146 CHAPTER 5

MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW TERMS & NAMES

3

The French and Indian War

ONE AMERICAN’S STORYThe Frenchman, Charles de Langlade, and his

family controlled the fur trade around what is

now Green Bay, Wisconsin.

In 1752, Charles commanded 250 Ottawa

and Chippewa warriors in an attack on a village

in present-day Ohio. His reason: the Miami

people there had stopped trading with the

French and were now trading with the British.

Charles and his men destroyed the village’s

British trading post. This attack helped lead to

the French and Indian War.

This section describes the war, in which French

forces fought British forces in North America.

Each side had Native American allies.

France Claims Western LandsAs you learned in Chapters 2 and 4, the French were exploring the NorthAmerican interior while English colonists were settling the eastern coast.By the late 1600s, French explorers had claimed the Ohio River valley, theMississippi River valley, and the entire Great Lakes region. The Frenchterritory of Louisiana, claimed by the explorer La Salle in 1682, stretchedfrom the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains.

The French built their main settlements, Quebec and Montreal, alongthe St. Lawrence River in Canada. (See the map on page 148.) They alsobuilt forts along the Great Lakes and along rivers draining into theMississippi. By 1760, the French colony, New France, had a Europeanpopulation of about 80,000. By contrast, the British colonies had morethan a million settlers.

Some Europeans in New France were Jesuit priests. They wanted to con-vert Native Americans to Christianity. Other Europeans in New Franceworked as fur traders. Native Americans brought furs to French forts and

This 1903 painting by EdwardDeming shows Charles deLanglade attacking Britishforces in 1755.

AmericanIdentity

3

Britain’s victory in the French and

Indian War forced France to give up

its North American colonies.

British influence spread over North

America, though French populations

and place names still exist here.

French andIndian War

Albany Plan ofUnion

Battle of Quebec

Treaty of Paris

Pontiac’s Rebellion

Proclamation of 1763

Taking Notes

Use your chart totake notes about the French andIndian War.

CALIFORNIA STANDARDS

CST1 Students explain how majorevents are related to one anotherin time.

CST3 Students use a variety ofmaps and documents to identifyphysical and cultural features ofneighborhoods, cities, states, andcountries and to explain the histori-cal migration of people, expansionand disintegration of empires, andthe growth of economic systems.

HI2 Students understand and distin-guish cause, effect, sequence, andcorrelation in historical events,including the long- and short-termcausal relations.

BackgroundThe Iroquoiswere a union ofsix nations.

BackgroundOften Frenchtraders livedamong and married NativeAmericans.

A. RecognizingEffects How didthe fur trade leadto wars?A. Answer NativeAmerican groupscompeted forfurs, and throughtheir allianceswith Europeantrading partners,they obtainedweapons andbecame involvedin European conflicts.

B. Answer To theFrench, it linkedCanada andLouisiana and wasa source of furs.To the British, itwas also a sourceof furs and aplace for new set-tlement.

B. MakingInferences Whywas the OhioRiver Valleyimportant to theFrench and Britishgovernments?

exchanged them for goods such as iron pots and steel knives. Many Frenchtraders carried goods by canoe into remote parts of New France.

Native American AlliancesThe English competed with the French for furs. Also, different NativeAmerican groups competed to supply furs to the Europeans. The fur tradecreated economic and military alliances between the Europeans and theirNative American trading partners. The Huron and Algonquin peoples ofthe Great Lakes region were allied with the French. The Iroquois of upperNew York often were allied with the Dutch and, later, the English.

Alliances between Europeans and Native Americans led to theirinvolvement in each other’s wars. For example, by the mid-1600s, theIroquois had trapped all the beavers in their own lands. To get more furs,they made war on their Huron and Algonquin neighbors, driving themwest. Eventually the Iroquois controlledan area ranging from Maine west to theOhio Valley and north to LakeMichigan. Iroquois expansion threatenedthe French fur trade. In response, theFrench armed the Huron and Algonquinpeoples to fight the Iroquois. TheIroquois were armed by the English.

When France and England declaredwar on each other in Europe in 1689,French and English colonists inAmerica also began to fight. With theirNative American allies, they attackedeach other’s settlements and forts.During the 1700s, two more warsbetween France and England fueledwars in their colonies. Neither side wona clear victory in these wars. A final war, the French and Indian War(1754–1763), decided which nation would control the northern andeastern parts of North America.

Conflict in the Ohio River ValleyThe seeds for the French and Indian War were planted when Britishfur traders began moving into the Ohio River valley in the 1750s.British land companies were also planning to settle colonists there.The French and their Native American allies became alarmed. Tokeep the British out of the valley, Charles de Langlade destroyed thevillage of Pickawillany and its British trading post (see OneAmerican’s Story on page 146).

