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In 1754, the final round of conflict in a series of wars between France and Great Britain broke out in its North American theater. In the United States, it would be referred to as the French and Indian War. The following text recounts the events of the French and Indian War—what the struggle between two European powers meant for the people living in the New World, and the ramifications of this contest for land and power.
As you read, take notes on the reasons each side participated in the war, particularly for Native Americans, and how the outcome of the fighting affected each group.
EUROPEAN STRUGGLE FOR DOMINANCE
The New World served as the stage for a small but significant part of the struggle for global domination between England and France. France established French colonies, called New France, as early as the 1530s along the shores of modern-day Canada and stretching inland towards the Great Lakes region. During the 1600s, France was the dominant power on the European continent, emerging victorious from the Thirty Years War. Louis XIV, the Sun King, built a palace at Versailles that made him the envy of every European monarch. French language, art, and literature prevailed on the continent. Meanwhile, England was in the throes of civil war. As the century drew to a close, however, England was ready to start settling the New World.
During the century that preceded American independence, England and France would fight four major wars, with the rest of Europe and eventually North America participating as well. With each conflict, France would slowly lose power, territory, and influence. King William’s War and Queen Anne’s War led to the removal of French power from Acadia, now Nova Scotia. After losses were incurred during King George’s War, the French maintained their North American holdings only by ceding land to Britain elsewhere. The final round of war would remove France from the continental mainland altogether.
Round four, the final conflict of this particular global struggle between England and France, broke out in 1754. Unlike the three previous conflicts, this war began in the New World. French and British soldiers butted heads with each other over control of the Ohio Valley. At stake were the lucrative fur trade and access to the all-important Mississippi River, the lifeline of the frontier to the west. A squadron of soldiers led by a brash, twenty-two-year-old George Washington attacked a French stronghold named Fort Duquesne. Soon after the attack, Washington’s troops were forced to surrender. Shortly after that, a second British force was also met with defeat. When news of this reached London, war was declared, and the conflict known in Europe as the Seven Years War began. Americans would call this bout the French and Indian War.
FORGING ALLIANCES
The name “French and Indian War” obscures the fact that Native Americans fought on both sides of this conflict, as well as in other campaigns between Britain and France—and later in the American Revolution. Faced with an invading force of European settlers and imperialists, Native Americans only had so many choices; forming temporary coalitions was one of the few routes they could take. These alliances were based more on practicality than cultural similarities. Often, tribes would pit one side against the other as a means of survival. In the eyes of many Native Americans, this conflict, like many other conflicts, merely settled which group of Europeans that the natives would have to deal with later.
A majority of the Native American tribes involved in the conflict sided with France in the French and Indian War, despite the larger British presence in North America. Unlike the British, the French took strides to develop diplomacy with indigenous populations. This included economic trade, exchange of language, marriage, and cohabitation. Tribes began to become increasingly dependent on European goods. A prosperous fur trade flourished along the St. Lawrence and Mississippi Rivers. While this does not mean that the French settlers and Native Americans lived in complete harmony, there was at least some level of trust and benefit to their alliance.
In contrast, the British did much less to understand their native neighbors. Whether out of ignorance or hostility, the British acted in ways that strained their relationship with the native peoples. For example, the British failed to understand a common gift-giving practice among many tribes; they received much but gave little back. They secluded themselves from the native population. Indeed, the British seemed to have no interest in developing friendly relationships with the tribes. Both sides regarded the other with mistrust.
In the end, France and Britain prioritized land, wealth, and the extension of their empires, none of which were in the best interest of indigenous peoples. Natives did what they could to protect their ancestral lands and to