The Wars to take Acadia
Acadia lay in a boundary zone, between the English and French colonies, and it was never left in peace for long. The English colonies of New England were closer to Acadia than to any other French settlements. In peacetime the English came to trade, and in war they came to conquer. In 1613 English colonists from Virginia led by Samuel Argall attacked and burned Port-Royal. The English attacked again in 1629. They captured Port-Royal in 1654 and controlled Acadia until France regained it by treaty in 1670. The English attacked again in 1690, 1704, and in 1707. With so much fighting and so many changes of command, the Acadians became a people without strong ties to either side.
In 1710 the British captured Port-Royal yet again, and in 1713 the Treaty of Utrecht gave Acadia permanently to Britain. Port-Royal was renamed Annapolis Royal, and a British commander with a small garrison of soldiers replaced the French governor and his garrison. However, most of the Acadians stayed on under British rule.
The Acadian People
Despite the wars, the tiny colony of Acadia kept growing. The 400 people of 1671 became 1,400 by 1701. By the 1750s, there would be 13,000 Acadians. As their numbers grew, the Acadians began to move out from Port-Royal to settle at Beaubassin, Grand Pré, and other places around the Bay of Fundy. The Acadians were mostly farmers. To control the huge tides of the Bay of Fundy, they built dykes on the marshlands around Port-Royal. As rainwater and melting snow drained the salt out of the newly dyked land, rich farm fields became available. The settlers raised crops and animals, and they planted fruit trees. They built mills to grind their grain and to cut lumber for their homes, barns, boats, and furniture. They ate what they needed from their produce and traded the remainder for tools, molasses, fabrics, and other things they could not easily make themselves.
The Acadians were becoming an independent and self-reliant community even before the British took control. Until 1713, they had French governors and seigneurs (the heirs of the d'Aulnays and the La Tours), but these rulers tended to be driven away whenever the British attacked, and the Acadians learned to live without them. The government in France was too far off to have much influence. New Englanders were officially the enemy, but New England was the closest place with which Acadians could trade. They began to refer to the New Englanders as our friends the enemy. The Acadians were a people between two empires, yet were not fully a part of either.
The Wars including the French & Indian War
I. The French and Indian War (1754-1763) was the last of four North American wars waged from 1689 to 1763 between the British and the French.
In these struggles, each country fought for control of the continent
with the assistance of Native American and colonial allies. The French
and Indian War differed from previous confrontations, however. The
earlier wars consisted primarily of skirmishes between small regular
units of the European powers
aided by local militiamen. The French and Indian War was part of a great war for empire,
a determined and eventually successful attempt by the British to
attain a dominant position in North America, the West Indies, and the
subcontinent of India.
Although the French and Indian War began in America, it expanded into Europe as the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), and at
the same time into Asia as the Third Carnatic War (see Carnatic Wars).
The French and Indian War not only stripped France of its North American
empire, it also caused Britain to change its relationship to its
colonies, a change that eventually led to the American Revolution.
II. By the end of the 17th century, the British had
established flourishing colonial settlements along the Atlantic Coast in
New England and in the Chesapeake Bay region.
At the same time, France
had founded small communities along the Saint Lawrence River and had
claimed the entire Mississippi River Valley, following the expeditions
of French explorers Louis Jolliet and René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la
Salle. These
North American colonies became part of an intense rivalry between Great
Britain and France.
Each country tried to equal or surpass the economic, political, and
military power of the other through colonization, alliances,
and warfare.
Beginning in 1689, Britain fought a century-long series of wars with
France and its ally, Spain. On three occasions prior to the French and
Indian War, these hostilities spilled over into the western hemisphere
where overseas colonies could provide important advantages.
Britain and France competed to control the valuable fur trade on the
North American mainland and the rich sugar production on the islands of
the West Indies. Both nations received military assistance from
colonists in these wars, but also relied on the
help of Native American peoples who participated because of their own
rivalries for land and power.
