Rivalry In North America By Ms Astle Rivalry

Rivalry In North America By: Ms. Astle

Rivalry between the French & British In the 1700’s Britain and France were the leading European powers. They competed for wealth and an empire in different parts of the world. The rivalry in North America was very strong. Britain began showing an interest in the Ohio River Valley, which was rich in resources. The British believed they had a right to the land.

Rivalry between the French & British The French also believed this land belonged to them. The French enjoyed a thriving fur trade with the Native Americans from this region. The French did not want to share this business with the British. To protect their claim to the Valley, the French built a chain of forts from Lake Ontario south to the Ohio River. The British responded by building their own fort in what is now western Pennsylvania. Before they could finish, the French seized the site and built their own fort called Fort Duquesne.

Rivalry between the French & British In the spring the governor of Virginia sent the militia to drive out the French. Leading the militia was George Washington from Virginia After marching to Fort Duquesne, Washington built his own fort, Fort Necessity nearby. Washington’s men attacked a French scouting party killing 10 soldiers and a diplomat. Washington came under attack by the French and their Native American allies. They won the battle and forced Washington’s soldiers to surrender. The French later released the soldiers who returned to Virginia.

Native American Allies As the conflict grew, both the British and French sought Native American help. The French had a big advantage and already had many Native American allies because they were mainly interested in the fur trade and not land. French trappers and traders often married Native American women & the French converted many Native Americans to Catholicism, and overall had a good relationship with the Natives.

Native American Allies The Native Americans distrusted the British and their hunger for land. The native Americans helped the French and raided British settlements. The British needed Native American allies so they tried to make a treaty with the Iroquois. The Iroquois Confederacy was the most powerful group of Native Americans in eastern North America. They consisted of six nations—the Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Tuscaraora.

Native American Allies Colonial delegates met the Iroquois leaders in June 1754 at Albany, New York. The Iroquois refused an alliance with the British, but promised to remain neutral. The Colonial delegates also talked together about how they could work together against the French. They decided to adopt Benjamin Franklin’s Albany Plan of Union for a united colonial government.

Native American Allies To form a colonial government each colony would have to give up some of its power. Not one colonial assembly was willing to do that. The Albany meeting failed to unify the colonists. The conflict between the French and British expanded into a full -scale war. It was called the French and Indian War.

The French and Indian War The French had early success in the war due to their alliances with the Native Americans. They captured several British forts. The French built well-armed forts and controlled large areas of land from the St. Lawrence River to New Orleans. The French Native American allies carried out raids on the frontier, or edges, of the colonies. They killed colonists, burned farmhouses and crops, and drove many families back toward the coast.

The French and Indian War The war was first fought by colonists with little help from Great Britain. In the fall of 1754 Britain appointed General Edward Braddock commander in chief of British forces in America and sent him to drive the French out of the Ohio Valley. He marched with 1, 400 redcoats to attack Ft. Duquesne, with George Washington serving as one of his aides.

The French and Indian War Washington warned Braddock that the style of marching—lined up in rows and columns made them easy targets, but Braddock ignored his advice. July 9, 1755, they were attacked by hidden French and Native American forces. The British were confused and didn’t know what to do. Braddock was killed and the British had 1000 causalities. Washington led the survivors back to Virginia

The French and Indian War The turning point of the war came in 1757, when William Pitt became prime minister. Pitt was a great military planner. He sent more trained troops to fight in North America. To stop complaints about the cost of war, Pitt decided Britain would pay for it. He knew that after the war, the British could raise colonists’ taxes to help pay the large bill.

The French and Indian War Pitt’s goal was not just to open the Ohio River Valley; he also wanted to conquer French Canada. In 1758 British forces won a key victory at Fort Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. Later that year the British also captured Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario. Another British force finally took Fort Duquesne, and the British renamed it Fort Pitt. Quebec, the capital of New France, was built on a cliff above the St. Lawrence River. This made Quebec, almost impossible to attack. In September 1759, British scouts spotted a poorly guarded path along the back of the cliff. At night, James Wolf’s soldiers overwhelmed the French guards and scrambled up the path.

The French and Indian War The British troops surprised and defeated the French army on a field called the Plains of Abraham. The fall of Quebec and Montreal the next year marked the defeat of France in North America. The war in Europe finally ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1763.

The French and Indian War This treaty forced France to give Canada and most of its land east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain also received Florida from Spain, France’s ally. Spain received French lands west of the Mississippi River—called Louisiana, as well as the port of New Orleans. The Treaty of Paris marked the end of France as a power in North America now belonged to Britain and Spain.

New British Policies The French defeat was huge blow to Native Americans in the Ohio River Valley. They lost their French allies and trading partners and now had to deal with the British. The British raised the prices of their goods and refused to pay the Native Americans to use their land. More colonists began settling in Native American lands.

New British Policies Native Americans saw the settlers as a threat to their way of life. Pontiac, chief of an Ottawa village, very strongly believed this. He put together an alliance and started attacking British forts. In 1763 Pontiac and his forces captured the British fort at Detroit and other British outposts in the Great Lakes region. During Pontiac’s War, Native Americans killed settlers along the Pennsylvania and Virginia frontiers. The war eventually ended in August of 1765 after British forces defeat Pontiac’s allies the Shawnee and Delaware.

New British Policies In 1763 King George III declared the Colonists were not to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. This was called the Proclamation of 1763. The Proclamation helped remove the source of conflict with Native Americans. It also kept colonists on the coast where Britain could control them. To enforce the new rule, Britain planned to keep 10, 000 troops in America.

New British Policies Colonists believed the proclamation limited their freedom of movement and that the large number of British troops would interfere with their liberties. Distrust began to grow between Britain and its American colonies. Britain’s financial problems would also lead to increased taxes, which will lead to conflict between Britain and the Colonies.

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