FFW (5 min): The 18th century saw so many wars. There's the War of Spanish Succession, Queen Anne's War, the War of Jenkins' Ear, the War of Austrian Succession, King George's War. Why so many wars? Because European nations fought each other over trade, over insults to honor, over who got to occupy thrones, over land, the reasons are endless.
Based on what you know about colonization thus far, what educated guesses (inference) can you make about WHY wars in Europe impacted the colonies in North America?
What do you see?
This illustration from the 1870s shows French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm attempting to stop his Native American allies from massacring captured British soldiers and civilians at Fort William Henry in 1757 during the Seven Years’ War.
Additional facts related to the illustration:
Many Americans in the 1870s believed that Indigenous people were barbaric (savagely cruel; exceedingly brutal; primitive; unsophisticated)
Indigenous people who allied with Montcalm did not all speak French and may not have understood his instructions to let their British prisoners live
The British army recruited Indigenous allies during the Seven Years’ War
FFW (5 min): Which of the facts above might cause you to question the reliability of this illustration as a representation of what happened at Fort William Henry? Explain your reasoning.
Imperial Wars, Imperial Crisis
In the early and mid-18th century, wars involving settlers in North America were usually an extension of some European conflict and colonies, land and power could be won or lost during these wars, which brings us to the Seven Years' War also known as the French and Indian War.
The French and Indian War Before we jump in, pop quiz. How long do the French and Indian War last? How we answer that question depends a lot on how we see the war itself. If it's a conflict confined to just the North American continent, then we can say it was a seven-year war, hence the name Seven Years' War. But if we look at the war as a global conflict with fighting throughout North America, India, and Europe, then it was much longer.
In fact, so many European powers were involved that Winston Churchill called it the First World War. But not knowing the specific dates or life can be complicated and frustrating. I mean, this is the only math we have to do as historians and we can't even agree on the answer. One thing's for sure, though. The French and Indian War was the start of a chain reaction in North America. Technically, the French and Indian War was an extension of the War of Austrian Succession, which left Britain and France as enemies, and those feelings continued in the North American colonies. TRANSCRIPT
Reflection: What do we understand about colonialism from studying the Seven Years War?
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