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Chapter 06 - The Duel for North America 1608-1763

 

France Finds a Foothold in Canada
  • Emergence as a European power
    • Louis XIV becomes king in 1643
    • Takes interest in North America
    • 1608
      • Quebec established
      • led by Samuel de Champlain
    • Friendly relations with Huron Indians
      • Agree to battle against Iroquois
      • Iroquois then ally themselves with Britain
  • Government of New France
    • Under direct control by Henry XIV
    • French peasants had no motive to move out of France
    • New government offered no freedom of religion

 

New France Fans Out

  •    Fur trade
    • Beaver pelt hats in high demand in European market
    • Voyageurs named many North American places during this period
    • Recruited Indians into business
    • Decimated Great Lakes beaver population
    • Introduced French Catholic "Jesuit" Missionaries to North America
      • Tried to convert Indians
      • Attempted to save them from corrupt fur business
  • Exploration
    • Robert De la Salle
      • Floated down Mississippi in 1682
      • Named entire region Louisiana in honor of French king
      • French persistently tried to block Spain from Gulf of Mexico
    • Founded New Orleans in 1718

 

The Clash of Empires

  • King William's War
    • 1689-1697
  • Queen Anne's War
    • 1702-1713
  • Both wars were made up of small detachments of troops engaging in guerilla warfare
  • Neither country was deeply commited in either conflict
  • Treat signed at Utrecht in 1713
    • France and ally Spain defeated badly by Britain
    • Britain given Acadia, Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay

 

George Washington Inaugurates War with France

  • Ohio Valley
    • Critical area for both France and Britain
    • France wanted to connect Canadian and Mississippi territories
    • Britain wanted to expand colonies westward
    • Virginian families securing land rights to 500,000 acres in the area
    • France building forts along Ohio River
  • 1754
    • George Washington sent to Ohio Valley with 150 militia
    • First shots fired, French leader killed
    • Washington soon overwhelmed and gave up land claims
  • Britain uproots Acadiams in 1755
    • Wary that they would betray British crown

 

Global War and Colonial Disunity

  • French and Indian War
    • Unofficially started with the shots fired by George Washington's men in 1754
    • Fought throughout the West Indies, Europe, North America, Africa, and the Philippines
    • French troops primarily based in Europe
      • Left few resources for the battle in North America
      • Eventually defeated by Britain in Europe
    • General population of colonies was indifferent to war
    • Only colonists close to the battles contributed
  • Intercolonical Albany congress
    • Tried instilling colonial unity
    • Only 7 of 13 colonies sent delegates
    • Benjamin Franklin become leader of the Congress

 

Braddock's Blundering and Its Aftermath

  • General Braddock
    • Sent to Virginia
    • Ordered to capture Fort Duquesne
    • French and Indian forces attacked from forests
    • British forces forced to retreat with staggering losses
    • Kept trying to conquer lands throughout American frontier
Pitt's Palms of Victory
  • Strategy for victory
    • Focused on the Montreal area
    • Defeat French stronghold to conquer the rest of French lands
  • Battle of Quebec
    • 1759
    • Montreal falls in 1760
    • French troops driven out of North America
  • 1763 Peace Treaty
    • France relinquished all land in North America
    • Allowed to keep several sugar islands in the West Indies
    • Gave all Mississippi River area land to Britain
  • Britain becomes dominant force in North America
  • Strongest navy in world

 

War's Fateful Aftermath

  • Americans wanted to spread westward
  • Indian and Spanish threats reduced greatly after the war
  • Pontiac's Uprising
    • Ottawa chief Pontiac led allied Indian tribes, with French traders, against British settlements in Ohio Valley
    • British retaliated by using biological warfare tactics
      • Sent blankets infected with smallpox virus to Pontiac's tribes
      • Quickly decimated population
      • Rebellion quickly halted
  • Proclomation of 1763
    • Britain prohibited settlement west of the Appalachians
    • Feared of another Indian rebellion
    • Americans viewed proclamation as an attack on their liberty
    • Many settlers resisted and proceeded to head west
Subject: 
US History
Subject X2: 
US History

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