the 7 Years' War in North America

 
the French founded Quebec and moved in to the area around the St. Lawrence River and great Lakes
  • Population grew slowly
    • men didn't plan on staying
    • fur traders
    • missionaries
  • little desire to conquer or control: wanted to exploit it economically
    • good relations with Native Americans
    • relied on them for fur trade
  • traveled down Mississippi River - New Orleans
The 7 Years' War
  • Trouble with the English in North America
    • began to 'run into' British colonies in western Pennsylvania and the Ohio River Valley
    • French built a fort (1754) on land promised to Virginia planters (Fort Duquense - which later becomes Pittsburgh!)
    • Virginian militia sent out
      • led by 22-year old George Washington
      • built a new fort (Fort Necessity) a few miles away
      • defeated by the French (July 3, 1754)
    • this was the beginning of an undeclared war
  • French Indian War
    • French were allied with native Americans in the Ohio valley
    • Indians feared continued British growth and colonization
    • French won many early battles
  • War in Europe
    • Open conflict between Austria/France/Saxony/Russia and Prussia/Britain
    • Extended years of fighting on the European continent
    • British Prime Minister William Pitt (as in "Pitt"sburgh)
      • the way to win the war was to weaken France's commerce from the new world
      • sent many troops in 1757
      • eventually captured Fort Duquesne, Fort Niagara, Quebec City, Montreal
      • (ending the war in the Americas)
  • war continued until 1763 - Treaty of Paris
    • France lost all its North American colonies to England
    • Proclamation Line of 1763 - no settlement west of the Appalachians
  • Louisana - crazy history
    • 1762 - secret agreement between Spain and France: all French territory west of the Mississippi went to Spain
    • Governors from both countries tell England that New Orleans is on the west bank (it is really on the east) to keep it in Spanish hands after the 7 Years' War.
    • Napolean signs an agreement in 1800 to recieve the land back from Spain
    • Turns around and sells it to the US in 1803 (Louisiana Purchase)
  • Florida
    • "Ransomed" by Spain to British in 1763 (for Havana), but the British give it back after the Revolutionary War.
    • Used as a base for British ships during the war of 1812
    • Sold to the US in 1819 in return for Texas