The first of these conflicts was King William's War (1689-1697), known
in Europe as the War of the League of Augsburg. In North America, this
war consisted of a number of skirmishes that produced no changes in
territory.
The New England militia and their Native American allies,
the Iroquois, fought against French troops and their Algonquian Native
American allies on
the northern frontier in the American colonies and in Canada.
The New Englanders captured Port Royal, the capital of French Acadia
(now the portion of Canada that includes Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and
Prince Edward Island), but the Peace of Ryswick (1697) that ended the
war in Europe also returned Acadia to France.
The next conflict was Queen Anne's War (1702-1713), known in Europe as
the War of the Spanish Succession. During this war, the French and
British again fought battles along the New England frontier. However,
the northern region of New York remained quiet because the Iroquois
adopted a policy of
aggressive neutrality, selling furs to both the French and the English but refusing to fight for either side.
The major battle was a British and colonial attempt to capture Québec
in 1710. Although the expedition failed, Britain used victories in
Europe to gain significant additional territory in
the Peace of Utrecht (1713-1714). From France, Britain obtained
Newfoundland, Acadia, the Hudson Bay region of northern Canada, and
greater access to the Native American fur trade. From Spain, France's
ally, Britain acquired the Mediterranean fortress of Gibraltar and
trading privileges in Spanish America. These gains enhanced Britain's
commercial supremacy and gave it extensive territories in North America.
A new conflict, King George's War (1744-1748), began outside of North
America in 1739 when Spain tried to halt commerce between its North
American colonies and Britain. This trade war became part of a general
European conflict, the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748).
In 1745 New England militiamen captured the French naval fortress of
Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island (near the mouth of the St. Lawrence
River), but the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) returned the fortress
to France.
III. Beginning of the French and Indian War - The last of the conflicts
between Britain and France for control of North America was the French
and Indian War. It began in the struggle for control of the Ohio Valley.
For more than a generation, the powerful Iroquois Confederacy, an
alliance of several Native American nations from the Iroquoian language
family, dominated a
middle ground between the French and British colonies in North America.
The Iroquois, originally centered in western New York, had gained
control of a vast region in the interior of the continent by alliances
with other Native American peoples and had successfully excluded the
European nations from this territory. The Iroquois were able to maintain
their power against that of both the British and the French, but this
three-way balance of power began to break down during the 1740s. British
traders penetrated deep into the Ohio country and established direct
relations with tribal groups who
previously had been controlled by the Iroquois or had traded only with
the French.
A rivalry for the Ohio Valley The Ohio company, an association of land
speculators based in Virginia, encouraged the British excursions. The
company had received a grant of 500,000 acres from the British king and
wanted to move traders and settlers into this interior region.
In 1753 Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia, who was also a leading
member of the Ohio Company, dispatched 21-year-old George Washington on
his first military mission. Washington carried a message to the French,
warning them to leave the region. In the following year Governor
Dinwiddie ordered the
construction of a fort at the forks of the Ohio (where the Monongahela
and Allegheny rivers meet), later the site of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
These developments convinced the French governor-general of Canada of
the need to dominate the Ohio Valley militarily in order to protect
France's strategic interests in the American interior. The French
immediately reinforced their existing forts south of Lake Erie and
expelled the British from the forks of the Ohio. At that strategic site,
they built a new military post, Fort Duquesne, and established firm
title to the region.
The French government realized that not only were the profits of the fur
trade at stake, but also possession of the vast Ohio and Mississippi
river valleys. These rival territorial claims in the Ohio Valley
quickly led to violence. An armed party of Virginians under the command
of George Washington defeated
a small French force east of the Ohio River and built a log stockade
that became known as Fort Necessity. The French gathered more troops and
quickly laid siege to this small fort, forcing Washington and his
troops to surrender on July 4, 1754. The French then sent Washington and
his troops back to Virginia. The French and Indian War had begun.
