The Seven Years War1754-1760

The English and the French fight over control of North America

(Part of a larger war fought between the French and English in EuropeThe Battle of the Plains of Abraham was the most decisive battle in the

Seven Years War)

BACKGROUND

By 1750, New France had

become a successful

colony and had

expanded its territory in

North America…

…Meanwhile, the English colonies

to the south were even more

successful…

BACKGROUND

The land in North America was divided up amongst the European countries that had explored and claimed the areas – England, France, and Spain

BACKGROUNDMain Causes of the War

England and France were ancient enemies and they had been at war many times in Europe.

New France controlled way more of N. America than Britain. The British colonies had a much larger population but they were squeezed in a small area along the Atlantic coast.

Britain wanted to expand to the west and the conflict began over control of the Ohio River Valley.

The war for control of North America had begun.

BACKGROUNDThe French armed

forces were fiercely patriotic to France and to New France.

And the French had allies in the First Nations people.

The French built forts in the Ohio valley and other places to protect against attacks from the English.

The English and French disputed ownership of land in Ohio and across North America.

BACKGROUND

The English forces were much stronger though.

You would have thought that the English would defeat the French easily. English troops outnumbered the French 2 to 1 in the war but there were more French than English at Quebec.

The French settlements were closer to each other so were more easily defended.

BATTLE #1FORT DUQUESNE (Doo-cain)In 1754, a small battle started the

war at the French Fort Duquesne in the Ohio Valley.

George Washington led 150 Englishmen to attack the fort. The French surrounded Washington’s camp and sent him back to Virginia with the message that the Ohio Territory was French territory.

Washington returned for another try with the help of General Braddock. It was a disaster. While the English troops marched in straight lines, the French troops and their Native American allies fired from behind rocks and trees. This guerrilla tactic was hugely successful. Braddock himself was killed in the July 9, 1755 battle. The French had won the battle.

Back in England, the Prime Minister, William Pitt, was furious about the defeat at Fort Duquesne.

He decided that the war for North America must be won. His strategy for the war:

“TAKE CANADA FROM THE FRENCH!!”

BATTLE #2

FORT WILLIAM HENRY

But the French continued their success at first.

South of Montreal, on Lake Champlain, the French captured the English Fort William Henry in a bloody battle in 1757.

The French General Montcalm overwhelmed the English and forced them to surrender. The French had won again!

First nations fighters, on the French side, massacred many retreating English, even though Montcalm tried to stop them.

Battle #3THE FORTRESS OF LOUISBOURGBut the tide turned in favour of the English in 1758.

Louisburg was a French island citadel in Nova Scotia. Under Commander Wolfe, the English sailed under darkness and waited a week for the fog to lift. A small band of English sailors went ashore, then an English cannonball sparked off an explosion in the French gunpowder store, destroying most of the French ships in an enormous fireball.

The English laid a seige on Louisbourg and the French surrendered three weeks later.

The French forces were now cut off from reinforcements coming from France!!

Battle #4 and 5FORT FRONTENACThe same year, 1758, the English defeated the French at Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario. This

cut off French supply lines along the St. Lawrence River. Quebec and Montreal were now isolated. Then, in 1759, the English captured Fort Niagara. The time was right for the English to attack the main settlements in New France!!!

Battle #6THE BATTLE FOR QUEBECThe French, under Montcalm, thought they were safe because Quebec was built on a cliff. The

English ships, under General Wolfe, parked themselves in the St. Lawrence river waiting for a chance to attack. They had Quebec under siege. Eventually, a clever English scout discovered a small path up the cliff, and under cover of darkness, thousands of English troops climbed up onto the Plains of Abraham.

BATTLE OF THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM (continued)

The French awoke to lines of English troops. The battle on the Plains of Abraham near Quebec raged until the French surrendered on September 18, 1759.

The French Commander, Montcalm, and the English General Wolfe, perished at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. But the English continued up the St. Lawrence River and took Montreal (BATTLE # 7), the last French stronghold, in 1760.

THE END OF NEW FRANCE

Most of North America was now under the control of the English. At the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, the French gave up all claims to Canada. New France was finished!