Lesson #9: A Clash of Two Empires in Pennsylvania

Lesson #9: A Clash of Two Empires in Pennsylvania

Focus Questions

• Why did Philadelphia grow and prosper during the colonial years?

• What business was responsible in settling Pennsylvania’s wilderness?

• What was the French and Indian War?

Key Words

• Pelts• Empires• Profitable• Provoke• Frontiersman

• Fort Duquesne• Great Meadows• Fort Necessity• Fort Pitt

Key Places

Key Events

• Walking Purchase• Battle of Jumonville

Glen• French and Indian

War• Battle of Bushy Run

• George Washington• General Braddock• General Forbes• Chief Pontiac• Colonel Bouquet

Key People

Pennsylvania Colony Flourishes

• Penn put a great deal into planning the city of Philadelphia

• He strategically located this city near the Delaware river so that Philly could be a trade hot spot

• This worked out well and by the mid-1700s Philadelphia was the largest city in the American colonies

Pennsylvania Colony Flourishes• As Pennsylvania continued to expand tension

between natives was bound to happen• In 1937 peaceful relations with natives ended

with the Walking Purchase• By now Penn’s sons have taken control of PA• The walking purchase was an agreement with

the Delaware Indians to sell a piece of land that extended the distance a man could walk in a day in a half. Before the “walk” took place Pennsylvanians had already started clearing a path. The Natives felt tricked and attacked.

Pennsylvania Wilderness

• English companies would send “fur traders” into the unexplored wilderness to trade for beaver, fox, and otter furs, or pelts, which were used to make expensive European clothing

• Natives would receive weapons, cloth, and iron kettles in return

Pennsylvania Wilderness

• Settlers would set up trading posts in the wilderness where they would store tradable goods to trade with natives

• These were like little department stores in the woods.

• Well known PA trading posts were located in Harrisburg, Shippensburg, Bedford, Ligonier, and Pittsburgh

Conflict in the Wilderness• Both France and England had established

colonial empires in North America• The fur trade near present day Pittsburgh was

so profitable that both France and England were willing to fight for it

• The French also were interested in this area for the Ohio River. They felt the Ohio could be used as a short cut to get to their colonies in present day New Orleans

Conflict in the Wilderness

• The French began to rush more and more men to the area forcing the Quakers to respond

• The Quakers asked the governor of Virginia for help and he responded by sending 21 year old George Washington

• Washington ordered the French out, but was ignored

Conflict in the Wilderness• It seemed that a fight would start at any

moment so the English built a fort near present day Pittsburgh to help protect the area

• The French over took this fort and built their own named Fort Duquesne

• Washington moved quickly and established another fort near by. This was difficult because they had to build roads through thick forests and mountain ridges

Conflict in the Wilderness

• About 40 miles from the French Fort, Washington set up a camp called the Great Meadows

• Washington had learned from an allied Indian chief in the area that the French were planning on attacking the following morning. Washington’s troops marched all night and surprised the French the next morning in what became known as the Battle of Jumonville Glen

• This fight lasted only 15 minutes, but loomed large

French and Indian War

• The Battle of Jumonville Glen officially began the French and Indian War

• This war lasted for 9 years in Europe and 6 year in North America (it was mostly a war between the French and English)

• The war was fought mostly over the Ohio River Valley and both sides fought alongside native allies, hence the name “French and Indian”

French and Indian War

• After his victory Washington ordered the building of Fort Necessity because he expected a large attack from Fort Duquesne

• A few weeks later the French attacked Fort Necessity with 600 men and 100 Natives.

• Washington would eventually have to surrender and he and his men were allowed to march back to Virginia without their weapons

• You can visit a rebuilt Fort Necessity in Fayette County

French and Indian War

• In 1758 the British responded by sending General Forbes and 8,000 men to attack and take Fort Duquesne

• After the French got word they set fire to the fort and fled the area

• The English built Fort Pitt in the same area which would be the beginnings of the city of Pittsburgh

French and Indian War

• The war continued on for another 2 years in North America and an additional 3 years after that in Europe, but the results were that the American colonies and much of Canada would be in complete control of the English empire

Native Americans Continue to Fight

• Chief Pontiac and a large number of other native tribes were not happy with English rule in 1763 began to attack many English trading posts

• Only three of the English trading posts survived in PA; Fort Pitt, Fort Bedford, and Fort Ligonier

• The English sent Colonel Bouquet and 450 colonist soldiers to stop the attacks

Native American Fighting

• About 20 miles east of Fort Pitt the Battle of Bushy Run took place when natives attacked Bouquet’s troops

• The colonists would win this battle, but fighting would continue until 1764

• A decade of peace in the colonies would follow this until the beginning of the American Revolution

Review Questions1. Why did Philadelphia become PA’s largest city?2. What was the walking purchase, and what did it lead

to?3. What economic activity drove people to the PA

wilderness?4. What two European countries fought for North

American supremacy?5. What region in PA did the European countries want?6. Give 2 reasons why the French wanted to control the

area?7. Who did Virginia send to help PA? Was he successful?8. What was the battle of Bushy Run?