The Albany Congress The British Board of Trade had anticipated the
outbreak of war, and only weeks before had urged the colonial governors
to seek an alliance with the Iroquois Confederacy, often referred to as
the Six Nations. In June 1754 delegates from seven colonies met with 150
Iroquois leaders in Albany, New York. Some members of the Iroquois
Confederacy
already in alliances with the British colonies complained of poor
treatment. The Native Americans also protested that the British
governor of Virginia as well as the French governor-general of Canada
had attempted to seize their lands. After receiving large presents of
supplies and arms, the Iroquois
grudgingly renewed their alliances with the British colonies. Delegates
then moved on to plan other defensive measures.
An important topic was a plan of union developed by Benjamin Franklin.
The Albany Plan, as it became known, proposed a single institution to
govern all of the British colonies in America. Under the plan, each
colony would send delegates to an American continental assembly,
presided over by a British governor-general. This council would assume
responsibility for the western
affairs of the colonies, including trade, Native American policy, and
defense. The Albany Plan was never implemented because the British
government feared the consequences of convening a great American
assembly, and individual colonial assemblies refused to support the
proposal because they wanted to preserve their autonomy.
IV. The last conflict with France, which ended in 1748, had depleted the
British treasury, and Parliament refused to impose new taxes.
British leaders, such as William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, who were
intent on expanding British influence, demanded action. As a result,
Britain dispatched two regiments of troops, under Sir Edward Braddock,
to America. Eventually,
however, many more troops were needed. During the next five years, the
government sent thousands of regular troops under a succession of
British commanders. In addition, Parliament financed the enlistment and
supply of more than 20,000 American troops during the period of heaviest
fighting from 1758 to 1760.
Phase One: Initial Skirmishes The French and Indian War had four
distinct phases. The first began with the French capture of Washington
and his troops at Fort Necessity in 1754 and lasted until 1756, when war
was formally declared. During these two years both Britain and France
hoped to avoid a general European war and so committed few troops or
resources to the fighting in America. Each side primarily attacked enemy
forts in unsettled
areas along the frontier.
Two battles of considerable significance did take place during this
phase, however. The French ambushed and defeated forces led by British
General Edward Braddock as they attempted to drive the French from Fort
Duquesne. The defeat was costly for the British: General Braddock lost
his life, more than 900 of his men were killed or wounded, and British
prestige among Native Americans in the region declined. British and
colonial forces offset these losses by victories in Nova Scotia, where
they captured two French forts. Subsequently, the British deported
more than 6000 of the French inhabitants of Nova Scotia, known as
Acadians, a signal of the growing brutality of the conflict.
Phase Two: French Successes The second phase of the war in America was
fought with much larger armies and opened with a series of French
victories.
In mid-1756 a French force captured the British fort at Oswego in
northern New York. The French advance continued in 1757 with a victory
over British regulars and New England militia at Fort William Henry,
within striking distance of the important fur-trading town of Albany,
New York. Then the French offensive faltered. France's regular troops
and their Native American allies could not continue the war in populated
areas of the British colonies. They had to travel vast distances, where
there were few local sources of supply. Most importantly, the small
French Canadian population was not large enough to provide food
and soldiers for a lengthy campaign.
In the end, the British had the strategic advantage in North America.
Britain could call upon a population more than ten times as large to
provide troops and supplies for an all-out assault on Canada. The only
other necessities were political support from the colonial assemblies,
which were provided somewhat begrudgingly, and firm direction and
financial assistance from the British ministry.
Strong support by the British government began after William Pitt
became secretary of state in June 1757. Pitt firmly
believed the way to defeat France in Europe was to attack French
possessions around the world, including India, North America, and the
West Indies.
Phase Three: British Victories in North America In 1757 Pitt launched
the third phase of the war by sending thousands of British troops to
America and ordering a direct attack on Canada. A force of 16,000
British and colonial troops advanced from Albany toward Montréal,
Canada, in 1758. This expedition, commanded by General James
Abercrombie, stalled in the face of
French opposition at Fort Ticonderoga in northeastern New York. However,
British and colonial troops under General Jeffrey Amherst did capture
the fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island near the mouth of the
St. Lawrence River. Additional British victories came at Fort Frontenac,
on Lake Ontario, and at Fort Duquesne.
