The Events Surrounding the French and Indian War

At the start of the conflict with the French in 1753, the British were chiefly concerned with acquiring more wealth by settling the Ohio Valley to grow crops and trade with the Indians. After the French and Indian War broke out, the young George Washington embarrassed himself and his country after surrendering to the French and unknowingly admitting to the assassination of Jumonville. In 1755 the British split up the French Catholic population in Nova Scotia because they were a threat to British domination.

While Braddock scorned the Indian fighting style (a great mistake), William Johnson attempted to build an alliance with the Mohawk Indians to stop the French advance. When the British were surrounded and captured at Fort William Henry, the British were given generous terms of surrender. Realizing they had to have Indian allies to win the war, the British finally gained a foothold in Canada and defeated the French at Fort Duquesne in 1758. By 1759 the British are coming close to winning the war, and they turn to the Iroquois for support.

Before the winter sets in, Wolfe executes a successful sneak attack on the French stronghold at Québec.

After the British won the French and Indian War, they decided that the Indians, who had helped them significantly, should be treated as slaves. When war between the British and the Indians broke out, the British General Amherst used germ warfare on the Indians by giving them smallpox blankets. To ease tensions between them, the British promised the Indians the land of the Ohio Valley in the Proclamation of 1763.

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In 1753 the French were concerned mainly with protecting from the British their North American economy based on trade with the Indians. France’s first battles in the French and Indian War were fought to avenge the death of Jumonvillle at he hands of the British. When the French were forced out of Nova Scotia by the British, over 100 years of Catholic heritage were burned away. In 1757 when the French capture Fort William Henry, Montcalm disapproved of the Indians’ atrocities and arranged the terms of surrender. A series of British attacks in 1758 forced the French to surrender and relinquish their stronghold of Fort Duquesne. By 1759 the French are getting low on supplies and suffer defeat at Québec. In 1760 the French and Indian War ends with their defeat at Monteal. At the outset in 1753, the American Indians in the Ohio Valley wanted to maintain their way of life and protect their trade relations with the French and the British. The Half-King had his people’s interests, not those of the British, in mind when he killed Jumonville and abandoned the British cause.

The Indians were largely won over to the French side by De Beaujeu’s gestures of solidarity, but the Mohawk agree to fight with the British. The Indians attacked the surrendering British at Fort William Henry because they had been denied their war spoils. In October 1758, starving and suffering from disease, the Indians of the Ohio Valley allied with the British to survive. They were hopeful that peace was in reach thanks to the Treaty of Easton. By 1759 the war has taken a profound toll on the Indians, who then made peace with the British in order to survive. With the help of the Iroquois, the British won the French and Indian War. In 1763 Pontiac took advantage of the Indians’ resentment over Britain’s change in policy towards them and organized a war against the British, but the Indians were defeated. However, they were promised the land west of the Alleghenies, which was what they wanted. In 1758 the American colonists just wanted to be treated fairly by the Crown, and they feared the French and Indian War would infringe upon their rights as subjects of the king. However, the support of the colonists was won back by William Pitt.

The colonists’ participation in the battles with the French were meant to serve as proof to the Crown of their capability. They disregard the Treaty of Easton because they want to settle in the lands to the west. When Pontiac’s War broke out, the American colonists again feared the Indians and attacked their villages. The colonists still wanted the land they fought for even after the Proclamation of 1763 prohibits them from settling west. The French and Indian War began with the spark provided by George Washington in 1754. However, he is not solely to blame, of course. The competition between France and Britain for land in North America created tensions between them and was bound to lead to conflict. The best war strategy was employed by the British. They won because of their sneak attacks and alliances with the Indians, namely the Iroquois. Most of the Indians involved in the conflict fought for either side in order to survive. The Half-King escalated the conflict by killing Jumonville. He did so because he felt the French were encroaching on his people’s land agreements with he British. While many Indians fought for the French because they promised solidarity, the Mohawk Indians sided with the British.

The Iroquois League proved to be the most influential, helping the British win the war with their great strength. After the war, Pontiac inspired many Indians to wage war on the British for mistreating them. These groups of Indians played vital roles in the French and Indian War and in many ways decided how it turned out. The colonists were not legally justified in defying the Proclamation of 1763, but by that time, they increasingly didn’t feel like subjects of the king. Therefore, the laws of the Crown wouldn’t have applied to them. Morally, though, the colonists weren’t justified, because they were encroaching on the land of the Indians, who were increasingly being pushed farther west.