The French and Indian War,[b] 1754 to 1763, was a conflict in North America between Great Britain and France, along with their respective Native American allies. Historians generally consider it part of the global conflict 1756 to 1763 Seven Years' War, although in the United States it is often viewed as a distinct conflict unassociated with any larger European war.[5]
Although Britain and France were officially at peace following the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, tensions over trade continued in North America, which culminated in a dispute over the Forks of the Ohio, and the related French Fort Duquesne which controlled them. In May 1754, this led to the Battle of Jumonville Glen, when Virginia militia led by George Washington ambushed a French patrol.[6]
In 1755, Edward Braddock, the new Commander-in-Chief, North America, planned a four-way attack on the French. None succeeded, while the Braddock Expedition ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela on July 9, 1755, with Braddock himself dying of his wounds a few days later. From 1755 to 1757, further British operations in Pennsylvania and New York failed, but were offset by the British capture of Fort Beauséjour on the border between British Nova Scotia and French Acadia. Over the next nine years, French settlers were expelled and replaced by those from New England.[7]
The Seven Years' War began in 1756, and a number of disastrous campaigns in 1757, including the Louisbourg Expedition (1757) and Siege of Fort William Henry led to the fall of the British government. The new Prime Minister, William Pitt significantly increased British military resources in the colonies when France was struggling to support their limited forces in New France, preferring to concentrate their forces in Europe. Between 1758 and 1760, the British launched a campaign to capture French Canada, taking Quebec in 1759, then Montreal the following year. This largely ended fighting in North America.
In accordance with the Treaty of Paris (1763), France ceded its Canadian possessions to Britain, along with its claim to territories east of the Mississippi River. France also gave Spain French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River in compensation for their loss of Spanish Florida to Britain. The French presence in North America was reduced to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, confirming Britain's position as the dominant colonial power.
