French and Indian War essay

1. FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR (1754–1763) The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was the last of a series of great colonial wars that stretched for almost a hundred years and disrupted settlements throughout North America. It marked the end of the French empire in North America and the beginning of English domination of the continent. It also emphasized the differences between Englishmen and colonists and laid the groundwork for the drive toward independence, culminating in the American Revolution (1775–1783). The events that sparked the French and Indian War had their origin in the trade with Native Americans. The French had claimed the territory surrounding the Great Lakes and had established Christian missions and trading posts throughout the area. They hoped to profit from the trade in furs that they maintained with the Indians. By the 1740s, British traders were entering the nearby same area of what became the state of Ohio, crossing over the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains and competing with the French. Because British trade goods were cheaper and better made than those the French offered, many Native Americans—including the Wyandot chief Memeskia, the Shawnee, and the Delaware, chose to break with the French and establish links with the English instead. The Six Nations, also known as the Iroquois League, retained their alliance with the English, which was formed almost a century earlier. The French responded by beginning the construction of a network of forts stretching from Lake Erie to the Ohio River. They also warned the Native Americans that the English were more interested in their lands than they were in the items the Indians had to trade. The French were telling the truth about the British desire for land. In 1749, King George II authorized the charter of the Ohio Company, a coalition of British and Virginian traders and speculators, and gave the new company title to enormous territories in the Ohio valley. King George required the company to establish