Act , which further incensed colonists who believed there should be no taxation without representation. Britain’s increasingly militaristic response to colonial unrest would ultimately lead to the American Revolution .

Fifteen years after the Treaty of Paris, French bitterness over the loss of most of their colonial empire contributed to their intervention on the side of the colonists in the Revolutionary War.

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Honors theses, a historical analysis of the causes of the french and indian war.

Jake Althouse , University of Nebraska - Lincoln Follow

Document Type

Date of this version.

Spring 3-12-2021

Althouse, J. 2021. A Historical Analysis of the Causes of the French and Indian War. Undergraduate Honors Thesis. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Copyright Jake Althouse 2021.

The current study attempted to answer the following research question: what were the causes of the French and Indian War between Great Britain and France in 1754? To do so, the current study researched secondary sources from a historical perspective, political theories regarding the causes of war, and primary sources from individuals involved in the build-up to conflict. Previous research by historians and political scientists have mainly attributed the causes of the French and Indian War to a security dilemma and the spiral theory of war. The current study does not support this assertion. Instead, the current study asserts that because of asymmetric information, the presence of an indivisible issue, and brinkmanship, bargaining failed and conflict began between Great Britain and France. Britain and France both took offensive measures to strengthen their positions in North America and counter their adversaries' movements prior to the start of the French and Indian War. At the same time, the presence of asymmetric information regarding the enemy’s resolve and strength due to poor intelligence, an indivisible issue in the Ohio region, and the hard-line stances from politicians on both sides hindered effective negotiations to stop the escalating conflict. As a result, given these pre-existing conditions, negotiations between Britain and France were bound to fail and war between Britain and France was destined to break out in North America.

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10 Facts: The French and Indian War

The French and Indian War remains a crucial but often forgotten piece of American history. Here are 10 facts about the French and Indian War, a conflict that is often regarded as a spark that led to the American Revolution. 

Fact #1: It was part of a global war

The French and Indian War refers to the North American theater of the overarching global war known as the Seven Years' War in Europe. The French and Indian War was fought between Great Britain and France and their colonists, as well as Native American tribes. They fought over territories and expansion throughout North America.

Fact #2: George Washington essentially set off the war in North America 

In 1754, Lieutenant Colonel George Washington , a 22 year old commander of British forces set off with his men towards the coveted Ohio River Valley to assist in building a fort. A small French company of soldiers led by Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville departed French Fort Duquesne to scout intelligence about British movements. When young Washington became aware of the French movement, he set out with his party to meet them, and ambushed them near Great Meadows in Pennsylvania. When the two sides met, Washington ordered his troops to fire, igniting a battle that resulted in the death of Ensign de Jumonville and 9 other French soldiers. After this battle, the Battle of Jumonville Glen, Washington moved his men into the Great Meadows, an open field, and crudely constructed Fort Necessity as a base. A few weeks later, French forces surrounded the British at Fort Necessity , forcing George Washington to surrender and unknowingly, due to poor translation, sign a document admitting to the assassination of Ensign de Jumonville. 

Fact #3: The War began before war was formally declared

When George Washington ordered his men to fire on the French company, at that point, neither France nor Great Britain had declared war. Neither side declared war until after the Battles of Jumonville Glen and Fort Necessity had occurred. However, prior to either side declaring war, there was intense conflict between the French and the British with both sides engaging in hostile territorial disputes, and trying to expand into each others' territories. After Washington's surrender at Fort Necessity, he expressed the importance of gaining control of the Ohio River Valley, causing the British to react accordingly and send more troops to the colonies to fight for it. 

Fact #4: British colonists greatly outnumbered French colonists

At the time of the French and Indian War, in North America, Great Britain had over 1 million colonists, especially concentrated along the eastern seaboard from Maine to Georgia. France only had about 60,000 colonists in North America at the time. Due to their smaller numbers, French outposts were often unoccupied, sometimes only identified by a sign in the area, giving the British the opportunity to seize control. However, the French received great help from Native American tribes that they were allied with during the war. 

Fact #5: Native Americans played a large role in the war 

As one might assert from the name of the war, Native Americans played a huge role in the French and Indian War. Different Native American tribes were situated all throughout North America, and prior to the war, were involved in relations with both France and Great Britain, often through trade. When the territorial disputes between the British and French broke out, the Native Americans were forced to choose which side to align themselves with. Some became allies with the French, others with the British, hoping that when the war was over, their land would be returned to them. Territorial disputes between the Native Americans and the British continued even after the British won the war.

Fact #6: William Pitt "The Elder" played a pivotal role

Between 1755 - 1757, the British were continuously losing territory and forts to the French. Continual British losses struck a blow to their morale during this time. However, as hope grew dim, William Pitt took the office of British Secretary of State in 1757 and revitalized the British forces. Taking over control of the British forces in the colonies, he put large amounts of money into the war effort. He also increased British efforts in Europe, hoping to pull French troops away from the colonies, a tactic that worked successfully. While the French forces were weakened in the colonies, Pitt advised British forces to storm into New France and take control of numerous French outposts. These efforts allowed Great Britain to take back control of the colonies and eventually win the war. 

Fact #7: France tried to end the war early

After the British were rejuvenated from William Pitt's efforts in the colonies, France knew that they were fighting a losing battle. In 1759, France sought peace negotiations with Britain. However, at the time, the British offers for peace were disagreeable to France, and they revoked their attempts to negotiate. At his time, the King Charles III of Spain, who was cousins with French King Louis XV, offered to join France in their war in the colonies, as long as the war did not end before May 1, 1762. King Louis XV, hoping that Britain would see the two combined powers as a sign to surrender, agreed to Spanish intervention. While Spain's intervention provided a boost to the French, the British were not intimidated, and instead, declared war on Spain as well. Overall, Spain would prove to be a relatively ineffective force against the British. 

Fact #8: Britain gained a mass of land after the war

When the war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, France ceded the majority of their North American land to the British. Great Britain obtained a large amount of territory in Canada, as well as almost everything east of the Mississippi. The territorial regions were so changed that historian Francis Parkman famously said, "Half the continent had changed hands at the scratch of a pen."

Fact #9: Even after British victory, there were still territorial disputes

When the French and Indian War ended in 1763, the British gained significant territory. However, although Great Britain had defeated France, they saw considerable pushback from the Native Americans, who were looking to reclaim their land in certain areas. These disputes led to Pontiac's Rebellion which resulted in Britain giving the Native Americans control over the land. British leader,  King George III , signed the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that drew a line dividing the British land from the Native American land. The Proclamation declared that no colonists could settle in the land now controlled by the Native Americans. 

Fact #10: The war was a spark that led to the American Revolution

The French and Indian War and its consequences were instrumental in causing a divide between Great Britain and its British colonists. After Great Britain ceded control of western land to the Native Americans, the colonists were outraged that they were now prevented from settling in the western region, causing a rift between the colonists and their mother country. Furthermore, due to the war, Great Britain was in massive debt, causing them to levy extreme taxes on the colonists to earn back their monetary losses from the war. The taxes that followed, such as the Stamp Act, the Tea Act, and others, led to the anger among the colonists. Both the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the absurd taxes that the colonists were forced to pay created outrage among the colonists and led in part to the American Revolution . 

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The French and Indian War

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Words: 459 |

Updated: 22 November, 2023

Words: 459 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Works Cited

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