People & Places
This young Virginian led men to deliver a message to the French in the Ohio region in 1753 and later built a small fort.
In one sentence: What were the main imperial rivals fighting over in North America?
Over land/territory and wealth/colonial power in North America (imperial control)
For the first three years of the war, which side usually won battles in North America?
The French
After the war, which country lost most of its political power in North America?
France
Who wrote the phrase "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." found in the Declaration of Independence?
Thomas Jefferson
The French fortress near present-day Pittsburgh that British and colonists tried to control.
Fort Duquesne
What action by George Washington in 1754 helped start a series of small battles?
He delivered a message demanding the French leave, later built a small fort and surrendered after a clash.
This battle (1757) ended with allied Indians killing many British soldiers and civilians after the fort surrendered.
Fort William Henry (the massacre after its surrender)
Name one way the war hurt Britain’s relationship with Native American groups.
It damaged relationships because British settlers pressed into Native lands and Britain failed to protect Native interests; also many Native allies switched sides or were abandoned.
In Abigail Adams’ “Remember the Ladies” letter, what political right was she urging her husband to consider for women?
Abigail asked for women to be remembered in laws and to have greater rights and representation (women’s rights/voice in government)
Name the British general who marched to take Fort Duquesne in 1755 and was defeated and killed.
General Edward Braddock
Before formal declarations of war, how did Britain and France treat each other in North America?
They fought an undeclared war — a series of skirmishes and battles before formal declarations.
In 1758, which British leader changed British strategy and began making peace with key Indian allies?
Lord William Pitt
Explain how the French and Indian War contributed to rising tensions between Britain and its American colonies.
Britain gained huge new territories but then imposed taxes and limits to pay war debts and control expansion; colonists resented taxation without representation, increasing tensions that led toward revolution.
Benjamin Banneker wrote to Thomas Jefferson to challenge him about what issue?
Racial equality and the abilities of Black people; he challenged Jefferson on slavery and rights for African Americans.
This American frontier region was a main area of conflict between British and French colonists.
Ohio River Valley
What was the immediate result when Washington’s small fort was attacked in 1754?
Washington surrendered the small fort he had built.
Which major 1759 battle marked a decisive defeat for the French and helped end French power in North America?
The Battle of Quebec (September 1759 — fall of Quebec)
List three consequences of the French and Indian War. (three short bullet points)
(1) France lost most North American territory; (2) Britain gained land/strength but also debt and new colonial tensions; (3) Worse relations with Native Americans and restrictions on westward settlement.
What was the omitted slavery passage in Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration about? Give one main idea from that deleted passage.
It accused the king of waging cruel war against human nature and keeping open the slave trade — denouncing slavery and the slave trade.
The author who fictionalized an infamous massacre at Fort William Henry in The Last of the Mohicans.
James Fenimore Cooper
Explain why British and French colonists were competing locally, beyond the larger imperial struggle.
Local British and French colonists both wanted more land and trade; they competed for the same territory, resources, and Native alliances.
Give two reasons why the tide turned in favor of the British after 1758. (list two)
(1) The British made peace with important Indian allies; (2) British changed tactics to fit frontier fighting and received stronger leadership under Pitt; also French lost many Indian allies and were outnumbered/outgunned.
Define “liberty” in one sentence and explain briefly how postwar British policies helped push colonists toward wanting more liberty
Liberty: “the quality or state of being free.” After the war Britain taxed the colonies and limited settlement, which colonists saw as violations of their liberty and led them to demand greater self-rule.
Who rode to warn the colonists that the British were coming and is famously associated with this warning?
Paul Revere