The British traders left, and the French built forts to protect theregion linking their Canadian and Louisiana settlements. This upset theVirginia colony, which claimed title to the land. In 1753, the lieutenantgovernor of Virginia sent a small group of soldiers to tell the French to

Beginnings of an American Identity 147

A French tradervisits a NativeAmerican family.

leave. Their leader was a 21-year-old major named George Washington.Washington reported the French commander’s reply.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

He told me the Country belong’d to them, that no English Man had a right totrade upon them Waters; & that he had Orders to make every Person Prisonerthat attempted it on the Ohio or the Waters of it.

George Washington, “Journey to the French Commandant”

Virginia’s lieutenant governor sent about 40 men to build a fort at thehead of the Ohio River, where Pittsburgh stands today. French and NativeAmerican troops seized the partially built fort in April 1754 and com-pleted it themselves. The French named it Fort Duquesne (du•KAYN).

War Begins and SpreadsGeorge Washington was on his way to defend Fort Duquesne when helearned of its surrender. He and his men pushed on and built anothersmall fort, Fort Necessity. Following Washington’s surprise attack on aFrench force, the French and their allies attacked Fort Necessity on July3, 1754. After Washington surrendered, the French let him march backto Virginia. The French and Indian War had begun. This war becamepart of the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), a worldwide struggle forempire between France and Great Britain.

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BackgroundThe Seven Years’War was foughtnot only in NorthAmerica but alsoin the Caribbean,throughoutEurope, and inIndia and Africa.

148

French and Indian War, 1754 –1763

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDERInterpreting Maps1. Place Which nation controlled

territory along the St. Lawrenceand Ohio rivers?

2. Place Which forts were the sitesof British victories?

SkillbuilderAnswers1. France2. Niagara,Frontenac,Ticonderoga,Quebec,Beauséjour,Louisbourg

While Washington was surrendering Fort Necessity, representativesfrom the British colonies and the Iroquois nations were meeting atAlbany, New York. The colonists wanted the Iroquois to fight with themagainst the French. The Iroquois would not commit to this alliance.

Benjamin Franklin, who admired the union of the six Iroquoisnations, suggested that the colonies band together for defense. HisAlbany Plan of Union was the first formal proposal to unite thecolonies. The plan called for each colony to send representatives to aGrand Council. This council would be able to collect taxes, raise armies,make treaties, and start new settlements. The leaders in Albany sup-ported Franklin’s plan, but the colonial legislatures later defeated itbecause they did not want to give up control of their own affairs.

Braddock’s DefeatBritain realized that to win the war, it could not rely solely on thecolonists for funding or for troops. Therefore, the British sent GeneralEdward Braddock and two regiments to Virginia. In 1755, Braddockmarched toward the French at Fort Duquesne. George Washington wasat his side. Their red-coated army of 2,100 movedslowly over the mountains, weighed down by a hugecannon.

On July 9, on a narrow trail eight miles from FortDuquesne, fewer than 900 French and Indian troopssurprised Braddock’s forces. Washington suggested thathis men break formation and fight from behind thetrees, but Braddock would not listen. The general heldhis position and had four horses shot out from underhim. Washington lost two horses. Four bullets wentthrough Washington’s coat, but, miraculously, none hithim. In the end, nearly 1,000 men were killed orwounded. General Braddock died from his wounds.American colonists were stunned by Braddock’s defeatand by many other British losses over the next two years.

The British Take QuebecIn 1757, Britain had a new secre-tary of state, William Pitt, who wasdetermined to win the war in thecolonies. He sent the nation’s bestgenerals to America and borrowedmoney to pay colonial troops forfighting. The British controlled sixFrench forts by August 1759,including Fort Duquesne (rebuiltas Fort Pitt). In late summer, theBritish began to attack NewFrance at its capital, Quebec.

C. DrawingConclusions Whywas Braddockdefeated by asmaller enemyforce?C. AnswerBraddock’s forcewas unprotectedand easy to see.

BackgroundBecause theBritish seemedlikely to win thewar, someIroquois hadjoined them asallies.

ACADIANS TO CAJUNS

Braddock’s defeat and otherearly losses in the war increasedBritish concern about the loyaltyof the French people in Acadia(now Nova Scotia). The Britishhad won Acadia from France in 1713.

In 1755, British officers forcedout 6,000 Acadians who wouldnot take a loyalty oath. TheBritish burned Acadian villagesand spread the people to vari-ous British colonies, as shown.Eventually, some Acadians madetheir way to the French territoryof Louisiana. There they becameknown as Cajuns.

149

Quebec sat on cliffs 300 feet above the St. Lawrence River. Cannonand thousands of soldiers guarded its thick walls. British general JamesWolfe sailed around the fort for two months, unable to capture it. Then,in September, a scout found a steep, unguarded path up the cliffs to theplains just west of Quebec. At night, Wolfe and 4,000 of his men floatedto the path and secretly climbed the cliffs.

