THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR

Battle for a Continent

Seven Years’ War

• First truly global war• Involved many countries and

colonies in: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America,

and the Caribbean• Britain, Prussia and Hanover vs.

France, Austria, Sweden, Saxony, Russia and Spain

Britain

• Britain did not fight this war on European lands (Prussian & German allies did this)

• Focused on destroying the French military and merchant fleets

• Britain also wanted to gain control over French colonies as a means to gain commercial superiority over the French

• France was allied with Austria who could do little to help outside Europe

The (not so) New World

• Both Britain and France had been present in North America for some time (about 150 years)

• A combined French-First Peoples force expelled British colonists from the Ohio valley in 1754

• Major George Washington (still British at this point) attacked a French detachment and suffered defeat in 1754

• This marked the beginning of fighting in North America

The British Attack …again

• The British sent reinforcements and planned to attacked Fort Beausejour (NS border with NB), and lakes at Lake Champlain, Niagra and Fort Duquesne on the Ohio River

• Remember…the USA and Canada did not yet exist. These were all colonial territories of New France

The French Prepare

• The French learned of the planned attack and reinforced Louisbourg

• The British had little success on land with the exception of Acadia (Fort Beausejour)

• The deportation of the Acadians followed in 1755

• War was officially declared in 1756

Montcalm

• More French troops arrive under the leadership of the Marquis de Montcalm

• The plan was to keep the British on the defensive

• The French were successful in controlling the Great Lakes

• Canadian and Aboriginal raids were wearing down the frontier settlements of the British colonies and the response comes in the form of 23,000 British troops and blockades of French ports

The Tide Turns

• Through 1757 the British were kept at bay by the French by Montcalm, his men and their Aboriginal allies

• By 1758 the tide turned against the French with significant losses at Louisbourg & Fort Frontenac (ON)

1759 Plains of Abraham

• The British under Major General James Wolfe bring 9000 men to Quebec

• On September 13 1759 the Battle of the Plains of Abraham ends with the defeat of Montcalm and Quebec surrenders

• A year later the British are defeated on the same field but the siege by the French is lifted when the British Navy sails up the St. Lawrence

Occupation

• New France was surrendered on September 8, 1760

• New France fell under military occupation and rule of the British

Back in Europe…

• Don’t forget war had also been raging in Europe

• The plans by France and Spain to invade England failed as they suffered defeats

• Negotiations for peace began in 1761• France left Canada to the British choosing

to focus on their other colonial assets • There was also the fact that rebellion was

on the mind of many in the American colonies

The Treaty of Paris 1763… Britain’s Gains

• In 1763 the Treaty of Paris was signed

• Britain obtained from France: 1. Cape Breton Island 2. Canada, including the Great Lakes

Basin and east bank of the Mississippi River,

• Britain obtained from Spain: 1.Florida

What did the French Get?

• France retained fishing rights in Newfoundland and the Gulf of St Lawrence

• France acquired Saint Pierre and Miquelon as an unfortified fishing station

• Kept her West Indian possessions, trading centres in India and slaving station on the Île de Gorée (in present-day Senegal) restored.

What about the Canadians?

• Britain guaranteed Canadians limited freedom of worship- quite significant!

• Exchange of prisoners was arranged• Canadians were given 18 months to

leave and go back to France or elsewhere if they so chose

So everything is settled right? Not so much…

• The British have now got to manage a group of settlers who are still French

• How do they prevent uprisings?• The allowance they make to keep their

new French speaking citizens pacified really anger the loyal British colonists

• 12 years later the American colonies revolt (these are British subjects now rebelling against England)

Works Cited• Eccles, W. J. "Seven Years' War." The Canadian

Encyclopedia. 2008. Historica Foundation of Canada. 9 Nov. 2008 <http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?pgnm=tce&params=a1arta0007300>.

• Hall, Anthony J. "Treaty of Paris (1763)." The Canadian Encyclopedia. 2008. Historica Foundation of Canada. 9 Nov. 2008 <http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?pgnm=tce&params=a1arta0006990>.

• "Introduction: The Seven Years' War." Canadian War Museum. 2008. Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. 9 Nov. 2008.