Definition
The war began in 1754 in the Ohio Country, a region that France, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the Iroquois Confederacy all claimed, when Virginia militia under George Washington clashed with a French party at Jumonville Glen. Britain and France formally declared war in 1756, and the fighting spread to Europe, Africa, and India. After William Pitt took charge of the war in 1757 and aimed Britain's strength at Canada, the British captured Louisbourg in 1758, Quebec in 1759, and Montreal in 1760. In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, France gave Britain Canada and nearly all its land east of the Mississippi, and Spain gave Britain Florida.
Why it matters on the AP exam
The war began the quarrel that led to the Revolution. It nearly doubled Britain's national debt, so Parliament ended salutary neglect, kept about 10,000 regular soldiers in America, and began taxing the colonies with the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act. Removing France from the mainland also left colonists less dependent on British protection and left Native nations unable to play two empires against each other. Exam questions ask students to explain the war as a cause of the Revolution, to judge whether it was a turning point in relations with Britain, and to describe its effects on Native nations.
Connections
- Proclamation of 1763: Britain issued the line in October 1763 to keep settlers off Native land and prevent new frontier wars after the peace
- Pontiac's Rebellion: Native nations of the Great Lakes and Ohio Country attacked British forts in 1763 once France was gone
- Salutary neglect: the war debt ended this loose enforcement of trade laws after 1763
- Benjamin Franklin: he drafted the Albany Plan of Union in 1754 to unite the colonies for defense against France
Study it in context
Topic 3.2: The Seven Years’ War (The French and Indian War) Watch this part