Ok, I'm back at this rate it will take ten years to finish up this list but hopefully not.
The French and Indian War (Seven Years War): 1756-1763: This is a Map to look at just for reference https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/eb/a6/b3eba6e6359c92fddeea43b5c90707cf.jpg
Terminology/ just some other stuff: So the main over view if you were to watch like a 2 minute animation of this war it would be. French have valley, British colonizer want valley, British colonizer fail in getting valley, British government decide help and fail until dude called Pitt or something uses Big brain and starts winning. Also on the side French are like hmm maybe attack mainland Britain from sea which is big dumb because British have big ship very power. French lose most land in America, lots of land go to Spain, the end. Random I know why the heck would they give it to Spain, all will be explained in a moment. So in the beginning when say British I just mean the colonies I'll tell you when the actual British government comes in so after that happens, When ever I say British just assume I'm talking about a combination of both colonizer peeps and British forces unless otherwise specified. Same goes for the term French but with the Natives. Also did you know there were some, not many, but some Native tribes that sided with the British, was it a big dumb move, yes, but you know some lies are very convincing. Also I will be including the names of tribes and organizations of Native American's that I have gotten from some sources that I believe to be credible but remember to take that with a grain of salt as we don't have a good history of recording anything about the Native Americans and I out of habit am distrustful of any information recorded about them by white people in the 18th century.
Before the war: So in a moment you are going to read the set up to the war but really the set up to the war is like three other wars, King William's war, Queen Anne's war, and King George's war. Basically it;s just the English and the French winning and losing territory to each other until it looks like it does before the 7 years war. that's pretty much all you need to know. Also like before I got into this I forgot to mention like anything really beofre 1753, but before that there were some pretty bloody conflicts, like this one time when the french killed every English speaking person in the upper Ohio valley in 1752. So when I say things were tense, they were tense.
Set up: So it's the 1700's ish, France has claimed a good chunk of North America see map above for reference, and they are getting some good money out of it, this is when France became that super wealthy Icon of wealth and fashion Louis XIV built Versailles into the Icon it is today, so very wealthy. They were buddies with the Native American's, see Britain was doing the Britain thing and being an absolute monster to the native people, so France said, Look if You trap animals and trade firs and share your land with us, we will keep those pesky English from hurting and invading you and we wont kill you so win win right. The other relevant bit of information is The British and the French really wanted this place called the Ohio valley and neither one of them could agree who had it. Ok now we're getting into the actual war so, les go.
Beginnings, but not actually war: It began with skirmishes, The Native Americans were already pretty upset at the British, Now Quick note, Native American's were nothing to scoff at, with or with out guns they were a force to be feared, They could do some serious damage when they wanted to. That's a really big misconception I've seen people have about the Natives, they were not helpless, but they were at a disadvantage, if the colonizers hadn't brought sicknesses with them They would have had a much harder time fighting the Natives. Back to the War, British really want this Ohio river Valley and the french are like, no that's ours so, The french built a lot of forts and the British did to because they all really wanted this chunk of land. The French built forts all along lake Erie, you know the lake that has really bad toxic algal blooms these days, that's the one, well before The Government was ignoring the damage done by polluted run off, the French government was building forts all the way down to the fork in the Ohio river, where present day Pittsburgh is one of those forts is Fort Le Boeuf. Now there's an issue with this because Virginia already claimed that land and was like French boi's what ya'll be doing. that brings us to the next segment where we talk about The Pride of Mount Vernon, George Washington! Sorry I couldn't resist the reference, if you know you know.
Washington get's promoted: So it's late 1753, This Virginian governor dude, Robert Dinwiddie, told Major Washington to take a small force of men to Fort Le Boeuf, and just ask the french to scoot out of there. Washington and his boi's get there and the French treat them really nicely, they're like respectfully No, this isn't English land, it's French land. Washington high tails it out of there, and get's back to Governor dude in 1754, I know seems like a long time later, it's not it was just a bad timing with the whole year change. Dinwiddie talks to the rest of the government peeps and they all decide that the French denying the English claims to the land is a hostile act and could easily escalate. So he sends out Captain William Trent to build Forts along the Ohio river and make friends with the Natives there turning them against the French. Meanwhile he Makes Washington a Lieutenant Colonel and orders another exposition to get the French to give up their forts.
