Chapter VI

The French and Indian War

Over a long period of time, many generations of Englishmen were born and died in the New World. The territory of the English was smaller than that of the Spanish or French. The English only had the land from the Atlantic Ocean to the nearby mountains. The Mississippi River valley was on the other side of the mountains. That valley was French. However, the English came to North America in larger numbers than the French. By 1754, there were more than 1,200,000 people in the English colonies. Not much more than half that number were in New France and they were scattered over a larger area.

Almost one hundred fifty years after the first English and French came to America, the French decided to build a fort in western Pennsylvania. There were no maps showing where the English land ended and the French land began. The English sent a young officer to tell the French that they could not build the fort because the land was English. The officer's name was George Washington. He had been born in Virginia and was only twenty-one years old at the time. The French politely told him that the land was theirs. However, afterwards, fighting broke out between the English and the French. This was in 1754. The war spread across North America. Most of the Indians joined the war on the side of the French. The name of the war should be The War of the English against the French and Indians. However, in American history books, it has been shortened to the French and Indian War. After two years, the war spread to Europe and Asia. In Europe, Austria joined France and Prussia joined England. In Asia, the war was fought between the French and English colonies in India. The war also spread to the West Indies. It had become a worldwide war for control of world trade. In Europe, it was called the Seven Years War.

At first, the war did not go well for the English in America. However, in 1757, the English started winning. In 1759, the largest French Army was in the city of Quebec. Quebec sits on a bluff. On most sides, the walls of the bluff are almost straight up and impossible to climb. The French had the larger army and believed that they only had to defend the city from one side. However, the English learned that there was a path by which they could climb up the bluff that was not well guarded. In the middle of the night they climbed up this path and attacked the French from behind. The French were surprised and defeated. Both the French and English generals were killed. At the end of this battle, the largest French army in America surrendered to the English.

The peace treaty was signed in Paris in 1763. France had lost the war. Almost all of the French colonies in India were given to the British. North America was re-divided. In the second great division of North America among the European powers, France lost all of its lands. Canada was given to the British. The Mississippi River valley was divided. Spain was given the land west of the Mississippi River, while the land east of the Mississippi went to England.

During the war, George Washington and his soldiers had seen the Ohio River valley. They had seen that the soil was very good. They wanted to claim farmland for themselves. As soon as the war ended, English farmers began to go to live in the Ohio River valley. However, the Indians wanted to keep their land. A very clever leader of the Indians appeared. His name was Pontiac. For the first time, he was able to unite a very large number of tribes into a powerful army. The Indian armies appeared so powerful that the English agreed to a truce. Under the truce, the Indians agreed that they would accept the king of England as their king. In turn, the king of England agreed that he would not allow English settlers into the Ohio River valley. The king told his army officers not to allow English settlers to live in the Ohio River valley. However, the people in the colonies did not like this truce. When the people in the colonies heard about this truce, they became very angry at the king for agreeing to it. This was the first time that that generation of English colonials became angry at their king.

The war with France cost a lot of money. The king of England borrowed money to pay for the war. The English government thought that the people in the colonies should help pay for the war. The war had increased the safety of the English living in the colonies. The French could no longer help the Indians. Therefore, the English government decided to put taxes on the people living in the colonies.

This was the first time that the government in London had put a tax on the people in the colonies. During the first 150 years, the only taxes had been those imposed by the colonies themselves. So when the king announced that he was putting taxes on the colonies, the people became angry. They had had no voice in the matter. They said they wanted a voice in London. The slogan "NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION" became popular. However, the king said he would not give the colonies a voice in London.

In England, there was a long tradition of the people having a voice in their government. This tradition began in 1215 when the king was forced to sign a document called the Magna Carta. At that time, there was a conflict between the barons and the king. The barons promised the people a voice in the government if the people would help them. With the help of the people, the barons forced the king to sign the Magna Carta. This put limits on the power of the king and it gave the people a voice in the English government.

In contrast, something very different happened in Russia. There, the people suffered very much under the Tatar invasion in the middle of the 13th Century. After the Tatars were driven out, a struggle developed between the boyars and the Tsar. In Russia, the people were afraid of another Tatar invasion and wanted a strong central government. For that reason the people supported the Tsar and gave him all the power.

In England, having a voice in the government became a very deep tradition among the people.