This was a fact heavy essay project since it was recounting a war. Summarizing references, topic sentences, clinchers, and the three-paragraph model were all covered. The source text was provided in the text book. It was very challenging to choose which facts to write down with the limited spaces on the outline. IEW does an excellent job training you to search for the most important facts.
Audrey French
IEW Advanced US History
24 April 2017
The French and Indian War and the Ownership of America
Although the French and Indian war is often glossed over, it is a monumental event because it transformed the map of North America. Before the war, the English owned most of the East Coast of America, and the French owned Canada, land surrounding the Mississippi River, and domain farther west. In the year 1700, the English only had 250,000 settlers, but by 1750 that number had leaped to 1.25 million people. Due to this increase of population, the English began to move farther west in order to find unclaimed land. The French, of course, detested this intrusion into their land. They furiously began to build forts and increase their number of soldiers in order to keep the English from encroaching on their territory. During this time, the English and the French both increased the number of their troops which were in America. The French had an astronomical advantage because nearly all of the Native Americans sided with them. Only the Iroquois joined the English. The key motive for all three parties in this conflict was land. The French and English desired more land and the Indians wanted to keep the land they originally inhabited. The English expansion had triggered a war that would not only involve the French and Indians, but would also rezone America.
Initially, victory looked extremely unlikely for the English since they were horribly unskilled fighters in the American forests. They were accustomed to fighting in open fields with strict battle rules in Europe. Normally, they would march as though they were in a parade and wear brilliant red uniforms. Unfortunately, they continued this strategy in America. In contrast, the French quickly learned guerilla warfare from the Indians and would hide behind trees while fighting. This strategy proved to be deadly to the English forces. In the first battle, the French and the Indians killed two thirds of the English soldiers present. This calamitous defeat for the British was only the beginning of the depredation that would reign for the coming years. For the first two years of the war, the French nailed victory after victory. The Native Americans, both brutal and savvy warriors, also wreaked havoc on the American frontier during this time. However, in 1757, England made some desperately needed changes. They replaced the current leaders with more innovative, skilled generals and increased their number of soldiers. After many key English victories, the war ended in 1760. Although unlikely in the beginning, the English had managed a smashing victory because they changed their leadership and increased their fighting men.
In 1763, after being defeated by the English in several other worldwide battles, the French were finally forced to forgo their rights and sign a peace treaty with England. According to the terms of this agreement, the French lost Canada and most of their land east of the Mississippi to the English. Spain also suffered under this agreement because they had helped France in the French and Indian war. Spain lost Florida to the English. France gave Spain their territory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains as compensation for the aide received during the war. Despite Spain’s new land ownership, England owned half of North America. England, now an overbearing overlord, increased its role in controlling its colonies which were rapidly assuming more power and independence from their mother country. This irritated many of the freedom-loving colonists, which would spark the flames for an even more famous war in the coming years. The French suffered permanent damage in the aftermath of their defeats to the British as evidenced by their losses of territory, but the impact was even far more reaching. While the French and Indian War activated immediate consequences, it also sparked the Revolutionary War which would entirely change the ownership of America for centuries.
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