Native American Alliances: So we have one big group here that I believe are called The Mingoes who are a part of a larger group called the Iroquois Confederation. For those of you who are unaware, A confederation is like a group of city states, countries, or in this case Tribes, that have a very loose alliance, saying, if you're in trouble we might come help if we feel like being nice but we don't have to, also we can trade I guess if you want, these work meh on a small scale and fail entirely on a large scale. The Iroquois Confederation was allied with Great Britain technically, But the Native Americans in the Upper Ohio valley were not to keen on helping out the British when they came asking them to fight against the french with them. So while a few tribes respected the alliance with Great Britain a quite a few of them chose to aid the French because they knew that Britain had a history and would probably come take their land. Now the French were by no means saints they had plenty of reasons to hate the French but of the two French was a safer bet in their minds. So the ones that chose to side with the french leaked information about the British to the French and decided to aid them in battle. It's through them that the French learned about this Fort that William Trent was building. Oh the Iroquois have a leader, his name is Tanaghrisson, he's kinda important.
Some Battles, Some forts: So the French hear about this fort that William is building and they say, pfft, no, so on April 17, 1754 the French come in and just destroy this thing, they chase off and murder the dudes working on the fort, rip apart the one they were working on and build the much shinier much more French, Fort Duquesne. Remember that Fort, it's important. Back to our Boi Washington, he's with Tanaghrisson, and they come upon these french soldiers and of course, these are men so they decide to fight first ask questions later. and after defeating these french people they find out that they were actually there to do exactly what Washington was sent to do earlier, tell the English that they needed to back off of French territory. So the leader of these French guy's dies, it's disputed on how he dies, and Washington is pretty freaked out because he attacked a peaceful group of french so he builds a fort really quickly because he suspects the French are going to come after him, Kinda funny, they named it Fort Necessity because, it was, you know necessary, I just can't with these names sometimes. The French build a fort that basically means Oak, and oak tree's are seen as really strong, and Washington freaks out and calls is Necessity, ah, how these guy's keep winning I genuinely don't know. any way. Washington's suspicions are correct the french do come after him and Washington eventually surrenders on July 3rd. The battle is called Battle of Fort Necessity or Battle of the Great Meadows, either one works. This one battle is the jumping off point for the entire war. If I am not mistaken this is the battle referenced In Hamilton, the Musical, when Washington tells Hamilton that he lead his men into massacre. It was a defining moment for our Favorite Virginian General.
Here come the big guns! War is declared: Governor Dinwiddie hears that Washington has been defeated and calls for aid, And who should respond but the British Prime Minister Thomas Pelham-Holles, He say's you are right, I love fighting the French, let's send General Edward Braddock with some men to squish the french, nice and quiet get this over with. The King said go for it, and the plan was approved. However Other Political leaders In Britain understood the opportunity they had here, if they could fight a full out war with the French they had an opportunity to gain a lot of the land from them and kick them out of the America's. So They made the plans given Edward Braddock public , they gave him more men too , made a whole special of it. But by making the plans public they prepped the French. So the French, as in official french government not the french in America, heard that Britain was sending over troupes so they sent over troupes. to America to battle the British that were being sent to America. The year is 1755, and so It Begins Lads, and so It begins.
Britain ain't doing so hot: Now let's talk about Bigot Boy the British sent over, General Edward Braddock got over to America and completely disregarded potential Native American allies and the colonies did not want to work with him they just ignored him, I like to think he was this pompous jerk. So he isn't super successful at anything, He attempts to take Fort Duquesne, get's wounded and dies on July 13, 1755. The British are losing forts every year pretty much in 1756 its Fort Oswego, in 1757 Fort William Henry is lost as well, there was a big attempt to take a French fort called Louisbourg in 1758, later that year they lost another battle against the french. English folk who lived in the Area were leaving their homes and moving back east to get away from the conflict because the French were dominating in this war and it just wasn't safe to be English. The only real success made by the British was Fort Beauséjour, it was a very strategical place for sure but the people who lived surrounding the area refused to respect the British as they were decedents Of the French who used to live on the east coast, they do have a Name, I am blanking, it starts with an A, Acadians. They were also giving supplies to the remaining French forces in the area, so they had to go. There's a poem about it called Evangeline but it's really long so I only read the first bit.
