How Did The French And Indian War Affect The Growth Of The Nation?

The French and Indian War was a war between the British and French, each side being equipped with certain Indian tribes. It took place on the land of America, on the surrounding ocean, and even in parts of Europe. This war began in 1754 and lasted until 1763, but was also known as the Seven Years War in Europe (Schumman, 2011). Although this war lasted 9 years, it was only officially declared war for 7 years. This early American war was one of the defining wars for America and was referenced to as the “war that made America”. Since America was at its early stages of development this war had a significant impact on the growth of the nation along with the development of an American Identity. This war made America and helped the nation in its

However, one of the biggest cause of the war was for land. Both the French and British believed that they had claim to the land of the upper Ohio River Valley. This controversy went on for many years with no serious problems arising between the two. Although, as populations began to grow, both countries pushed west into the territory that was claimed by both which was met with small disputes that slowly grew larger. Soon after, tensions between the two had grown so bad that the French started killing of all British speakers in the Ohio River Valley. Once that happened, word traveled quickly throughout Virginia and one thing led to another with French troops emerging into the picture to guard territory. The colonists reached out to London for military assistance against the French. They finally sent British troops to help the colonists when they saw that they had poor chances of winning against the French. Not only were the French and British involved, but also specific Indian troops fought against each other because they each saw a benefit in either fighting for the French or for the British. Once both sides had troops involved as well as Indians began siding with the nations, the war began in full

It first began with the colonists against the French. Although the colonists had asked for help from the British troops, they were reluctant to send men over for a while because it was not an immediate threat to them. At the same time, the Albany Plan was created by Benjamin Franklin to give the colonists a unified government so that they could be organized in fighting (“Albany Plan”, n.d.). However, once London saw that the colonists were no match alone against the French, they declared war against the French and sent British troops over to help the colonists. The French were dominating in the first three years of the war with most of the Indian’s help. However, once the British troops came and they started working together with the colonists and Indians the war was at its turning point. The British began defeating the French who were exhausted from war. Also, the Indians on the French side saw the war shifting into a victory for the British and when they saw this they began abandoning the French. Once this happened, victory was within the grasp of the