When the French awoke, the British were lined up on the plains,ready to attack. In the short, fierce battle that followed, Wolfe was killed.The French commander, Montcalm, died of his wounds the next day.Quebec surrendered to the British. The Battle of Quebec was the turn-ing point of the war. When Montreal fell the next year, all of Canadawas in British hands.

The Treaty of ParisBritain and France battled in other parts of the world for almost threemore years. Spain made a pact in 1761 to aid France, but its help cametoo late. When the Seven Years’ War ended in 1763, Britain had won.

By the Treaty of Paris, Britain claimed all of North America east of theMississippi River.To reward Spain for its help, France gave it New Orleansand Louisiana, the French territory west of the Mississippi. Britain, whichhad seized Cuba and the Philippines from Spain, gave them back inexchange for Florida. The treaty ended French power in North America.

D. Answer Theysurprised theFrench by climb-ing an unguardedpath up to thecity.

D. Finding MainIdeas How werethe British able tocapture Quebec?

BackgroundFrance kept onlya few islands nearNewfoundlandand in the WestIndies.

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150 CHAPTER 5

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDERInterpreting Maps1. Region Which nations lost territory after 1763?2. Region Which nations gained territory after 1763?

European Claims in North America European Claims in North America

SkillbuilderAnswers1. France, Spain2. Britain, Spain

IN 1754 AFTER 1763

Pontiac’s RebellionAfter French forces withdrew, the British took over their forts.They refused to give supplies to the Native Americans, as theFrench had. British settlers also moved across the mountainsonto Native American land. In the spring and summer of1763, Native American groups responded by attacking set-tlers and destroying almost every British fort west of theAppalachians. They surrounded the three remaining forts.This revolt was called Pontiac’s Rebellion, although theOttawa war leader Pontiac was only one of many organizers.

British settlers reacted with equal viciousness, killing evenIndians who had not attacked them. British officers came upwith a brutal plan to end the Delaware siege at Fort Pitt.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

Could it not be contrived to send the Small Pox among those disaffected[angry] tribes of Indians? We must on this occasion use every stratagem in our power to reduce them.

Major General Jeffrey Amherst, quoted in The Conspiracy of Pontiac

The officers invited Delaware war leaders in to talk and then gavethem smallpox-infected blankets as gifts. This started a deadly outbreak.

By the fall, the Native Americans had retreated. Even so, the uprisingmade the British government see that defending Western lands wouldbe costly. Therefore, the British issued the Proclamation of 1763, whichforbade colonists to settle west of the Appalachians.

The colonists were angry. They thought they had won the right tosettle the Ohio River Valley. The British government was angry at thecolonists, who did not want to pay for their own defense. This hostilityhelped cause the war for American independence, as you will read.

Beginnings of an American Identity 151

2. Using GraphicsWrite the month and yeareach battle occurred. Classifyeach as a French or Britishvictory.

Which was most important?(CST2)

3. Main Ideasa. How did the fur trade con-tribute to the French andIndian War? (HI2)

b. Why did the British beginto win the war after 1758?(HI2)

c. What were some causesand effects of Pontiac’sRebellion? (HI2)

4. Critical ThinkingAnalyzing Points of ViewWhy did the French, British,and Native Americans fightover the Ohio River Valley?(REP5)

THINK ABOUT• how the British viewed

the valley• how the French viewed it• how the Native Americans

viewed it

1. Terms & NamesExplain the

significance of:• French and

Indian War• Albany Plan of Union• Battle of Quebec• Treaty of Paris• Pontiac’s Rebellion• Proclamation of 1763

Section Assessment

ACTIVITY OPTIONS

GEOGRAPHYMUSIC

Learn more about the Battle of Quebec and its setting. Make a three-dimensionalmodel of the battle or write a song about it. (HI1)

3

Pontiac

Date Incident VictorSeizure of Fort DuquesneSurrender of Fort NecessityBraddock’s defeatBattle of Quebec

E. AnalyzingPoints of ViewWhy did theNative Americansattack theBritish?E. AnswerSettlers claimedtheir land, andsoldiers treatedthem harshly.

F. Reading a MapFind the Procla-mation Line of1763 on the mapon page 150.

152

TERMS & NAMESBriefly explain the significance ofeach of the following.

