Our national commemoration of America 250 centers on the historic moment when the delegates to the Second Continental Congress voted to separate from Great Britain and subsequently signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. And yet the movement toward that bold and dangerous action had begun years earlier, triggered by the French and Indian War.
The French and Indian War (1756-1763), probably the most forgotten conflict in which “Americans” have engaged, is one of the most significant events in our country’s history because the discontent following that armed engagement directly led to the American Revolution.
Really?
While that statement sounds a bit simplistic, history tells us that a series of events following that armed conflict between Great Britain and France would eventually propel the English colonists into open rebellion.
How did the French and Indian War cause the American Revolution and the founding of the United States? Ah, it truly is a fascinating story.
The French and Indian War — known in Europe as the Seven Years’ War — was the culmination of at least 75 years of hostilities between Great Britain and France. (Remember, Britain and France are always closest allies except for when they are not. There is no middle ground in their relationship. They are best friends or they are angry siblings fighting for superiority.) Between 1689 and 1748, the two countries had spent 25 years in three periods of armed conflicts known as King William’s War, Queen Anne’s War, and King George’s War. Each had begun at home in Europe and then spread to the rest of the world, including North America.
When King George’s War ended in 1748, Great Britain had captured Louisbourg, an armed fortress in Nova Scotia. The British pressed their advantage in ending the war and negotiating the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, using Nova Scotia as a pressure point.
Both countries had similar goals in North America and across the globe; each wanted to expand its economic and territorial influence into new lands and peoples. England and France — and Spain to a lesser degree — had long coveted each other’s holdings in North America. The days of Marquette and Joliet, Henry Hudson, Christopher Columbus, and others might have been distant memories, but they were memories that encouraged competition for land and power.
So, how did the competition between Great Britain and France measure up by the 1750s? The English had more than one million people within its colonies, while the French had about 60,000. England controlled the 13 colonies — from Maine (part of Massachusetts) to Georgia — and Nova Scotia. French lands stretched from the Gulf of the St. Lawrence River, through the Great Lakes, and down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Most French settlers lived in Canada, but there were forts and settlements following the waterways south while the Spanish still controlled the region known as Florida.
If the British colonies wanted to expand, where would that expansion occur? Exactly: Westward into French territories. Otherwise, the colonists could not fulfill their dreams of economic freedom, i.e., property ownership. The stage was set for conflict in the Ohio Valley region, and trapped in the middle of that conflict were several groups of native peoples.
Now might be a good time to take a break and reread The Last of the Mohicans. Or, equally compelling, view the movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis. (Heart pounding…)
In truth, the French trading regions were not producing an influx of money for King Louis XV, but he was not willing to allow the British to gain the ground for their own goals. As the English crown and colonists gazed upon the Ohio Valley and the French searched for ways to secure their control, war broke out. In a series of heated battles staged across several years, the English colonists and British troops waged war against the French and their native allies.
By 1760, most of the fighting in North America ground to a halt with the surrender of Montreal to British forces, but the war continued in Europe until the Peace of Paris in 1763. While the belligerents in Europe, including Britain, Prussia, and Hanover against France, Spain, Austria, Russia, and others, worked to maintain a “balance of power” there, they mostly ignored North America. Even France’s allies were not anxious to take gained lands from Great Britain.
When the negotiations had ended, Great Britain was the dominant power in North America, and as historian Francis Parkman noted so eloquently, “Half the continent had changed hands at the scratch of a pen.”
So, how did a British victory in North America fuel the American Revolution?
Next week, friends.
In the meantime, read or view one of my favorite literary works with historical roots this week. The Last of the Mohicans will bring tears to your eyes and make your heart skip a few beats.
