French and Indian War Lessons

The French and Indian War

1756-1763​

In 1754, George Washington was a young Virginian, and the United States was not yet a country. In that year, Washington was sent west by the governor of Virginia to take care of a problem there.​

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

The problem was located in the Ohio Valley, the area between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. English settlers from Virginia, who were beginning to think about occupying more land, had formed the Ohio Company and made plans to expand westward.

​

At the same time, the French were also expanding into the Ohio Valley area. Native Americans had occupied the area all along. The problem was that all three groups had claims to the same land.​

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

George Washington, a 22 year-old major in the Virginia militia, had a mission. His mission was to tell the French to go away.

​

The French settlers didn't go away. They built a fort, Fort Duquesne.

​

Next, George Washington and his men built a fort nearby. Fort Necessity, as it was called, was small - only 53 feet in diameter.​ Its wooden palisades were built of split logs. Surrounding the fort itself were earth trenches from which the men tried to defend the fort.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

The battles around Fort Necessity were the first battles of the French and Indian War, even though neither side, the British or the French, had declared war yet.

​

​

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

​Even though the war had not been declared, the battles between the French and the British were getting a lot of publicity. Newspapers published news reports of French troops marching down from Canada. They published reports of a French plan to take over the whole area. A Maryland newspaper published accounts of the battles taken from George Washington's own journal.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

The newspapers began to call for the colonies to unite to defend themselves against the French and the Indians. The Pennsylvania Gazette published a picture of a snake cut into parts. Each part represented one of the thirteen colonies, and the caption said "JOIN or DIE".

​

​

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

In 1756, the war became official. From 1756 through 1763, the French and the British fought over land in America. Each side was supported by several Native American tribes at various times. At first, the French seemed to be winning, but after the first two years, the British began to gain the upper hand. They captured French territories in what is now the United States and Canada.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

In 1763 the French and Indian War ended in America.

​

The Seven Years War, which was the name of the same war in Europe, was finished too. The Treaty of Paris, signed at the end of the war, gave all of North America east of the Mississippi, except New Orleans, to Britain. France had lost much of its hold on North America.

​

Many of the Native Americans in the area accepted treaties with the British or moved further west.​

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

The British colonists entered into a new phase of their life in America. The years of the French and Indian War had transformed the original thirteen colonies and the westward settlements. They were no longer only separate colonies and British subjects. The colonists were starting to think of themselves as Americans. They were becoming a large and united group of people that could look out for itself. The French and Indian War had begun to shape a future Untied States.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion