Essay on French and Indian War

The French and Indian War was fought between the colonies of Great Britain and New France, supported by American Indian allies on each side.

The French and Indian War (1754–1763) The war was fought primarily between the colonies of Great Britain and New France, with each side supported by forces from Europe also as American Indian allies. In 1756, the war erupted into a worldwide conflict between Britain and France. The first targets of the British colonists were the royal French forces and therefore the various American Indian forces allied with them.

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Background of war

The war was fought primarily along the border separating New France from British colonies from Virginia to Nova Scotia. The territory encompassed roughly the present-day states of Ohio, eastern Indiana, western Pennsylvania, and northwestern West Virginia. the difficulty of settlement within the region is taken into account to possess been a primary explanation for the French and Indian War and a later contributing factor to the American Revolutionary War.

Within the 17th century, the world north of Ohio had been occupied by the Algonquian-speaking Shawnee. Around 1660, during a conflict referred to as the Beaver Wars, the Iroquois seized control of the Ohio Country, driving out the Shawnee and conquering and absorbing the Erie tribe. The Ohio Country remained largely unusual for many years and was used primarily for hunting by the Iroquois.

Territorial Dispute

With the invasion of the Europeans, the region was claimed by Great Britain and France, both of which sent merchants into the world to trade with the Ohio Country Indians. the world was considered central to both countries’ ambitions of further expansion and development in North America. At an equivalent time, the Iroquois claimed the region by right of conquest. The rivalry between the 2 European nations, the Iroquois, and therefore the Ohio natives for control of the region played a crucial part in the outbreak of the French and Indian War in the 1750s.

The Outbreak of War

The war began in May 1754 due to these competing claims between Britain and France. Washington, gave the command to fireside on French soldiers This incident on the Pennsylvania frontier proved to be a decisive event that led to imperial war. For subsequent decades, fighting happened along the frontier of France and British America from Virginia to Maine. The war also spread to Europe as France and Britain looked to realize supremacy within the Atlantic World.

After initially remaining neutral, the Ohio Country Indians and most of the northern tribes largely sided with the French and British and fared poorly within the first years of the war. In 1754, the French and their American Indian native allies forced Washington to surrender at Fort Necessity, In 1755, Britain dispatched General Edward Braddock to the colonies to request Fort Duquesne. The French, aided by the Potawotomis, Ottawas, Shawnees, and Delawares, ambushed the 1,500 British soldiers and Virginia militia who marched to the fort. The attack sent panic through the British force, and many British soldiers and militiamen died, including General Braddock. The campaign of 1755 proved to be a disaster for the British. The sole British victory that year was the capture of Nova Scotia. In 1756 and 1757, Britain suffered further defeats with the autumn of Fort Oswego and Fort Henry.

Conference between the French and American Indian leaders around a ceremonial fire by Vernier: this is often a scene from the French and Indian War (1754– 1763), depicting the alliance of French and American Indian forces. The war began to show in favor of the British in 1758, due in large part to the efforts of William Pitt, Pitt pledged huge sums of cash and resources to defeating the hated Catholic French, and Great Britain spent a part of the cash on bounties paid to new young recruits within the colonies, helping invigorate British forces. In 1758, the Iroquois, Delaware, and Shawnee signed the Treaty of Easton, aligning themselves with the British reciprocally for a few contested lands around Pennsylvania and Virginia. Between 1758 and 1760, the British military successfully penetrated the heartland of New France, with Quebec falling in 1759 and Montreal finally falling in September 1760. The French empire in North America began to crumble.