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The name refers to the two main enemies of the British colonists: the royal French forces and the various [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous]] forces allied with them. British and European historians use the term the ''Seven Years' War'', as do many Canadians. Canadian people descend from British and French settlers as well as indigenous [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|aboriginal]] peoples.<ref>M. Brook Taylor, ''Canadian History: a Reader's Guide: Volume 1: Beginnings to Confederation'' (1994) pp 39-48, 72-74</ref> [[French Canadians]] call it ''La guerre de la Conquête'' (War of Conquest).<ref>[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=a1ARTA0007300 The Canadian Encyclopedia]</ref><ref>[http://bataille.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca/en/guerre-de-sept-ans/contexte.php The Siege of Quebec: An episode of the Seven Years' War - Canadian National Battlefields Commission Plains of Abraham website]</ref> |
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The name refers to the two main enemies of the British colonists: the royal French forces and the various [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous]] forces allied with them. British and European historians use the term the ''Seven Years' War'', as do many Canadians. Canadian people descend from British and French settlers as well as indigenous [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|aboriginal]] peoples.<ref>M. Brook Taylor, ''Canadian History: a Reader's Guide: Volume 1: Beginnings to Confederation'' (1994) pp 39-48, 72-74</ref> [[French Canadians]] call it ''La guerre de la Conquête'' (War of Conquest).<ref>[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=a1ARTA0007300 The Canadian Encyclopedia]</ref><ref>[http://bataille.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca/en/guerre-de-sept-ans/contexte.php The Siege of Quebec: An episode of the Seven Years' War - Canadian National Battlefields Commission Plains of Abraham website]</ref> |
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The war was fought primarily along the frontiers separating New France from the British colonies from [[Province of Virginia|Virginia]] to [[Nova Scotia]]. The French were greatly outnumbered, so they made heavy use of Indian allies. It began with a dispute over control of the confluence of the [[Allegheny River|Allegheny]] and [[Monongahela River|Monongahela]] rivers, called the Forks of the Ohio, and the site of the French [[Fort Duquesne]] and present-day [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]]. The dispute erupted into violence in the [[Battle of Jumonville Glen]] in May 1754, during which Virginia militiamen under the command of 22-year-old [[George Washington]] ambushed a French patrol. British operations in 1755, 1756 and 1757 in the frontier areas of [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] and [[Province of New York|New York]] all failed, due to a combination of poor management, internal divisions, and effective Canadian, French and Indian offense. The 1755 British [[Battle of Fort Beauséjour|capture of Fort Beauséjour]] on the border separating Nova Scotia from [[Acadia]] was followed by the [[expulsion of the Acadians]]. Orders for the deportation were given by [[William Shirley]], [[Commander-in-Chief, North America]], without consent from Great Britain. The Acadians, both those captured in arms and those who had sworn the oath to His Britannic Majesty, were expelled. Native Americans were likewise driven off their land to make way for New England settlers.<ref>Eccles, France in America, p. 185</ref> |
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The war was fought primarily along the frontiers separating New France from the British colonies from [[Province of Virginia|Virginia]] to [[Nova Scotia]]. The French were greatly outnumbered, so they made heavy use of Indian allies. It began with a dispute over control of the confluence of the [[Allegheny River|Allegheny]] and [[Monongahela River|Monongahela]] rivers, called the Forks of the Ohio, and the site of the French [[Fort Duquesne]] and present-day [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]]. The dispute erupted into violence in the [[Battle of Jumonville Glen]] in May 1754, during which Virginia militiamen under the command of 22-year-old [[George Washington]] ambushed a French patrol. British operations in 1755, 1756 and 1757 in the frontier areas of [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] and [[Province of New York|New York]] all failed, due to a combination of poor management, internal divisions, and effective Canadian, French and Indian offense. The 1755 British [[Battle of Fort Beauséjour|capture of Fort Beauséjour]] on the border separating Nova Scotia from [[Acadia]] was followed by the [[expulsion of the Acadians]]. Orders for the deportation were given by [[William Shirley]], [[Commander-in-Chief, North America]], without consent from Great Britain. The Acadians, both those captured in arms and those who had sworn the oath to His Britannic Majesty, were expelled. Native Americans were likewise driven off their land to make way for New England settlers.<ref>Eccles, France in America, p. 185</ref> TOO MUCH PUSSY! |
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After the disastrous 1757 British campaigns (resulting in a [[Louisbourg Expedition (1757)|failed expedition against Louisbourg]] and the [[Siege of Fort William Henry]], which was followed by Indian torture and massacres of British victims), the British government fell. [[William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham|William Pitt]] came to power and significantly increased British military resources in the colonies at a time when France was unwilling to risk large convoys to aid the limited forces it had in New France. It concentrated its forces against [[Prussia]] and its allies in the European theatre of the war. Between 1758 and 1760, the British military successfully penetrated the heartland of New France, and took control of [[Montreal]] in September 1760. |
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After the disastrous 1757 British campaigns (resulting in a [[Louisbourg Expedition (1757)|failed expedition against Louisbourg]] and the [[Siege of Fort William Henry]], which was followed by Indian torture and massacres of British victims), the British government fell. [[William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham|William Pitt]] came to power and significantly increased British military resources in the colonies at a time when France was unwilling to risk large convoys to aid the limited forces it had in New France. It concentrated its forces against [[Prussia]] and its allies in the European theatre of the war. Between 1758 and 1760, the British military successfully penetrated the heartland of New France, and took control of [[Montreal]] in September 1760. |