Topic 3

 

The Struggle for Empire – Who Would Control North America?

 

 

A. Introduction: Three empires by 1750:

 

  1. Spanish – Had built a series of forts and missions from Florida to California

 

  1. French – Towns and forts from the St. Lawrence to New Orleans

 

  1. English – Thirteen colonies with a population of about 1.5 million

 

 

  1. Of England’s two rivals, they were not worried about the Spanish. In the 1600s and 1700s Spanish power had steadily declined and Spain posed no great threat.

 

–        With France it was another matter, however.

–        As the power of Spain declined, the power and influence of France increased and over time, France became the great rival of England in both Europe and America.

–        Conflicts in Europe along with conflicts in America between these two rivals caused England and France to become involved in a long series of wars in the late 1600s and the 1700s.

–        Were four of these wars, and the three early wars had no great impact on the colonies. They all started in Europe and spread to the colonies.

 

 

  1. A summary of the early wars:

 

–        War of the League of Augsburg, 1689-1697

–        War of Spanish Succession, 1701-1713: Gibraltar  became a British possession

–        War of Austrian Succession, 1743-1748

 

 

 

B. The Ohio River Valley – Where the French and Indian War started

 

  1. English                                                 

–        Fur traders

–        Land speculators (real estate promoters) – Wanted to make money by selling land to settlers. Some of the most influential in Virginia.

–        British government believed that French control would threaten the security of England’s North American colonies.

 

 

  1. French

–        Fur traders - Also wanted to control the fur trade of the Ohio Country.

–        French government believed that British control would divide and weaken their empire in North America.

 

  1. Moves and counter-moves:

 

–        In 1753-54, the French built a number of new forts in the Ohio Country – western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania.

 

–        The governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie, sent Major George Washington out to warn them to get out. They politely declined.

 

–        French made the next move: to make their position stronger, the French decided to build a fort at the forks of the Ohio River (think present-day Pittsburgh). They called it Ft. Duquesne.

 

–        Meanwhile, the government of Virginia decided to build a fort at this important point, not realizing that the French were already there. Washington given the task.

 

–        Several miles south of Ft. Duquesne, Lt. Col. Washington ran into French troops, got into a small fight and built a flimsy little outpost, Ft. Necessity. Eventually the French surrounded him and forced him to surrender, Washington returned in defeat to Virginia. Unexciting as it may sound, this was the beginning of the French and Indian War.

 

 

C. The French and Indian War: Advantages of the two sides

           

  1. English

–        Population – 23-1

–        Limited to a narrow area and easier to defend than the French colonies

–        Best navy in the world and a very good army

                                   

  1. French

–        New France had one government and could act quickly. British colonies had 13 different governments and rarely acted together.

–        Had the support of more Indians because French trappers did not force the Indians off their lands, did not destroy forests and did not drive away game.

–        Best army and a very good navy

 

 

 

D. Defeat and Victory for England

 

  1. The first three years, England’s Years of Defeat: 1754, 1755, and 1756

 

–        Battle of the Wilderness, July 9, 1755

–        General Edward Braddock given task of capturing Ft. Duquesne.

–        Ambushed 10 miles south of the fort, and the British suffered a bloody defeat.

–        Braddock killed, and Washington prevented a total disaster. Fought back Indian style.

 

 

  1. The Tide Turns, 1757, thanks to William Pitt

 

–        Secretary of State for the Colonies – In charge of British colonial policy and insisted on being placed in charge of the war effort.

–        Did not suffer from any lack of confidence: “I know that I can save England and that nobody else can.”

–        Turned out to be right!

 

 

  1. Pitt’s Strategy for Victory

–        Alliance with Frederick the Great of Prussia and gave him lots of money!

–        Ordered the navy to establish a blockade of the French coast – Purpose?

–        Removed the “over-the-hill” generals and replaced them with some of the brightest young generals in the British Army.

–        It worked!

•         Louisbourg, July 1758

•         Ft. Duquesne, November 1758 – Ft. Pitt

•         September 1759, Quebec captured by General James Wolfe

•         September 1760 – Montreal

–        Spain was no help!

 

 

  1. Treaty of Paris, February 1763

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Why the French lost:

 

–        Superiority of the British Navy

–        The French were spread too thin - They tried to claim and control too much territory. Where the British colonies were confined and compact, the French were spread-eagled across North America from the mouth of the St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mississippi.