William Pitt A true MVP: The British aren't doing well, so The Man of the hour, or war in this case, William Pitt comes into control of the British war effort, At this point the war has spread pretty much all over the world, it is every where. basically the actual first world war but we wont get into that. Pitt takes a look at this mess and decides that they should really focus on winning in North America. Now this is just Relsey using logic here but what I think Pitt's logic was, The French economy is heavily reliant on their territory in North America, take North America you take away a huge portion of Income for France, War is really expensive so it wont take long for France to crumble if they get them out of North America, That is not facts, I do not know if that's what Pitt was thinking but it's what I think would have been good logic. So Pitt goes to the government and secures some cash, we are talking a lot of money here, then he finds some brilliant military minds, and then he talks to the Colonies and tells them, If you fight for us, we will pay you. Who knew that all it took to get the Colonies to fight was money. So Pitt's plan starts to pay off in North America in July, 1758 when the British take Louisburg, Now I don't know if you've ever watched a Football game where a team has been loosing all season and then wins their first game in ages, but I have and the effect is amazing to watch. The same thing happened here, the British win this battle and they are fueled by new strength, now that they have the colonies teaching them how to fight in this terrain they are a force to be feared. They took Fort Frontenac right after this. In September they took Fort Duquesne, tore it down and built fort Pitt in it's place. They marched on and took Quebec in September of 1759. Britain isn't just winning in North America, they are fighting Navy Battles all over and just crushing the French who are really not doing to hot right now, they're economy is trashed they're going into so much debt and poverty. England is just destroying them taking victories all over Canada.
Negotiations and The Treaty of Paris: So the French could see that they were losing and they tried to negotiate with the British but Minister William Pitt, oh did I forget to mention that Pitt became Minister, yeah he really did that, I think it's the same guy. Any way, Pitt doesn't just want Canada, the dude is asking for all sorts of concessions and France just ain't down for that. So Spanish King Charles III was like, Yo, cousin King Louis XV, I see you be having some troubles, so here's what we gon do. We are gong to sign this Family Compact on August 15, 1761, and If Britain hasn't ended the war by 1762 we'll join you. This was Honestly a Pro gamer move done by the Spanish, though it was not intended to be, I will explain in a moment. So in some High school Drama style miscommunication, The French got this treaty and were like, let's continue the war, let's do do it if Spain is helping us we got this, let's just go kick some British booty. But the Spanish's intent was to just intimidate Britain into ending the war, they never intended to actually fight, they just thought, hey Britain can't possibly want to fight both of is so they'll settle for just Canada. So In the most hilarious turn of event's this alliance did nothing for the French. So on January 4, 1762 Britain had to declare war on Spain too, so they went on to gain the French Caribbean Islands, Cuba, and the Philippines . So in 1763 Face and Spain decided to negotiate a peace treaty because now they were both losing stuff to the absolute Power that is Britain. So in 1763 The Treaty of Paris was signed and Britain got Canada, Louisiana, and Florida, France lost almost everything they had in North America, And Spain got a whole bunch of land. Now why you may ask did Spain get this land. Both france and Britain were so confident in their military powers that they thought, meh we can give it to Spain we'll just fight them later if we want it, it'll be easy.
This concludes the French and Indian war, or the Seven years war as it pertains to North America. I was researching for the whole war and it just got to convoluted and i tried but could not make it make any sense so you get the just America version because that the only part of the war that the western world cares about. I apologize for any typos, please fact check me because that's what responsible people do and you never know maybe I was wrong in something, I hope not but maybe. Next up is the American Revolution so, be ready for that.