|
English Colonies |
France vs England |
Fur Trade |
HBC |
The Mississippi |
Le Petite Guerre |
Containment |
New France |
Preparations |
War |
Treaty of Paris
The Mississippi River
is the key waterway in North America. It's tributaries
start in Montana, Manitoba, West Virginia, Minnesota and
another 1/2 dozen states at least. It geographically
divides west from east. It provides a superhighway from
the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. The leaders of
New France recognized that with their small population,
they would have to contain the English Colonies or be
swallowed up as their population exploded.
The French explorer La
Salle travelled down the Mississippi between 1678 -
1682. He established trading posts to capitalize on the
fur trade and claimed the entire area for France and
named it after Louis XIV - Louisiana. It was not until
President Jefferson negotiated to buy this area from
France - The Louisiana Purchase that France finally gave
up all claims to the Mississippi basin.
Before 1755, New France began to build
military forts at strategic locations along the river
and to reinforce trade posts with soldiers. They
understood that this area was vital to their survival.
The Indian nations along the Mississippi were more or
less willing to live with the French along the river
because they were not trying to settle the area and
displace the Indians. The French were interested in the
area fro military and business reasons.
The English colonies however were
bursting at the seems and looking for new land. They
looked to the west and as surveyors and settlers began
to penetrate the Appalachian Mountains and come in
contact with French and Indians, there was a reaction
which tried to hold them out. This entire issue would
re-surface again after the American War of Independence
when due to agreements with the Indian nations the
British tried to hold back the colonists by declaring
that settlers were not to pass over the Proclamation
Line which protected the Indian lands, the colonists
became alienated from British rule.
This river, the Mississippi, then became
the powder keg that would not only cause conflict
between the local French and English forces, but would
ignite the first world wide conflict - the Seven Years
War.
A group of Virginia businessmen decided
to launch a commercial enterprise to explore and settle
the Ohio Valley. After French claim and occupation of
the Mississippi/Ohio territories in 1749-1754, they
decided to take military action and raised a force of
300 men under a young office named George Washington.
Washington launched his expedition into the territory in
1754 and proceeded to the French post of Fort Le Boeuf.
Washington and the Virginians were decisively defeated
by the French and sent retreating back across the
Appalachian Mountains.
The Governor of Virginia, Robert
Dinwiddle began sending repeated requests to Britain for
help and after incessant pressure from the colonies
Britain dispatched General Edward Braddock in 1755 to
take control of the Ohio from the French. In the
meantime the French had reinforced the Valley with 3,000
regular troops under the command of Baron Dieskau.
Braddock, with Washington on his staff set out to
capture Fort Duquesne and force the French out.
Braddock's attack was a stunning defeat and the English
once again stumbled back to their colonies to regroup.
Although France and England were still at peace in
Europe, these battles ignited the greatest war the world
had ever seen and in 1756 the Seven Years War started in
earnest. |
