The French and Indian War

1
The French and Indian War

• Matt Bené
• Tony Trabon
• David Bird

2
Struggle for the Continent

• French Indian War
• Uneasy balance of power between French, British,
  and Iroquois
• Britain commercial nation
• France more tolerant to native peoples
• Iroquois consisted of Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga,
  Onondaga, Oneida.

3
New France and the Iroquois Nation

• Religious and commercial tensions produce
  conflicts
• French Attracted to interior continental b/c
• Fur trading attracted the French merchants
• Short farming periods in Canada leads toward
  migration
• Jesuits in search of converts
• French Explorers Louis Joliet, Jacques
  Marquette, Rene Cavelier- Louisiana
• Quebec- Center of French empire in America
• New Orleans- founded to service plantation
  economy
• English offered Indians more commercial goods.
• France offered tolerance.
• Iroquois avoided close relationships with either
  countries.
• Ohio Valley- French claimed it, English settled
  it, Iroquois established trade

4
Anglo-French Conflicts

• After the Glorious Revolution, William III then
  his successor Queen Anne reigned, both of which
  opposed French expansion.
• France allied with Spain.
• Tensions resulted in the Anglo-French Wars which
  lasted eighty years.
• Repercussions in America
• King Williams War (1689-1697) cause conflicts in
  the north
• Queen Annes War (1701-1713) caused border
  conflicts with Spaniards
• Treaty of Utrecht ended the conflicts and gave
  the english Acadia (Nova Scotia) and Newfoundland
  which were French territory.
• Fredrick the Great of Prussia and Maria Theresa
  of Austria
• France supported prussia with hope of seizing the
  Netherlands
• English supported Austria to keep Holland from
  the French
• Resulted in the King Georges War in America
  which lasted from 1744-1748
• George Washington was sent to challenge French
  expansion at Fort Duquesne. He surrendered and
  lost the territory of Fort Necessity.
• Marked the beginning of French Indian War

5
The Great War for the Empire

• First phase (1754-1756) British began very weak
  by allowing France to send reinforcements through
  Canada. General Edward Braddock failed to retake
  the Ohio Valley.
• All Indians were allied with French, except the
  Iroquois but they were intimidated.
• Second Phase (1756-1758) Became the Seven Years
  War after France and England opened up
  hostilities.
• WIlilam Pitt, english Secretary of State, changed
  war by bringing it under full British control,
  enforced impressment which lost the favor of
  colonists.
• Third phase(1758-1763) William Pitt relaxed the
  impressment laws. Colonist joined the army and
  easily outnumbered the weak french
• Generals, Jeffery Amherst and James Wolfe
  captured the fortress at Louisbourg and conquered
  Quebec
• French Army surrendered at Amherst in Montreal
  and later signed the Peace of Pairs in 1763

6
Burdens of Empire

• With the treaty of 1763 England is at peace
• - English leaders realized that their empire
  could no longer be governed so
  casually.
• - Although in peace, England was still in great
  debt from previous wars.
• - Imperial government makes it way to colonies
  to help relieve some of the debt in England.
• Increased involvement in the colonies difficult
  to achieve
• - Colonists were resistant to British and forced
  William Pitt to relieve some of his
  policies. (Even after, they continued to respond
  slowly to Britain)
• - Unwilling to be taxed by Parliament ? did not
  want to tax themselves as well
• In the past, Englands colonial empire relied on
  trade, but through the arguments of William Pitt
  and Benjamin Franklin that land was most valuable
  to the empire.

7

• France wants England to return Canada in exchange
  for Guadalupe (most valuable of sugar islands
  in West Indies at the time) but the English
  refuse.
• - Belief was that the English would need new
  space to accommodate for their growing
  population.
• 1763 Territorial annexations in the New World
  make British Empire twice as big
• - Did not populate new land too quickly, to
  avoid stirring up conflicts with
• natives.
• Disagreement arose about who should control the
  western lands.
• - Colonists wanted the colonial governments to
  take control
• - Others wanted control to remain in England
• England in debt
• No help from the colonies even though British
  soldiers defend Americas at Indian border
• Only other option was to increase the already
  high taxes in England
• George IIIs reign
• - Assumed power in 1760 after grandfathers
  death
• - His inability to lead Empire cause him to
  appoint George Grenville as Prime Minister in
  1763.

8
The British and the Tribes

• Settlers from the English colonies began to
  immediately move over to the mountains into the
  upper Ohio Valley.
• Indians in these lands objected intrusion on
  their land and commerce
• An alliance between the tribes led by the Ottawa
  chieftain Pontiac attack the new white settlers
• The British Proclamation of 1763
• - Law that forbid the settlers to advance
  beyond a line drawn along the Appalachian
  Mountains.
• - It allowed London to control the westward
  movement of white populations
• - Conflicts with the tribes were limited
• - It would slow the migration from the coastal
  colonies (where British most important
  investments and markets were)
• - John Stuart was in charge of Indian affairs
  of Southern colonies
• - Sir William Johnson was in charge of affairs
  in the north
• - The Proclamation failed to meet any
  expectations of the Native Americans
• -Whites continued to cross the
  boundary and claim N.A. lands
• -1768 Stuart and Johnson negotiated new
  agreements with the western tribes creating a
  supposedly permanent boundary (but again the
  lines were continued to be pushed back father
  west)

9
The Colonial Response

• Grenville ministry increased its authority over
  colonies
• Mutiny Act of 1765 colonists were required to
  assist in provisioning and maintaining the army
• British ships patrolled the waters in search of
  smugglers
• Colonial factories were restricted so not to
  compete with British
• Sugar Act of 1764 attempted to eliminate
  illegal trade between colonies and French and
  Spanish West Indies also lowering duty on
  molasses
• Established new vice-admiralty courts to try
  accused smugglers depriving them of local juries

10

• Currency Act of 1764
• Required colonial assemblies to stop issuing
  paper money
• Retire all paper money already in circulation
• Stamp Act of 1765
• Tax on most printed documents in the colonies
• Newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, deeds, wills,
  and licenses
• New imperial program was an effort to reapply
  mercantilism
• Proved to effective Britain collecting 10x more
  revenue from colonies
• Caused more problems that it solved
• Disputes between Atlantic coast colonies and
  backcountry (felt unrepresented)
• 1771 small civil war in North Carolina
  Regulator Movement
• Regulators farmers of Carolina upcountry who
  organized in opposition to the high taxes that
  the local sheriffs collected
• Governor William Tryson put down the band of 2000
  Regulators

11

• New Policies created common grievances among
  colonists
• Northern Merchants feared they would suffer from
  restraints on commerce
• Northern Backcountry resented closing of the west
  to speculation and fur trading
• Southern planters, in debt to English Merchants,
  feared having to pay additional taxes and lose
  their ability to ease debts by speculating land
  in western land
• Professionals depended on merchants and planters
  for their livelihood and shared concerns about
  English Law
• English poured money into colonies and created a
  wartime boom
• Ended after the treaty in 1763
• Extracted money from the colonies after the
  treaty
• Most Americans soon found ways to circumvent the
  new British policies

12

• Urban population worried about periodic economic
  slumps that were occurring more frequently
• Americans were deeply attracted to very broad
  powers of self-government and were determined to
  protect them
• Americans were fighting to preserve something
  they already had
• Movement was at the same time Democratic and
  Conservative
• It was a movement to conserve liberties Americans
  believed they already possessed