Remembering the French Indian War

Remembering the French Indian War

Isaiah Diggs

History 201-0201 Research Paper

December 1, 2014

Background

                The French and Indian war also known as the seven years war was the final Colonial War taken place in 1756-1763. The Seven Years War conflict involved many nations including Austria, England, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Sweden. The majority of the battles and wars took place in Europe, India, and North America. Europe, Sweden, Austria, and France were all allied to eventually pulverize the uprising power of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. At the same time, the English and French battle for colonial territory in North America, the Caribbean, and also in India. The English eventually ended up dominating the entire colonial outpost, but at the same time it cost a huge resulting debt that almost nearly destroyed the English government. These debts weren’t just debts that you could simply just pay off with a check or money order, this was a debt that caused the uprising of tensions which would lead to the start of the Revolutionary War. Parliament at this time had two goals to complete, the first goal was to; tax the colonies to recover the money expended over the battle in North America, and the second goal was to restore the profitability of the East India Company in effort to also recover the money that was spent on the battles over India.  The East India Company was a company that was chartered by Queen Elizabeth 1st for the possible trade with Asia. The objective of the group of merchants involved was to be able to break the Dutch monopoly of the spice trade with the East Indies.

What Happened?

                The French and Indian War was a conflict in North America between the French and the British, it also involved Native Americans. In the 1750’s both Britain and France had colonies in North America. While the British wanted to settle around the Ohio River Valley and be able to trade with the Native Americans who lived there, the French had already had defense, and forts built to protect their trade with the Indians. The main reason why British wanted to prosper the gain of the Ohio River Valley was basically to control the trade. With the control over the Ohio River Valley, then British economic trade value would expand, because then they could import and export more goods from different places. In 1754 George Washington tried to lead an army against the French, but ultimately failed. Soon, Britain eventually declared war on France for the fight over the control over the Ohio Valley, which gave it the name “7 Years War” also known as “French Indian War.” I have no idea why they decided to name a war after 2 colonies that didn’t fight…. But I guess that’s history for you! Alternately in 1754, congress of the British colonies met in New York. Ben Franklin proposed the idea that the colonies should maybe work together to defeat France. Each colony would still have their own government, but at the same time would create a central government to decide on important issues. This would be known as the Albany Plan of Union, unfortunately the colonist didn’t agree with it. In 1757, Britain sent soldiers to North America to ultimately help defeat the French in Canada. Later after British victories, in 1763 Britain and France ended the war and signed the Treaty of Paris which France gave Britain control of Canada. Also gave Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to its ally Spain. British soldiers stayed around the Ohio River Valley and the Indians that also stayed around there didn’t really enjoy the British presence in the area, so what the Indians soon did was declared war on British so they could leave which started the Pontiac’s Rebellion. The Indians didn’t really make that big of a fight against Britain because they were defeated in less than a year. To avoid later conflict with American Indians, the Proclamation of 1763. Basically the proclamation of 1763 recognized the Indians’ right to land, but didn’t allow colonist west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Resulting Conclusion

        The British victory had a big impact on the British Empire.  Since they took over a lot of territory, it resulted in great expansions of British territorial claims in the new world. The cost of the war had greatly increased Britain’s debt by a long run. Since France lost and had removed from North America, the land interior of the area lay open for the Americans to colonize and make their own, but the English government decided otherwise. To create a controlled population movement, they issued a Royal Proclamation that prohibited settlement west of the line drawn along the crest of the Allegheny Mountains because of the Indians that lived on the other side and wanted land. Basically, they kicked the Indians out of their own land.