Bolstered by these successes, William Pitt ordered a new British
offensive for 1759. He agreed to finance the mobilization of 20,000
colonial troops and elevated Amherst to the command of all British
forces in America. Amherst's army promptly continued the advance on
Canada, capturing Fort Niagara at the junction of lakes Erie and Ontario
and forcing the French to
abandon the strategic Fort Ticonderoga.
By early August 1759 the French had retreated to their inner line of
defense which protected the major cities along the St. Lawrence River.
The British quickly breached these defenses and dispatched a large fleet
and an army up the river from Louisbourg. Late in 1759 British troops
led by James Wolfe defeated a French army commanded by Louis Joseph
Marquis de
Montcalm de Saint-Véran on the Plains of Abraham, just outside of
Québec.
The capture of the fortified city of Québec was the climax of the year of victories for Great Britain. Only Montréal remained in French hands, and it surrendered to British forces in September 1760.
Phase Four: Worldwide Conflict The fall of Canada began the fourth and
last stage of the war. Only minor conflicts continued on the mainland of
North America. Many of these occurred between British settlers in the
Carolinas and Native American peoples like the Cherokee, who had sided
with the French
to protect their lands.
In Europe, the Seven Years' War had reached a stalemate, with neither
the British nor the French alliances able to dominate.
On many other battlefronts around the world, however, the British had
great successes. The English East India Company captured French trading
posts and dominated commercial markets in large sections of India.
British forces seized French Senegal in West Africa, the French sugar
islands of Martinique
and Guadeloupe, and the Spanish colonies of Cuba and the Philippine
Islands.
When warfare ended in 1763, William Pitt had left office, but his
strategy of attacking the enemies' colonial possessions had extended
British power all over the world.
RESULTS OF THE WAR - Warfare ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763,
and the peace terms reflected British military successes. Britain gained
control over half the North American continent, including French
Canada, all French territorial claims east of the Mississippi River, and
Spanish Florida. In return, Britain gave Cuba and the Philippines back
to Spain, and France compensated its Spanish ally for the loss of
Florida by giving it title to all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi
River.
End of the French Empire in North America The French and Indian War had
reduced the once-impressive French empire in North America to a handful
of sugar plantations in the West Indies and two rocky islands off the
coast of Newfoundland. It also ended the century-long threat of a French
or Spanish invasion of the American mainland colonies and ensured that
British institutions would dominate in eastern North America. But
France's desire to
avenge its humiliating defeat in the war prompted it to provide
financial and military aid to the American rebels during the American
Revolution. This aid was instrumental in the loss of Britain's American
colonies, but it also contributed to the French financial crisis that
climaxed in the French Revolution of 1789.
Reevaluation of the Colonial Relationship - Another result of the war
was a British decision to reevaluate its relationship with its colonies.
Before the French and Indian War, Britain had not closely controlled
its colonies. British leaders regarded the colonial governments as
subordinate bodies subject to the sovereign authority of king and
Parliament. As long as few
serious conflicts of interest arose between Britain and its American
possessions, the British government permitted colonial assemblies to
oversee enforcement of instructions of the royal governors or to pass
new legislation suited to their own needs.
In addition, the British did not always enforce their laws in the
colonies. For example, the British Customs Service, which was
inefficient, understaffed, and open to bribery, did not enforce the
Molasses Act of 1733(see Sugar and Molasses Acts). This important
measure required the colonists to pay a duty on the molasses they
imported from the French West Indian islands. British leaders did not
insist on strict enforcement of this
tax or other commercial duties because booming American trade was making
Britain a wealthy and powerful nation.
