The name is confusing , right ? It sound like the French and Indians were fighting each other . But the French and Indian War was the North American theater of engagement between two imperial powers — Great Britain and France — battling it out forworld dominance . In that regard , some bookman of chronicle , include formerBritish Prime Minister Winston Churchill , call the Gallic and Indian War ( also call the Seven Years ' War ) the first " actual " world warfare because , not only did it admit the two most hefty regular army at the metre , but they also fight back on multiple fronts — in Europe , in colonies in the West Indies and even as far off as India .
" The world was turned upside down by the Seven Years ' War , " says John Giblin , director of educational activity and engagement for theU.S. Army Heritage and Education Centerat Carlisle Barracks , Pennsylvania ( also home to theU.S. Army War College ) . Giblin is the former director at the Fort Pitt Museum and Bushy Run Battlefield in Pennsylvania , and was one of the creators of the 2006 War for Empire projection , immortalise the 250th anniversary of the Gallic and Indian War .
" You had superpowers , you had colonial governments vying for country or compound rights , you had autochthonal peoples attempt to hold on to what they think they rightfully owned and you had adventurers in the admixture , trying to get their man of the Proto-Indo European , " Giblin total . " It was an extremely turbulent time . There was no one winner ; everyone got something , but lose something . But it typeset the stage for how the world was going to change . "
Who Controlled Which Territory?
When the state of war commence , Britain controlled the colonies along the Atlantic coast , which includedNova Scotiaat the time . Their colony only extended as far Mae West as the spiny ridge of the Appalachian Mountains and by the 1750s , the universe of British colonists arrive at more than 1 million . Meanwhile , the French district of " New France " covered the region beyond the Appalachians , running from Louisiana in the south through the Mississippi Valley to Canada in the north . New France had far fewer settlers , just 60,000 . The borders between these colonies were not always respected .
autochthonic peoplestill live on throughout these colonies , allied with both France and Britain . Multiple tribal mathematical group inhabit the northeast admit the Delaware , Mahican ( Mohican ) and theIroquois Confederacy — the Mohawk , Oneida , Onondaga , Cayuga , Seneca and Tuscarora , all of whom allied with the British . Other aboriginal American clan inhabit in the region included the Huron , Fox and Sauk ( Sac ) . These tribes typically allied with the French .
Why Did They Fight?
Like many wars , the French and Indian War was essentially a land grab .
" It started out as a public debate over business deal right hand , but it promptly move to a debate over land right , " Giblin says . " And the land right [ squabble ] really started before the French and Indian War when [ military leader and IE Pierre - Joseph Celoron]de Blainvillemade his expeditiousness into the mid - Ohio area , put down lead plateful on behalf of the Gallic magnate . "
fundamentally , the French were fur traders in the Ohio River Valley , where the Allegheny and Monongahela river converge with the Ohio — a region call theForks of the Ohio(the site of present - day Pittsburgh ) . The British wanted a firearm of that activity and started pin in the area in the late 1740s , but the French were not proud of . In an attempt to reestablish their title to the lands , the Gallic regulator quest de Blainvilleburymultiplelead platesthroughout the field inscribe in the name of King Louis XV of France .
Meanwhile , several wealthy Virginia colonist ( including the governor , Robert Dinwiddie , and his youthful protégéGeorge Washington ) formed the Ohio Company specifically to speculate in land west of the Appalachians and hopefully get involve in the fur trade . TheOhio Companyreceived a charter , securing the rights to 200,000 acres ( 80,937 hectares ) near the Forks of the Ohio , but before the country could be settled , the French construct a fort on the internet site .
In 1753 , Dinwiddie send Washington and a small group of humans with a letter of ultimatum to the French that they leave the realm ; the French resist . A twelvemonth later , the British ( under Capt . William Trent ) begin constructing a garrison at another locating at the Forks of the Ohio . The French were n’t proud of by this growth and arrived to put a closure to it . The British quickly abandoned the fort , but not before selling the tools and materials to the French who completed build what became Fort Duquesne .
Dinwiddie realise things were getting out of hand . At this time , there was no centralised colonial army . Each dependency had their own militia or no reserves at all . He asked the king to send British fixture to back up the colonists , but the king order this was a colonial problem . Dinwiddie decide to rear an army for Virginia and asked 22 - year - former Washington , a farmer with no military experience , to lead it .
The War Begins
1754 : Washington and his hands — 100 adult male strong — camped in a field known as the Great Meadows about 50 international nautical mile ( 80 klick ) east of Fort Duquesne . The French sent a little party conduct by Ensign Joseph Coulon de Jumonville to gather intelligence agency and , if potential , convince the British to leave . rather , Washington , a fellowship of reserves and a grouping of Iroquois ally intercepted Jumonville near the Great Meadows . In the fighting that ensued , Jumonville and nine French soldiers were bolt down . The British returned to Great Meadows , build up a garrison they calledFort Necessity .
alert by a survivor of the ambush , the French attack Fort Necessity July 3 with a superior force of more than 300 Gallic Canadians and indigenous ally . Washington give up and ill - advisedly signal a written document in which he admitted to " assassinate " Jumonville ; he resigned in disgrace though later returned to help under British command . When the British world-beater heard the news of the humbling defeat , British troop were eventually sent to North America .
Skirmishes and battle continued throughout 1755 include the Battle of the Wilderness , where British Gen. Edward Braddock ’s troops were defeat near Fort Duquesne , and the Battle of Lake George in New York , which featured British Col . William Johnson , considered a hero of the war .
But it was n’t until almost a full year after Washington ’s first skirmish at Fort Duquesne that war was officially declared between Great Britain and France , May 8 - 9 , 1756 . And while the most famous battle go on in the mid - Atlantic and Northeastern colonies , clash fit as far in the south as the Carolinas .
Winners? Losers?
As the name implies , the French and Indian War dun on for seven years once it was formally declared . The tide turned whenWilliam Pitt , who serve as secretary of state in the British government activity , took over wartime operations . Pitt recognized that the war wreak a crucial part in furthering Britain ’s global imperium . He take over heavily to finance the war . He also block off micromanaging the war from London and give local control to the British forces in the colonies in matters of military leadership . As a result , British and colonial forces move on to shoot down the French in North America and in territories throughout the Earth . The war finish with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763 .
The British were the clear-cut winner in term of territorial gains .
" Britain hold back ascendance of much of the easterly half of North America , the port cities , which were decisive , include Nova Scotia , " says Giblin . " They also gain open craft with Native Americans , one of the key things they wanted , and the power to trade , ambush and Richard Morris Hunt in the Midwest .
They also gained control of the westerly frontier , all the land east of the Mississippi River , all of Canada , and took over Florida from Spain ( which had ally itself with France ) . Giblin says the French and Spanish still controlled much of the western one-half of North America , but that would soon change after the American Revolution and the Louisiana Purchase .
The clear losers in plus to the French were the autochthonal multitude . Not only were they pushed farther out of their tribal lands , but in some places , smallpoxwas introduced to their kin group for the first time .
One of the unintended consequence of the French and Indian War was that it indirectly go to the American Revolution . " Britain empty its coffers to ante up for the war , " Giblin say .
But it was n’t going to be enough . They raisedtaxesto easiness the burden .
" The colonist were glad to pay their share of taxes for their portion of the state of war , but as early as the first half of the Gallic and Indian War , colonist start to believe they were being below the belt taxed , " Giblin say .
And we all experience how thatturned out .
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