Colonial Culture and Conflict

The Intercontinental Wars:

King William’s War: 1689-1697

Queen Anne’s War: 1702-1713

King George’s War: 1744-1748

The Intercontinental Wars

• During the Colonial period while the British

settlers were trying to settle and adapt to their

new environment, they not only had to fight the

Natives but also French and Spanish armies.

• From 1689 to 1763 the Colonials were part of a

series of Intercontinental Wars collectively

known as the French and Indian Wars.

• The Wars were fought primarily between the

French and British over the dominance

(complete control) of North America.

The Intercontinental Wars

• The Intercontinental Wars were:

– 1.) King William’s War or War of the Grand

Alliance (1689-1697)

– 2.) Queen Anne’s War or War of the Spanish

Succession (1702-1713)

– 3.) King George's War or War of the Austrian

Succession/ War of Jenkins's Ear (1744-1748)

– 4.) French and Indian War or Seven Year’s War

(1754-1763)

• Each conflict was known by two names, one was its

name in the colonies and the other was its name in

Europe.

King William’s War

• King William’s War started in Europe after James II was deposed during the Glorious Revolution (first “peaceful” transfer of power in history) when Parliament (British legislature) replaced him with William of Orange and his wife Mary.

• James II was aided by the French leader Louis IVX who was attacked by a Grand Alliance of European countries.

• The fighting spread to the Americas with the colonies of New France and the Dominion of New England going to war.

King William’s War

• Most of the fighting during King William’s War and the other Intercontinental Wars were fought between the French and British Indian Allies.

• The Governor of New France Frontenac used the Algonquians to attack the Iroquois and their allies the British.

• In 1690 the French and Algonquians were going to attack Fort Orange, but instead attacked the village of Schenectady at midnight killing most of the people in an event known as the Schenectady Massacre.

King William’s War

• The English Colonists then launched an

attack on Port Royal taking it, but failed to

take the capital of Quebec in the Battle of

Quebec; this caused the Colonists to have to

fight a defensive war.

• In 1692 the French with the Abenaki killed

most of the villagers in the town of York (in

Maine) known as the Candlemas Massacre.

• The Treaty of Ryswick (1697) ended the war

and returned everything to status quo

antebellum (way before the war).

Queen Anne’s War • Queen Anne’s War started in Europe in 1701 over

the fear of the French and Spanish combining their nations into one through marriage.

• In 1702 the fighting spread to America with the Colonials fighting a two front war with New France and Spanish Florida.

• The Spanish first led a naval bombardment of Charlestown, in return the Carolinians besieged St. Augustine (Siege of St. Augustine) and burned it to the ground with only the fort surviving.

• The Carolinians with the aid of the Creek and Chickasaw fought the Choctaw, Seminoles, and killed most the Appalachia in 1704 at the Massacre of the Appalachia.

Queen Anne’s War

• In New England Leneuf de Beaubassin led

a group of Canadians and Indians on raids

through most of the territory.

• In response Massachusetts governor

Joseph Dudley organized an expedition

led by Joseph March to take Port Royal

but failed.

• Another raid led by Francis Nicholson

captured Port Royal which setup an attack

on Quebec.

Queen Anne’s War

• The Colonials, British regulars, and Iroquois

attacked Quebec but failed to take the capital

city.

• The British and

French called an

armistice (cease fire)

and in 1713 signed

the Treaty of Utrecht

ending the war with

the British receiving

Acadia renamed

Nova Scotia (New Scotland) and Hudson Bay.

King George’s War

• King George’s War started in Europe over the succession of Maria Theresa to the throne of the Holy Roman Emperor, the power struggle engulfed all of Europe.

• Conflicts in America began when a Spanish commander boarded an English vessel in the Caribbean cutting off the British Capitan’s ear, Robert Jenkins, to be taken to Parliament as a sign of aggression and a warning to stay out of the Caribbean.

• Upon receiving Jenkins and his ear Parliament and George II opened war with Spain.

King George’s War • Most of the war was fought in naval battles in the

Caribbean and Indian/colonial confrontations in the settlements of Georgia.

• The French quickly joined the war and began Indian attacks, which was answered by the Siege of Louisburg where the French lost control of the fort and control of the St. Lawrence River way.

• The French with Indians raided the towns of Albany and Schenectady.

• The War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, with things going back to status quo antebellum.

French and Indian War

• The last of the Intercontinental Wars was the French and Indian War which was the only one to start in the colonies and spread to Europe.

• After King George’s War the land of the Ohio Country was left in question with both the French and English claiming it.

• The French General Joseph de Montcalm was sent into the Ohio country to build a string of defensive forts along the Ohio River Valley.

French and Indian War

• At the same time the French were building forts, the British Ohio Company was selling land grants to colonials to settle the area and for fur trading.

• The area was ran by the Virginia Colony led by Governor Robert Dinwiddie.

• Dinwiddie wanted to make an agreement with the French, so he sent a young British officer and surveyor, George Washington, to meet with the French, but was turned away.

French and Indian War

• Dinwiddie then sent Washington to take a small fort in Western Pennsylvania called Fort Duquesne, which led to the Battle of Jumonville Glen were Washington’s men massacred the French.

• Washington then built a small protective fort called Fort Necessity to protect his men from a French counterattack, but due to poor strategy Washington’s men were slaughtered.

• The British decided that an army led by Major General Edward Braddock needed to be sent to the colonies to kick the French out of the Ohio Country.

Fort Necessity

French and Indian War

• In 1754 delegates from seven colonies meet in

Albany, New York to discuss better relations with

Indians and how to deal with the French called

the Albany Conference.

• The delegates agreed on Benjamin Franklin’s

Albany Plan of Union to create a unified colonial

league of friendship government with a colonial

legislative body and a representative to the

British Parliament.

• The plan was outright

rejected by all the colonies.