⚔️ The Rivalry
These two European nations were the main rivals fighting for control of North America.
What are Britain and France?
I was a young Virginia officer sent into the Ohio River Valley before the war.
Who is George Washington?
The French built this fort where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet.
What is Fort Duquesne?
The French & Indian War became part of this larger global conflict.
What is the Seven Years' War?
Many Native American nations allied with this European power because they viewed British colonial expansion as a greater threat to their lands.
What is France?
Britain and France both wanted control of this valuable region.
What is the Ohio River Valley?
I was the British general defeated near Fort Duquesne in 1755.
Who is General Edward Braddock?
The British eventually captured Fort Duquesne and renamed it this.
What is Fort Pitt?
Despite its name, the Seven Years' War actually lasted approximately this many years if counting the North American fighting that began in 1754.
What is nine years, 1754–1763?
Why were Native American alliances valuable to both Britain and France?
Native nations provided military support, geographic knowledge, trade connections, and fighting experience.
Give one reason the Ohio River Valley was valuable.
What are land, trade, natural resources, and/or access to waterways?
I became Britain's leading government official and poured resources into winning the war.
Who is William Pitt?
Fort Pitt eventually became this modern American city.
What is Pittsburgh?
Fighting took place beyond North America. What does that tell us about Britain and France's conflict?
They were competing for global power, territory, and trade, not simply North American land.
True or False: All Native American nations supported France.
False.
Why did British colonists moving west increase tensions with France?
They were moving into territory France also claimed, threatening French land and trade.
My leadership helped turn the war in Britain's favor after early British defeats.
Who is William Pitt?
Why were rivers especially important during this conflict?
Rivers provided transportation, trade routes, movement of troops/supplies, and access to territory.
Britain used its powerful navy to create one of these along the Atlantic coast.
What is a blockade?
Why might different Native nations choose different European allies?
They had their own political interests, rivalries, trade relationships, and concerns about protecting their lands.
Explain how competition over the Ohio River Valley helped cause the French & Indian War.
Both Britain and France claimed the territory and wanted control of its land, waterways, resources, and trade, causing conflict.
Explain why George Washington is important to the beginning of the French & Indian War, even though he wasn't yet the famous Washington students usually know.
His confrontation with French forces in the Ohio River Valley helped escalate the conflict between Britain and France.
You control the forks of the Ohio River. Explain why that gives your country a major strategic advantage.
You can control transportation, trade, supplies, military movement, and access to the Ohio River Valley.
Give TWO ways Britain's Atlantic blockade hurt French forces in North America.
It prevented or reduced reinforcements, weapons, food, ammunition, and other supplies from reaching French forces.
Why is saying “the Native Americans sided with France” historically inaccurate?
Native peoples belonged to many independent nations with different interests and alliances. They did not act as one unified group.