Chapter 3 Section 4 The Struggle for Land Pages86-91.

Chapter 3Section 4

The Struggle for LandPages86-91

Section 4 Objectives

• Obj 1.Identify the North American lands that France claimed.

• Obj 2. Discuss American Indians’ response to colonists’ desires for land and fur.

• Obj 3. Explain how the British won the French and Indian War.

The French in North America

• As Great Britain grew and expanded, conflict a rose between France and Britain.

• The British were moving west through the Appalachian Mountains into the Ohio Valley.

• 1600s- The French built forts along the Mississippi River after the explorers Rene’-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the area for France.

• 1718- With the founding of New Orleans the French commanded the Mississippi River.

• The French had control over the St. Lawerence River and the water route through the Great Lakes. This put French in control of the North American interior.

• The French claimed a large area, but settled very little of the area. Most came in search of riches and adventure. Some were Jesuit priests seeking to convert Indians.

Assignment

• Imagine that you are French citizens during the days of your country’s expansion in North America.

• Write three paragraphs expressing your reaction to French expansion.

Cultures Clash

• 1600s-Indians included French fur traders in their network.

• Indians enjoyed European goods such as firearms, horses, and metal tools. The Indians traded beaver pelts and other furs.

• Interesting: Fashion, particularly with regard to hats, drove the European demand for beaver pelts. Hatters shaved the fine hairs from the pelts and then pressed them together to make a kind a of fur cloth. They then molded this cloth into shape and shined it to a lustrous finish.

The fur trade

• The Europeans wanted fur which altered their way of life for the American Indians. Indians became dependent on the fur trade for survival. The Indians were so involved in trapping and preparing fur they neglected using their resources. They ended up buying food instead of producing it for themselves.

• Fur trapping disrupted the relationship among Indian tribes. As they used up resources in one area they moved to another settlement. This put Indians into competition with one another.

Conflicts over land

• European: Believed that land not registere4d by deed, cleared, or built upon was not owned. The land is for the taking was the feeling of the Europeans.

• Indians: The Indians suffered far more than the Europeans. American Indians viewed land differently. They respected territorial boundaries, not individual ownership. With the loss of land if meant losing food and sacred sites. Also, with agricultural practices it destroyed animal habitats.

War in New England

• Pequot and English went to war over land. • 1636-English and Narraganset and Mohegan

allies fought the Pequot who were working the fur trade with the Dutch.

• 1637-The Pequot War ended, when the English attacked and burned a village, along with killing hundreds. This basically wiped out the Pequot.

• 1675-Metacomet (King Philip in English) Wampanoag chief led the Indians against the colonies. Three thousand Indians and the chief died. Survivors were sold into slavery.

• Over the years people noticed that the Indians were no threat in the New England area.

The Iroquois League• Iroquois League- The Mohawk belonged to a political

confederation of American Indian nations that spoke one of the Iroquoian languages. The league was formed during the 1400s or 1500s.

• 1712-The confederation became known as the Six Nations. • The league dominated the fur trade and extended its influence

over the Indians in the west, and protected the members’ independence.

• The also played the middleman by trading furs from other American Indians and selling to the English.

• The most important outcome was how the league played the English and French against each other.

Activity

• Imagine you are American Indians who have interacted with settlers who want their lands and furs.

• Create a series of at least three drawings depicting American Indians’ responses to the settlers. ( Examples: depict trade relations, differing concepts of land ownership, battles between American Indians and settlers, or formation of the Iroquois League)

• Write captions for your drawings.

The French and Indian War

• Ranger Units: During the French and Indian War, the British devised a special military force that would later be very important in American history-ranger units, or small groups of highly trained soldiers who made sudden attacks. During the French and Indian War, only the British used ranger units. During the American Revolution, however, Patriot forces also began to employ ranger units, American ranger fought in the Civil War, the Mexican War, and World War II.

• England, France, and Spain were engaged in a struggle for empire.

• Between 1689-1748: English colonists were dragged into three wars:

King William’s War 1689-97Queen Anne’s War 1702-13King George’s War 1744-48

• 1754-seven colonies met in Albany, New York to plan defense and recruit Iroquois as allies.

• 1751-Benjamin Franklin supported the idea of uniting the colonies. If the Iroquois League could form why not a confederation. The colonial delegates adopted his Albany Plan of Union, which called for a loose confederation to promote defense. Colonial governments and Parliament rejected the plan, fearing that it would weaken Britain’s power over the colonies.

Competition for the Ohio Valley

• The French and Indian War (1754-63) began in the colonies. The conflict spread into Europe in 1756 and became known as the Seven Years’ War. The was started in the Ohio River Valley where both sides thought the land was valuable.

• 1749- Land speculators from Virginia bought land expecting a quick profit from the resale. The British and the Virginians started building a fort at the junction of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers.

• The French considered the land theirs, drove the Company off, completed the fort, and named Fort Duquesne.

• Virginia sent George Washington and company to expel the French. The French didn’t budge.

• 1755-British then sent General Edward Braddock, George Washington and a large force to take the fort. British couldn’t handle the French and their Indian allies

British Victories

• 1757-British lost Oswego and Fort William Henry to the French. The French and the Indians utilized the existing geography.

• The war turned around when the British cabinet minister William Pitt took full control of the war effort. He poured money and troops into the North American conflict.

• 1758- The British under General Jeffrey Amherst captured Louisburg the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The British could prevent French supplies from reaching Canada.

• August, British captured Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario.• November, British marched on Fort Duquesne, the French blew

up the fort rather than surrender.

• British built a fort near the same site, calling it Fort Pitt. • Iroquois decided to support the British. The French lost

their Indian allies in the Ohio Valley and withdrew to Canada.

• General James Wolfe unable to lure the French commander , General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm into battle.

• 1759-Wolfe and Montcalm died of injuries from battle. Quebec soon surrendered to the British. Montreal fell a year later, France lost the last of its Canadian holdings.

The Spoils of war

• 1761-The war in North America essentially ended, the war continued for two more years in other places.

• 1763-Treaty of Paris ended hostilities in North America and awarded territories.

• British claimed Canada and all French holdings east of the Mississippi River except New Orleans. Spain, joined the French war effort in 1762, surrendered Florida to the British.

• 1762- Treaty of Fontainebleau, gave Spain the French the Louisiana territory west of the Mississippi.

ActivityFrench and Indian War Timeline

• Pick a partner to work with on this project.• Create a time line of the significant events of

the French and Indian War. Example: 1749-a group of Virginians acquire a

land grant in the Ohio Valley.Be prepared to discuss in class and will be

displayed.