The French and Indian War was a seven-year war between England and the American colonies, against the French and some of the Indians in North America. When the war ended, France was no longer in control of Canada. The Indians that had been threatening the American colonists were defeated. This war had become a world war. British Colonists wanted to take over French land in North America. The British wanted to take over the fur trade in the French held territory and colonists fully participated in this war. Both these facts were to have a profound effect on the future of the colonies.
British soldiers fought against French soldiers and Native Americans. Native Americans joined in the battle against the British because they were afraid the British would take over their land.
The War officially came to an end on February 10, 1763, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. France officially ceded all of its holdings in North America, west of the Mississippi; while regaining the Islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. The most long lasting effect of the war was not negotiated between the parties? rather, it was the effect the war had on the American colonies. The cost of the war and of controlling the newly acquired territories was high. The British looked to the colonies to help pay those costs. That began the long spiral of events that led to the Revolution.
1754-1763
- French and Indian War Soldiers (hosted at ARW Soldiers and their Descendants)
- French and Indian War, (hosted at Ohio Central)
- Ohio Country (hosted at Ohio Central)
- A Brief History of the French and Indian War (hosted at Philadelphia Print Shop)
- French and Indian War Timeline
- Seven Years War Website
- Siege of Louisbourg
- Fighting for a Continent (hosted at Archiving Early America)
- French and Indian War (hosted at American Revolution)
- The French and Indian War in Pennsylvania (hosted at Explore PA History)
- Pontiac’s Rebellion
- French and Indian War, Major Events (hosted at Inventory of Conflict & Environment)
- Fort Necessity National Battlefield (hosted at NPS)
- The French and Indian War from Scottish Sources $
- French and Indian War, 1754-1763 (hosted at Chronicles of America)
Indian Tribes
- Delaware Tribe A confederacy, formerly the most important of the Algonquian stock, occupying the entire basin of Delaware River in east Pennsylvania and south New York, together with most of New Jersey and Delaware. They called themselves Lenape or Leni-lenape, equivalent to ‘real men,’ or ‘native, genuine men’; the English knew them as Delaware, from the name of their principal river; the French called them Loups, ‘wolves,’ a term probably applied originally to the Mahican on Hudson Rivers, afterward extended to the Munsee division and to the whole group.
- Algonquian Tribe (adapted from the name of the Algonkin tribe). A linguistic stock which formerly occupied a more extended area than any other in North America. Their territory reached from the east shore of Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountains and front Churchill River to Pamlico Sound.
- Iroquoian Family (Algonkin: Irinakhoiw, ‘real adders’, with the French suffix-ois). The confederation of Iroquoian tribes known in history, among other names, by that of the Five Nations, comprising the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca. Their name for themselves as a political body was Oñgwanonsioñni’, ‘we are of the extended lodge.’
- Miami Tribe (?Chippewa: Omaumeg, ‘people who live on the peninsula’). An Algonquian tribe, usually designated by early English writers as Twightwees (twanhtwanh, the cry of a crane. Hewitt), from their own name, the earliest recorded notice of which is from information furnished in 1658 by Gabriel Druillettes (Jes. Rel.1658, 21, 1858), who called them the Oumamik, then living 60 leagues froth St. Michel, the first village of the Potawatonti mentioned by him; it, was therefore at or about the mouth of Green Bay, Wis.
- Ottawa Tribe (from adāwe, ‘to trade’, ‘to buy and sell,’) a term common to the Cree, Algonkin, Nipissing, Montagnais, Ottawa, and Chippewa, and applied to the Ottawa because in early traditional times and also during the historic period they were noted among their neighbors as intertribal traders and barterers, dealing chiefly in cornmeal, sunflower oil, furs and skins, rugs or mats, tobacco, and medicinal roots and herbs.
- Shawnee Tribe (from shawun, ‘south’; shawunogi, ‘southerners.’ W. J.). Formerly a leading tribe of South Carolina, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. By reason of the indefinite character of their name, their wandering habits, their connection with other tribes, and because of their interior position away from the traveled routes of early days, the Shawnee were long a stumbling block in the way of investigators.
- Wyandot Tribe The Wyandot tribe was anciently divided into twelve clans, or gentes. Each of these had a local government, consisting of a clan council presided over by a clan chief. These clan councils were composed of at least five persons, one man and four women, and they might contain any number of women above four.
British Regiments
- History and Uniform of the 78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot (Fraser’s Highlanders), 1757-1763
- History and Uniform of the 60th (Royal American) Regiment of Foot, 1755-1760
- Men of the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers in North America, 1757
- Standing Orders for the Royal Marines c.1755-1765
- His Majesty’s 40th Regiment of Foot in North America 1717-1764
- Miscellaneous Notes on Rangers, 1755-1763
French Regiments
- History and Uniform of Le Regiment de Languedoc, 1755-1760
- History and Uniform of Le Regiment de la Reine, 1755-1760
- History and Uniform of Le Regiment de Bearn, 1755-1760
- History and Uniform of Le Regiment de Berry, 1757-1760
- History and Uniform of the Companies franches de la marine, 1683-1760
Suggested Reading
- The Great Fortress, A Chronicle of Louisbourg, 1720-1760
- The Passing of New France, A Chronicle of Montcalm
- The Winning of Canada, A Chronicle of Wolfe
- The War Chief of the Six Nations, A Chronicle of the Pontiac War