1700 - 1750

Virginia

map

Pennsylvania during the French & Indian War

1754 - 1763

Pa. – French & Indian War

• Also know as the “Seven Years War”• Primarily between France and Great Britain

with Spain an Ally of France• Indians fought on both sides.• Was part of the on-off conflict in Europe

between France and Great Britain

Map

The Great divide

• South Eastern Pa. – Against war because:– Pacifist a big influence• Quakers• Mennonite

– Farming and Merchants• War interrupts trade

– Indians have integrated and not warring against settlers

Other side of divide

• Harrisburg & west & north– Mountains prevented effective communication

between Philadelphia & west & NW– Both French & England claimed area.– Settlers subject to Indian raids– Philadelphia not interested in helping• Why?• Who did help?

George Washington & Va.

• 1754 Gov. Dinwiddie of Virginia sent Washington west to drive out the French Canadians in Fort Duquesne. (Near Pittsburg)– Ambushed a French/Canadian force– French forced him to Fort Necessity & eventually

forced him to surrender. This is the only time he surrendered.

– He returned to Va. after signing a paper of surrender & resigned from the Va. Militia

General Edward Braddock disaster

• In 1755 Gov. Dinwiddie of Virginia sent General Braddock out to retake the Ohio country, with British Regulars and Va. Militia. – George Washington went as his aide, rather then as a member of the

militia.– The forces were ambushed near Pittsburg, Braddock was killed, and

Washington heroically led the retreat. He gained a positive reputation.

• Washington was assigned the frontier command of the Va. Forces of the Blue Ridge mountains.

• He joined the Forbes expedition, from Virginia, that successfully captured Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

• Where were Pennsylvania troops?

Other figures

• Sir William Johnson– Lived in the Mohawk Valley– Strong ties to Indians, particularly the Mohawks– Enlisted the Iroquois to side with England– Negotiated with the Iroquois who gave up claims

to territory in New York, western PA & the Ohio valley for L10,000

Jeffrey Amherst

• Opened the St. Lawrence River to English Conquest by Capturing Cape Brenton

• Completed the English conquest of the St. Lawrence River by Sept. 1760

• As did many English, he held the Indians in low regard. He may have been responsible for the use of “germ warfare”

Rodger’s Rangers

• Robert Rodgers formed a group of 600 frontiersmen into a highly trained mobile force capable of living off the land.

• Intensively trained• Developed two dozen no-nonsense rules for frontier

warfare into “Rodgers’ Ranging Rules”• Participated in many of the battles of the war, with his

most famous being the capture of Fort Detroit.• Washington, rightly, did not trust him, as he eventually

fought on the English side in the Revolutionary War.

Pontiac’s rebellion

• Indians were upset with the loss by their Allies, France, because:– French allowed Indians to retain their tribal land– English dominance meant construction of new forts

and new settlers on their land.– While the French treated them well and had

intermarried and been adopted into tribes. The English were arrogant and considered them lesser beings.

– Under Amherst, the English stopped the annual gifts.

Pontiac’s rebellion

• A native visionary known as the Delaware prophet preached to return to the traditional ways & reject contact with the British.

• Pontiac, a chief of one tribe, held a counsel with like minded tribes.

• The tribes did not fight as a unified force.• They unsuccessfully attack Fort Pitt & Fort Detroit.• The Indians successfully captured or destroyed eight

British Forts, including Presque Island,(Erie, Pa.) Sandusky(Oh), and Michilimackinac (Mich).

Pontiac’s rebellion

• Henry Bouquet fought the Shawnee & Deleare in Western Pa. Resulted in William Johnson negotiating a peace arrangement.

• Colonel John Bradstreet was unsuccessful in the Great Lakes region.

• After 1764, Pontiac influence waned rapidly. He was eventually pardoned and then killed by a fellow Indian.

• In 1766, Johnson concluded a general peace treaty.

Pontiac’s rebellion

• Result of the rebellion was the decision of British policymakers to issue the Proclamation of 1763. – It shut down white settlement of the West– American reaction was heated and heated.

• Most of these battles were fought by British Regulars.– Militia did poorly, leading to a poor opinion of militia by

the British. (Units such as Rodger’s were an exception.)– Parliament expected the colonies to pay for this, setting

the groundwork for the Revolutionary war.