Text 1: Europeans Fight over North American Land. Topic 3: The Revolutionary Era Lesson 1: The French and Indian War

Transcription

1 Text 1: Europeans Fight over North American Land Topic 3: The Revolutionary Era Lesson 1: The French and Indian War

2 Europeans Fight Over North American Land Mid-1700s Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands were locked in a worldwide struggle for wealth and power All of these nations were trying to create their own empire through colonizing They were competing for trade and colonies all over the world The British colonies in North America soon became part of the contest

3 Europeans Fight Over North American Land The most serious threat to the British control came from France France had claims to the area that circled the English colonies from the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes and south to the Gulf of Mexico To protect their land claims, the French had built an extensive system of forts These forts blocked the British colonies from expanding to the west

4 The Importance of the Ohio River Valley Most settlers in the British colonies were content to remain along the Atlantic coast That changed in the mid 1700 s By the 1740s traders were crossing the Appalachian Mountains in search of furs Pushing into the forests of the Ohio Valley, settlers tried to take over the profitable French fur trade with the Indians

5 The Importance of the Ohio River Valley France was determined to stop the British from expanding westward The Ohio River was especially important to the French because it provided a vital link between their claims along the Great Lakes and their settlements along the Mississippi River

6 Native Americans had hunted animals and grown crops in the Ohio Valley for centuries They did not want to give up the land to European settlers, French or British The growing conflict between Britain and France was too dangerous to ignore Some Native Americans decided that the only way to protect their way of life was to take sides in the struggle

7 The French expected the Indians to side with them Most French in North America were trappers and traders, and they did not destroy Indian hunting grounds by clearing forests for farms Many French trappers married Native American women and adopted their ways France had built strong alliances with such Native American groups as the Algonquins and the Hurons

8 Many British settlers were farmers These settlers usually ignored Indian rights by felling trees and clearing land for crops However, an English trader and official, William Johnson, helped gain Iroquois support for Britain The Iroquois respected Johnson because he was one of the few British settlers who had an Indian wife, Molly Brant

9 Molly Brant was the sister of the Mohawk chief Thayendanegea, known to the British as Joseph Brant Both Joseph and Molly Brant became valuable allies for the British The British also won Native American allies in the Ohio Valley by charging lower prices than the French for trade goods

10 The Britain managed to convince the powerful Iroquois nations to join with them The British alliance was attractive to the Iroquois because they were old enemies of the Algonquin and the Huron peoples The war reignited old conflicts in the Ohio Valley between the Iroquois and the Algonquins and Hurons

11 Some tribes, like the Shawnees, Delawares, and Mingos, formed alliances to push Europeans off their lands More often, however, the alliances Native Americans formed with the British and the French pitted tribes against each other in the fighting to come