The French and Indian War

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The first years of the war went terrible for the British and their American colonies

The French captured several British forts including forts at Lake Ontario and Lake George

Frances Native American allies began staging raids on frontier farms from New York to what is now West Virginia

They killed settlers, burned farmhouses and crops, and chased many families back to the coast

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French and Indian War

Pitt Takes Charge

After William Pitt comes to power as secretary of state and then as prime minister for Great Britain, the tide of the war begins to turn in favor of the British

William Pitt was an outstanding military commander who knew how to pick skilled commanders and oversaw the war effort from London

To avoid complaints from the colonists Pitt decided to pay for the war

However he ran up a huge debt and would raise colonist taxes after the French and Indian War

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French and Indian War

The British Under Pitt

Pitt intended to conquer French Canada

To do so he sent British troops to North America under the command of officers Jeffrey Amherst and James Wolfe

1758: Amherst and Wolfe recaptured the fortress at Louisbourg

That same year British officers captured Fort Frontenac at Lake Ontario, and recaptured Fort Duquesne (renaming it Fort Pitt)

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The French and Indian War

The Battle of Quebec

September 1759: British general James Wolfe finds a way to attack the capital of New France Quebec

Perched high on a cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence River the capital was thought of as impossible to attack

A scout for Wolfe found a poorly guarded path up the back of the cliff

Wolfes soldiers overwhelmed the guards on the path and scrambled up it at night

They waited outside the fort on a field called the Plains of Abraham

Here they surprised and defeated the French Army

James Wolfe died in the battle

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The French and Indian War

The Treaty of Paris

After the fall of Quebec a year later the French took another devastating loss when General Amherst captured Montreal

This brought an end to the fighting in North American

1763: The Treaty of Paris France is permitted to keep some sugar producing islands in the West Indies

1763: The Treaty of Paris England receives Canada and most of Frances islands east of the Mississippi River, England also receives Florida from Frances ally Spain

1763: The Treaty of Paris Spain receives French land West of the Mississippi River (the Louisiana Territory) as well as the port of New Orleans

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