1. Great Awakening

2. Enlightenment

3. John Peter Zenger

4. Magna Carta

5. Parliament

6. Glorious Revolution

7. Edmund Andros

8. French and Indian War

9. Treaty of Paris

10. Proclamation of 1763

REVIEW QUESTIONSEarly American Culture (pages 135–140)

1. Why did colonists want to ownland? (HI1)

2. What was women’s role in thecolonial economy? (HI1)

3. How did the Great Awakeningcreate enthusiasm forrevolution? (HI2)

Roots of RepresentativeGovernment (pages 141–145)

4. Why did colonies haverepresentative assemblies? (HI1)

5. What was one important rightgranted in the Magna Carta?(REP4)

6. How did the Zenger trial helplead to freedom of the press?(HI2)

7. How was the English Bill ofRights related to the GloriousRevolution? (CST1)

The French and Indian War(pages 146–151)

8. What was George Washington’srole in the French and IndianWar? (HI1)

9. What did England gain as aresult of the French and IndianWar? (HI2)

10. What was one reason forPontiac’s Rebellion? (HI2)

CRITICAL THINKING1. USING YOUR NOTES:FINDING MAIN IDEAS

Using your completed chart,answer the questions below. (CST3)

a. What were some political ideasshared by people in theAmerican colonies?

b. How was religion important toAmerican identity?

c. How did publishing help buildan American identity?

2. THEME: DEMOCRATIC IDEALS

What democratic ideals didAmericans inherit from England?(HI3)

3. APPLYING CITIZENSHIP SKILLS

Why is jury duty an example ofresponsible citizenship? (HI1)

4. CONTRASTING

How did colonial government dif-fer from present-day governmentin the United States? (CST1)

5. ANALYZING CAUSES

What do you think was the mostimportant cause of the French andIndian War? (HI2)

6. ANALYZING LEADERSHIP

Give an example of bad military orpolitical leadership from the chap-ter. What mistake was made? (HI4)

Now that you have read the chapter,what would you say British colonistsin America had in common?

VISUAL

SUMMARY

5Chapter ASSESSMENT

Beginnings of anAmerican Identity (CST3)

AmericanIdentity

PublishingPolitical Ideas

War

ReligionEducation

Economy

CommonIdentity

SeparateColonies

Early American CultureEnglish colonists shared certainvalues, such as land ownership andhard work. The Great Awakeningand the Enlightenment also drewcolonists together.

Roots of RepresentativeGovernment

English colonists expected theright to elect representatives togovernment and other politicalrights that had developed inEngland over centuries.

The French and Indian WarEnglish colonists were also drawntogether as they fought againstcommon enemies—the Frenchand their Native American allies.

Interact with History

Beginnings of an American Identity 153

TEST PRACTICECLASSZONE .COM

Use the map and your knowledge of U.S. history toanswer questions 1 and 2.

Additional Test Practice, pp. S1–S33.

1. Where did La Salle’s journey begin? (8.8.2)

A. Lake Erie

B. Lake Huron

C. Lake Michigan

D. Lake Ontario

2. Along which river did both teams of explorerstravel? (8.8.2)

A. Illinois River

B. Mississippi River

C. Ohio River

D. Wisconsin River

This is a quotation from Increase Mather about colonial government. Use the quotation and yourknowledge of U.S. history to answer question 3.

PRIMARY SOURCE

For all English liberties are restored to them: NoPersons shall have a Penny of their Estates takenfrom them; nor any Laws imposed on them, withouttheir own Consent by Representatives chosen bythemselves.

Increase Mather, quoted in The Last American Puritan

3. The passage best represents which point of view?(8.1.2)

A. The colonists were entitled to the basic rights ofEnglish subjects.

B. The colonists’ land belonged to the government.

C. Colonists did not have to pay taxes to theEnglish government.

D. Colonists were not entitled to liberties grantedto English subjects.

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CLASSZONE .COMINTERNET ACTIVITY

ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT1. WRITING ABOUT HISTORY

During colonial times, children often had to learnwork skills. Imagine that you were a young personduring this time. Write a letter to your family describ-ing your life and the work you do. (REP5)

• Use library resources to learn more about the rolesof children during colonial times.

• Explain what you have learned about your work,and describe what you like or don’t like about it.

2. COOPERATIVE LEARNING

Working in a group, hold a diplomatic council tryingto prevent the French and Indian War. Group memberscan assume different roles: English and French officials,English settlers, French fur traders, English-alliedIroquois, French-allied Huron or Algonquin. (REP5)

INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGYDOING INTERNET RESEARCH

Colonial American culture was not like modernAmerican culture. Use the Internet to do researchabout life in 18th century colonial America. Then pre-pare a dramatic presentation featuring one of theimportant figures from the time, such as BenjaminFranklin, Madam Sarah Knight, or Pontiac. (REP4)

• On the Internet, find images, stories, poems, or nov-els, and articles about daily life, interests, or enter-tainment in the early and middle 1700s.

• Historical societies or living history museums in theoriginal 13 states may also provide informationabout this period of time in American history.

For more about colonial American culture . . .

STANDARDS-BASED ASSESSMENT