A.P. U.S. HistoryChapter 6: The Duel for North

America1608-1763

• 3 Nations vied for world domination in the 17th and 18th centuries: Spain, France, and England

• The French established Quebec in 1608 as their first colony (New France) in the new world.

• New France was under total control of the French crown and the colonists enjoyed much less freedom and self-rule than the British colonies in America.

• By 1750 only 60,000 colonists inhabited New France compared to over 2 million in the 13 British American colonies.

• The French were allied with the Huron Indians, and helped them fight the Iroquois Confederation in the upper N.Y. area.

• So the Iroquois allied themselves with the British.

• New France’s one valuable commodity was furs, especially beaver.

• See map of fur posts in North America on pg 108

• The fur trappers trapped the beaver to near extinction and exposed Native Americans to white culture, disease, trade goods, and alcohol.

• Antoine Cadillac founded Detroit in 1701

• Robert de La Salle floated down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico in 1682 and named the interior basin Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV.

• The French founded New Orleans in 1718.

• The French founded trading posts at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes in the Ohio River area.

• King William’s War (1689-1697) and Queen Anne’s War (1702-1713) were early clashes between British colonists and French in North America.

• Neither France nor Britain committed any troops to these as they didn’t see these colonies worth the expense.

• The real money was coming from the Caribbean at that point.

• Spain sided with France in these early wars.

King William III of Prussia

• The War of Jenkin’s Ear (1739) was fought between the British and Spanish in the Caribbean and Georgia, where James Oglethorpe earned his reputation as a soldier.

• British captain Jenkins was captured by the Spanish and had his ear cut off and his captures sent him packing with the ear and threatened to do the same to his king.

• The War of Jenkin’s Ear merged with the larger War of Austrian Succession in Europe and was called King George’s War in America.

• France allied itself with Spain again.

• New England colonists invaded New France and took the French fort at Louisbourg (see map on pg 112) but the peace settlement gave it back to the French.

• Importance: American colonists resented politics in Europe dictating politics and life in America

The Ohio Valley

• American (British) colonists had been pushing into this area to expand their land holdings, especially the Virginia planters.

• The French wanted it to link their Canadian land with that of the lower empire.

• Control of the Ohio Valley meant control of all of North America.

French and Indian War

• The French built Fort Duquesne at the site of present day Pittsburg, which is where the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River join to form the Ohio River.

• In 1754 the Governor of VA sent 21 year old George Washington and 150 VA militiamen to secure Virginia’s claim to this land.

BritishBritish FrenchFrench

Fort Necessity Fort DuquesneFort Necessity Fort Duquesne ** George Washington George Washington ** Delaware & Delaware & ShawneeShawnee Indians Indians

The The Ohio ValleyOhio Valley

1754 1754 The First The First ClashClash

1754 1754 The First The First ClashClash

• His party and a group of Indians ambushed a French scouting party.

• The Indians killed the French commander, a number of French troops and took even more prisoner.

• Washington probably had little command over the situation and the French and Indian War had begun.

• Washington quickly built Fort Necessity and asked for reinforcements, which never came.

• The French did come with reinforcements, surrounded the fort and pounded it in a torrential downpour for 10 hours before Washington surrendered.– The French allowed he

and his men to march away.

• With the war underway, the British uprooted some 4,000 French Acadians in 1755 (because they had acquired the land in 1713 in an earlier squirmish) and deported them in Louisiana- the original Cajuns.

• The French and Indian War was the 4th Anglo-French colonial war and the only one which started in America, in 1754.

• It was an undeclared war for 2 years until it spread to all corners of the globe, but especially in America, Europe, the West Indies, the Philippines, Africa, and the open seas.

• The French and Indian War is also known as the Seven Years’ War.

• In Europe it was mainly Britain and Prussia against France, Spain, Austria, and Russia.

• France spent most of its troops in Germany instead of America, where Frederick the Great earned his title fighting for the British.

The Albany Plan of Union

• The British bought the Iroquois loyalty against the French.

• Seven of the 13 colonies sent representatives.

Ben Franklin Ben Franklin representatives representatives fromfrom New England, NY, MD, PA New England, NY, MD, PA

A Albany CongressAlbany Congress failed Iroquois failed Iroquois broke off relations with broke off relations with Britain & threatened to Britain & threatened to trade with the French. trade with the French.

1754 1754 Albany Plan Albany Plan of Unionof Union

1754 1754 Albany Plan Albany Plan of Unionof Union

• The British sent General Braddock to capture Fort Duquesne.

• Braddock hacked a road through the wilderness, which wasted a lot of time, money, and resources.

• The French and Indians ambushed the British redcoats and the American militia and slaughtered them.

• George Washington was in charge of the militia and had 2 horses shot from under him and 4 bullets pierced his clothing, but he was one of the few who lived.

