Empire to IndependenceEpisode V

The French Empire Strikes Back

Setting the Scene

• May 1754 British troops under command of George Washington attacked a French scouting party in western PA– The built Fort Necessity and waited for French forces to

arrive and attempt to seize the Ohio Valley• Which the British and the French both claimed

Setting the Scene

• French outnumber British and soon win– First minor battle of the French and Indian War• This war was the final chapter in a long fight between

the British and the French over control of eastern North America

British and French Rivalry

• Began back in the 1600s– Conflict arose because both nations were claiming

some of the same territory (upper Ohio valley)

British and French Rivalry

• Different settlement patterns– British built towns and cleared land for crops– French built forts to protect their claims and to

trade with native Americans• This allowed the French to have better relations with

Native Americans

British and French Rivalry

• This led to a series of wars between France and Britain– Fighting would often spill over into the colonies• French and Indian war was the war to actually start in

the colonies

Albany Plan of Union

• June 1754 delegated of 7 northern colonies met in Albany NY– Hoped to strengthen ties with the Iroquois League– Also wanted to work out a unified war effort in the

northern colonies

Albany Plan of Union

• Ben Franklin offered an ambitious plan for a permanent union of the colonies– The Albany Plan

» Called for a grand council of delegates from each colony• Ultimately rejected, but it would provide a model for

the later government of the U.S.

Early British Losses

• Not a good start for the British– French and Indian allies won several early victories• The British tended to want to fight in open straight lines– French and Indians were using guerrilla tactics

Early British Losses

• An early British casualty in one battle was General Edward Braddock– His aide, George Washington survives• 2 horses shot from under him• 4 bullet holes in his coat

Washington…is…the man• An incident from 1770• Fifteen years after this battle Washington and Dr. Craik, his intimate friend from his boyhood to

his death, were traveling on an expedition to the western country, for the purpose of exploring wild lands. While near the junction of the Great Kanawha and Ohio Rivers a company of Indians came to them with an interpreter, at the head of whom was an aged and venerable chief.

• The council fire was kindled, when the chief addressed Washington through an interpreter to the following effect:

• "I am a chief, and ruler over my tribes. My influence extends to the waters of the great lakes, and to the far blue mountains. I have traveled a long and weary path, that I might see the young warrior (George Washington, from the day he had horses shot out from underneath him) of the Great Battle.

• It was on the day when the white man's blood mixed with the streams of our forest, that I first beheld this chief. I called to my young men and said, mark yon tall and daring warrior? He is not of the red-coat tribe — he hath an Indian's wisdom, and his warriors fight as we do — himself is alone exposed.

• Quick, let your aim be certain, and he dies. • Our rifles were leveled, rifles which, but for him, knew not how to miss - 'twas all in vain, a power

mightier far than we, shielded him from harm. He cannot die in battle. I am old, and soon shall be gathered to the great council fire of my fathers in the land of shades, but ere I go, there is something bids me speak in the voice of prophecy.

• Listen! The Great Spirit protects that man, and guides his destinies — he will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire."'"

British Win

• 1757 William Pitt becomes British Prime Minister– Convinced Britain to raise taxes and borrow

money to fight and win the war

Treaty of Paris of 1763

• Ended war• Canada handed over to Britain• France surrenders claim to al lands east of the

Mississippi• France give New Orleans to Spain• Britain returns Cuba to Spain in exchange for

Florida

French Lose

• By 1758 more, and better prepared British troops begin to overwhelm French and Indian troops in western PA and Canada

• British win several key victories– Take Quebec in 1759– By 1761, British take Detroit and French outposts

along the Great Lakes