British statesman and political theorist Edmund Burke described his
country's policies toward the colonies as "salutary neglect" because he
believed their leniency was actually beneficial. As a result of this
salutary neglect, the colonists developed a
political and economic system that was virtually independent. They were
loyal, although somewhat uncooperative, subjects of the crown.
The British became concerned about the colonists' lack of cooperation
during the French and Indian War. The British initially resented the
fact that the prosperous colonists were unwilling to undertake their own
defense. Even the generous subsidies voted by Parliament at William
Pitt's urging did not
cause the colonists to respond as the British expected-colonial
assemblies still refused to send their militiamen on expeditions to
Canada. The colonists claimed that their militias were needed to defend
home territory.
The British also suspected that the assemblies took advantage of the war
to increase their own political power. Colonists demanded greater
authority over finances and military appointments in return for their
approval of war-related measures. The royal governors, under strict
orders from the
British ministry to support the war effort in America, often gave in to
these demands without resistance.
While the tactics of the colonial assemblies appeared opportunistic to
the British, the actions of many American merchants seemed almost
treasonable. British government officials were irate that many
Americans continued to
trade illegally with France. Smuggling was highly profitable and
prolonged the war by sustaining the French sugar plantations in the West
Indies and providing the French armies with food and supplies.
The continuation of this illegal trade led to British demands for more
centralized control of the empire. American conduct during the war
convinced many British leaders that
the old imperial system, with its emphasis on voluntary cooperation
between the home government and the colonies, had been a dismal failure.
The British government also faced pressing financial problems. Britain
began fighting in 1754 with a national debt of approximately 75 million
pounds, but the war effort caused the debt to soar to 133 million
pounds by 1763.
Americans had benefited substantially from these military expenditures.
They had received a million pounds in direct subsidies and millions more
in contracts for food, supplies, and transport for the British military
forces in America. After these huge expenses, Britain was reluctant to
offer additional subsidies for the peacetime defense of the colonies.
Money was
needed to maintain the British troops who occupied the conquered
provinces of Canada and Florida and who defended a chain of western
frontier posts.
Given the size of the British debt and the extent of American
prosperity, British leaders saw no feasible alternative to taxing the
colonists. For the colonists, the French and Indian War increased their
concern over the permanent presence of a British army. They believed
that a standing army threatened liberty and representative government.
These fears intensified as
the British demanded imperial reform, imposed direct taxes, and
stationed army units in the colonial port cities. Britain's demands soon
led the colonists to active resistance and paved the way for the
American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America.
The Treaty of Paris - 1763
In general, all conquered territories were restored to their pre-war
owners. Preferring to keep Guadaloupe, France gave up Canada and all
claims to territory east of the Mississippi to Britain. Spain ceded
Florida to the British but later received New Orleans and Louisiana from
France, and Cuba was restored to Spain. France retained Saint Pierre
and Miquelon and recovered Guadeloupe and Martinique in exchange for
Grenada and the Grenadines going to the British. In India the French
lost out to the British, receiving back its factories but agreeing to
support the British puppet governments as well as returning Sumatra and
agreeing not to base troops in Bengal.
Britain returned the slave station on the isle of Goree to the French
but gained the Senegal River and its settlements. Britain agreed to
demolish its fortifications in Honduras but received permission from
Spain to keep a log wood-cutting colony there. Britain confirmed in the
treaty the rights of its new citizens to practice the Roman Catholic
religion and received confirmation of the continuation of the British
king's right as an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire.
It is sometimes claimed that the British King George III renounced his
claim to be King of France by the treaty. However, this a historical
myth, and it is also falsely attributed to some of the treaties of the
French Revolutionary Wars. Such a renunciation is nowhere in the text of
the treaty, and in fact George III continued to be styled "King of
France" and used the Fleur-de-lis as part of his arms until 1801 when
Britain and Ireland united. It was dropped then because it was simply
regarded as anachronistic, not because of French pressure.
The New England militia and their Native American allies, the Iroquois, fought against French troops and their Algonquian Native American allies on the northern frontier in the American colonies and in Canada.
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