Learn About It (Exploratory) 

NOTES FOR TEACHERS:  This section is for direct instruction. Your materials can include text, audio, video, hyperlinks, as well as other embeddable materials.

8.H.2.1 - Explain the impact of economic, political, social, and military conflicts

Directions: {W.R.A.P.}

1. Watch the video
2. Read the text & Click Links to dive deeper (you might want to take some notes on paper)
3. Answer the Questions in text box
4. Put an image that represents the French and Indian war in the textbox. 

The Seven Years’ War (called the French and Indian War in the colonies) lasted from 1756 to 1763, forming a chapter in the imperial struggle between Britain and France called the Second Hundred Years’ War. In the early 1750s, France’s expansion into the Ohio Links to an external site. River valley repeatedly brought it into conflict with the claims of the British colonies, especially Virginia Links to an external site.. During 1754 and 1755, the French defeated in quick succession the young George Washington Links to an external site., Gen. Edward Braddock, and Braddock’s successor, Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts Links to an external site.. In 1755, Governor Shirley, fearing that the French settlers in Nova Scotia (Acadia) would side with France in any military confrontation, expelled hundreds of them to other British colonies; many of the exiles suffered cruelly. Throughout this period, the British military effort was hampered by lack of interest at home, rivalries among the American colonies, and France’s greater success in winning the support of the Indians. In 1756 the British formally declared war (marking the official beginning of the Seven Years’ War), but their new commander in America, Lord Loudoun, faced the same problems as his predecessors and met with little success against the French and their Indian allies.

The tide turned in 1757 because William Pitt, the new British leader, saw the colonial conflicts as the key to building a vast British empire. Borrowing heavily to finance the war, he paid Prussia to fight in Europe and reimbursed the colonies for raising troops in North America. (Money will need to be Paid Back)

In July 1758, the British won their first great victory at Louisbourg, near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. A month later, they took Fort Frontenac at the western end of the river. Then they closed in on Quebec, where Gen. James Wolfe won a spectacular victory on the Plains of Abraham, September 1759 (though both he and the French commander, the Marquis de Montcalm, were fatally wounded). With the fall of Montreal in September 1760, the French lost their last foothold in Canada. Soon, Spain joined France against England, and for the rest of the war Britain concentrated on seizing French and Spanish territories in other parts of the world.

The Seven Years’ War, a global conflict known in America as the French and Indian War Links to an external site., ends with the signing of the Treaty of Paris Links to an external site. by France, Great Britain, and Spain.

In the early 1750s, France’s expansion into the Ohio Links to an external site. River valley repeatedly brought the country into armed conflict with the British colonies. In 1756, the British formally declared war against France.

In the first year of the war, the British suffered a series of defeats at the hands of the French and their broad network of Native American alliances. The British also had Native Americans on their side. The Iroquois Confederacy was a confederation of Native American Indians which was originally composed of 5 tribes consisting of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca peoples. However, in 1757, British Prime Minister William Pitt (the older) recognized the potential of imperial expansion that would come out of victory against the French and borrowed heavily to fund an expanded war effort. Pitt financed Prussia’s struggle against France and her allies in Europe and reimbursed the colonies for the raising of armies in North America. By 1760, the French had been expelled from Canada, and by 1763 all of France’s allies in Europe had either made a separate peace with Prussia or had been defeated. In addition, Spanish attempts to aid France in the Americas had failed, and France also suffered defeats against British forces in India.

The Seven Years’ War ended with the signing of the treaties of Hubertusburg and Paris in February 1763. In the Treaty of Paris, France lost all claims to Canada and gave Louisiana Links to an external site. to Spain, while Britain received Spanish Florida Links to an external site., Upper Canada, and various French holdings overseas. The treaty ensured the colonial and maritime supremacy of Britain and strengthened the 13 American colonies by removing their European rivals to the north and the south. Fifteen years later, French bitterness over the loss of most of their colonial empire contributed to their intervention in the American Revolution Links to an external site. on the side of the Patriots.

Questions:

1. Why did the war begin? (video)
2. Which Tribes were allied with the French? Which Allied with the English/Colonists? (Use video & Text)
3. Give 3 significant individuals and what they did. (Video & Text)
4. What is significant about the Ohio River Valley? 
5. What was the outcome, who got what lands?
6. Insert a Picture that represents the French and Indian War!

Video Recording class 9/22/2020 (start 23min into video)