Download lecture 5 struggle for empire

The Struggle for
Empire
Lecture 4
Frontier Conflict
 Throughout the first half of the 18th
century Britain and France fought a series
of wars along the frontier b/w their
colonies in North America.
 The conflict focused on control over the
lucrative fur trade and French efforts to
thwart British and American expansion
into the interior of North America.
 Each side relied on Native alliances to
conduct much of the fighting.
From Deerfield to
Louisbourg
 The Raid on Deerfield occurred during
Queen Anne's War on February 29, 1704,
when French and Native American forces
under the command of Jean-Baptiste
Hertel de Rouville attacked the English
settlement at Deerfield, Massachusetts
just before dawn, burning part of the town
and killing 56 villagers.
 French organizers of the raid drew on a
variety of Indian populations, including in the
force of about 300 a number of Pocumtucs
who had once lived in the Deerfield area.
 The diversity of personnel involved in the raid
meant that it did not achieve full surprise
when they entered the palisaded village.
 The defenders of some fortified houses in
the village successfully held off the raiders
until arriving reinforcements prompted their
retreat.
 More than 100 captives were taken, and
about 40 percent of the village houses were
destroyed.
 The raid has been immortalized as a part
of the early American frontier story,
principally due to the account of one of its
captives, the Rev. John Williams.
 He and his family were forced to make
the long overland journey to Canada, and
his daughter Eunice was adopted by a
Mohawk family; she took up their ways.
 Williams' account, The Redeemed
Captive, was published in 1707 and was
widely popular in the colonies.
The Battle of
Louisbourg
The French Indian War
1754-1763
 In 1754 a struggle began b/w American
colonists and the French and their Native
American allies for control of the Ohio
valley.
 The dispute would ignite a final clash of
empires, a world war that would lead
British to victory and the end of French
control in North America and elsewhere.
 The French and Indian War would
become part of the conflict known as
the Seven Years War (1756-1763).
 Fighting also took place in Europe,
Indian Subcontinent, in West Africa,
and in the Caribbean.
Differences in reason for
fighting b/w British and
American Colonists.
 The British sought global primacy and an
end to French military and commercial
challenges to its interest.
 The American colonists objective was
more local wanting to end Native raids on
their colonies and open the Ohio River
Valley to settlement.
 This led to colonies organizing their own
military expeditions and settlements.
George Washington
 Watch to video and answer the following
questions:
 1. How old was George Washington?
 2. What was he sent to do?
 3. How did Washington change the rules of
war?
 4. What is Benjamin Franklins vision for
America?
 5. How is expansion being fuelled by Franklin?
 6. Which Native group is the most powerful
over the Ohio Valley?
 7. What happens to the native alliance with
Washington?
 8. Describe the difference in fighting strategy
b/w the natives and Americans.
British Victory
 Although Fort Duquesne was
captured the British were successful
in taking over the following Forts:
 1. Fort Frontenac
 2. Louisbourg
 3. Battle of Quebec (Plains of
Abraham)
 4. Montreal (1760)
Getting to Know Chief
Pontiac
The Royal Proclamation
of 1763
Check Your
Understanding
 1. Explain the North American causes of
conflict between the British and the French.
 2. How did the American colonists benefit
from British victory in the Seven Years War?
 3. What role did the Native Americans play in
the wars between the British and the French?
 4. What role did the American colonists play
in defeating France?
 5. Why was general Wolfe’s victory at
Quebec important for the American colonists?
 6. What was the purpose of the Proclamation
of 1763?