French And Indian War
1754 – 1763
These wars were one of the causes for the Revolutionary War.
The beginning conflicts to the French and Indian War were fought in Europe between France and Great Britain.
The French were beginning to establish a string of forts along the Mississippi and other rivers west of the Appalachian Mountains. These forts made fur trading even more profitable for the French. They also stopped the progress of the English colonies.
The French and their allies thought of the American colonist as land hungry because they were eager to grab unsettled lands. Native American lands were thought of as unclaimed lands by the new settlers. Usually the Native American lands were the best pieces of land to be found in the area. Many times they had already been cleared for crops.
In the 1740”s the king of Great Britain gave a land grant to a group of people from Virginia to settle the Ohio Valley area. When the colonist began moving west, tensions mounted between the French, Native Americans(Indians) and the colonist.
The natives who had been there for many years, seemed to get along better with the French than they did the colonist because the French realized that the Indians had survived in this wilderness for numerous years and they could benefit from their knowledge.
In 1753 George Washington was dispatched by the Governor of Virginia to deliver a letter of protest to the French. This letter expressed the wish of the colonist that the French would leave the area.
This war began when George Washington (22 years old) led a British force of colonist against a group of French and Indians. At first the colonist forces surprised the French and natives. The colonist quickly built Fort Necessity. A few days later the French and Natives struck back. Washington had to surrendered and returned to Virginia. The French allowed him to leave hoping that this would be the last they would see of the colonist.
However, this was not to be the case. There were many skirmishes between the groups over the next few years.
In 1758 the British decided to concentrate their full effort into North America. They brought in new leaders and used their royal fleet to blockade the French.
George III became very anxious and began to push for peace. The French and Indian War ended in 1763 by the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
At first it was a time of excitement in the colonies and in Great Britain. But soon the realization of the mounting debt during the past seven years of defending the interest of the colonist was understood. Also the British were beginning to have second thoughts about the loyalty of the colonist. This was seen when colonist in New England were trading with the French during the French and Indian War. British also thought that it was the responsibility of the colonist to reimburse Great Britain for the costs of the war. British Generals also questioned the abilities of the colonial troops and colonial legislatures refusing to pay for the war but were willing to take funds from the “Mother Country” before the war.
Problems were escalating on both sides.