The French and Indian War

Unit 2 Lesson 2

The Ohio Valley

• The Ohio Valley stretches about 1,000 miles along the Ohio River, from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River.

• Lands claimed by both France and Britain

Conflicts in the Ohio Valley

• French traders made large profits (money left over after a business pays its costs) in the Ohio Valley.– Native Americans furs

• British traders made profits from trading with Native Americans, too.– Colonies growing wanted lands in OH Valley

to farm and settle

Conflicts in the Ohio Valley

• Native Americans traded for European goods.– Cloth, iron tools, guns– Began to depend on these goods

• Native Americans traded with both the French and British.

• Others traded with only one European group.

Conflicts in the Ohio Valley

• Forced to choose sides as conflicts grew between the British and French

• Would have to decide if they wanted to stay in the OH Valley or flee to escape war

War Breaks Out

• Early 1750s French began building forts in the eastern OH Valley– Sent soldiers to drive the British out of the

region

• British viewed this as an act of war.

The First Battle

• 1754 British sent 150 soldiers to the OH Valley– Led by George Washington

• Young officer from the British colony of Virginia

• Virginians planned to attack Fort Duquesne (French fort)– They defeated a small group of French soldiers and

their Native American allies.

• Allies people or groups that join together for a common cause

The First Battle

• Washington feared a larger attack.– Virginians quickly built Fort Necessity.

• Attacked and Washington was defeated• The French allowed the Virginians to leave.• These events marked the start of the French

and Indian War.

The First Battle

• By 1756, the French and Indian War had become part of a larger conflict.– The Seven Years’ War– French and British began fighting each other in

Europe and Asia as well.

Forming Alliances

• Most Native Americans who stayed in the Ohio Valley formed alliances with the French or the British.– Alliance a formal agreement among groups or

individuals

• Algonquian tribes = French– Feared British colonists would drive them from

their lands– Wanted to fight against the Iroquois

• Iroquois = British

Early Defeats for Britain

• April 1755 British General Edward Braddock led 1,800 soldiers to attack Fort Duquesne.

• British were trained to fight in open fields.• They soon learned French soldiers fought like

their Native American allies– Hid in the forests and fried from behind trees and

rocks• This way of fighting took British by surprise.• General Braddock was killed in battle.

Ohio

Valley

The Fall of New France

• Britain sent more soldiers to the colonies.• By 1758, they began winning the war.– Captured several French forts– Defeated the French at Quebec and Montreal

• British were too strong despite Spanish-French alliance

• 1763 French surrendered and signed the Treaty of Paris– Treaty an agreement between nations about

peace, trade, or other matters

Treaty of Paris

A Troubled Frontier

• The French lost nearly all their lands in North America as a result of the Treaty of Paris.– French land east of Mississippi River to Britain– Spain gave Florida to Britain but gained all French

lands west of the Mississippi River

• British colonists eager to settle in the frontier (lands beyond settled areas)

• Native Americans hoped British would protect their land.

• Summary (10:12)

Treaty of Paris

The Proclamation of 1763

• 1763 an Ottawa chief named Pontiac united tribes in the Ohio Valley region

• Tribes attacked British settlements and forts– Pontiac’s Rebellion• Rebellion a fight against a government

The Proclamation of 1763

• British King George III tried to end the fighting between the Native Americans and colonists.

• 1763 made a proclamation (public announcement) that all lands west of the Appalachian Mountains belonged to the Native Americans– Settlers there were told to leave.– Most ignored the king’s proclamation and conflict

continued.

The Proclamation of 1763

Paying for the War

• British leaders needed more money:– To pay for the war– To defend and control their North American lands

• The British government decided that the colonists should help pay these costs.

• 1764 the British government ordered the colonists to pay more taxes– Tax money a government collects from citizens

• Colonists grew angry with the British government for raising taxes.