• After this defeat, the French and Indians ravaged the frontier from Pennsylvania to North Carolina.

BritishBritish

• March in formation or March in formation or bayonet charge. bayonet charge.

• Br. officers wanted toBr. officers wanted to take charge of colonials. take charge of colonials.

• Prima Donna Br. Prima Donna Br. officers with servants officers with servants & tea settings. & tea settings.

• Drills & toughDrills & tough discipline. discipline.

• Colonists should payColonists should pay for their own defense. for their own defense.

• Indian-style guerillaIndian-style guerilla tactics. tactics.

• Col. militias servedCol. militias served under own captains. under own captains.

• No mil. deference orNo mil. deference or protocols observed. protocols observed.

• Resistance to risingResistance to rising taxes. taxes.

• Casual, Casual, non-professionals. non-professionals.

Methods ofMethods ofFighting:Fighting:

MilitaryMilitaryOrganization:Organization:

MilitaryMilitaryDiscipline:Discipline:

Finances:Finances:

Demeanor:Demeanor:

British-American British-American Colonial TensionsColonial TensionsBritish-American British-American Colonial TensionsColonial Tensions

ColonialsColonials

• The British invaded Canada in 1756.

• The British tried to attack a number of French forts in the wilderness all at the same time with small forces and failed at nearly every attempt instead of concentrating on the larger forts at Quebec and Montreal.

• William Pitt became Prime Minister in 1757 and changed the tactics of the war.

• He put the Caribbean on the back burner and focused on taking Quebec and Montreal.

• Pitt chose young and energetic generals instead of the old and cautious ones that favored European tactics that proved not to work in America.

** By 1761, Sp. has become an ally of Fr.By 1761, Sp. has become an ally of Fr.

1758-1761 1758-1761 The Tide The Tide Turns for EnglandTurns for England

1758-1761 1758-1761 The Tide The Tide Turns for EnglandTurns for England

• In 1758 the British took the Fort at Louisbourg.

• The British attacked Quebec under the dashing General James Wolfe who sent a detachment to scale the cliffs surrounding the city.

• The French and British duked it out on the Plains of Abraham outside of the city. Both Wolfe and the French commander were killed, but the British took Quebec in 1759.

• The British took Montreal in 1760.

• France ceded all of its land west of the Mississippi (Louisiana) to the Spanish, and lost almost all of it’s North American land claims, except for a couple of islands in the St. Lawrence and a few in the West Indies.

• The Treaty of Paris 1763 settled the French and Indian War.

• 20,000 American colonists fought for the British in the war.

• During the war the British regular army showed contempt for the American militia as raw, and unrespectable.

• The British refused to recognize any American milita commission above the rank of captain, which was humiliating to Colonel George Washington.

• Many American shippers broke British blockades during the war and exported food to besieged French and Spanish islands in the Caribbean.

• Overall, the American colonies were not united in the French and Indian War and didn’t take up the cause for the British empire.

• American ambivalence during the French and Indian War was caused by:– Geographical barriers like

rivers,– Conflicting religions, from

Catholic to Quaker,– Varied nationalities: German,

English, Irish, Scots-Irish, etc– Differing types of colonial

governments– Many boundary disputes, – The resentment of crude

backcountry settlers against the aristocratic bigwigs.

• However, soldiers and statesmen, brought together during the war found that they were all fellow Americans who generally spoke the same language and shared common ideals.

• With the French threat gone, Americans felt much more confident.

• The Spanish were forced to give up Florida to Britain.

• Native Americans were no longer able to play off the Europeans against one another after 1763.

Pontiac’s Rebellion- 1763

• Led by the Ottawa chief and a handful of French traders.

• They tried to drive the British out of the Ohio country.

• Overran all but 3 British posts and killed 2,000 soldiers and settlers.

• The British spread smallpox infected blankets to the Indians, which brought a truce.

• Pontiac died in battle with another Indian tribe in 1769.

• Pontiac’s rebellion convinced the British that they needed to spend more money and attention on keeping the Indian’s subdued along the western frontier, they also wanted the colonists to pay for it.

• The Proclamation of 1763- forbade settlement west of the Appalachians.– The British intention was to work

out Indian problems in the area and prevent another Pontiac’s Rebellion.

• American’s saw the western land as their birthright and deeply resented (and ignored) the British proclamation.

Real WhigsReal Whigs

Q->Q-> What was the extent of Parliament’sWhat was the extent of Parliament’s authority over the colonies?? authority over the colonies??

Absolute?Absolute? OR OR Limited?Limited?

Q->Q-> How could the colonies give or How could the colonies give or withhold consent for withhold consent for parliamentaryparliamentary legislation when they did not legislation when they did not havehave representation in that body?? representation in that body??

Theories of Theories of RepresentationRepresentation

Theories of Theories of RepresentationRepresentation