Queen Anne's War
Encyclopedia
Queen Anne's War as the North America
n theater
of the War of the Spanish Succession
was known in the British colonies
, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars
fought between France
and England
, later Great Britain
, in North America for control of the continent
. The War of the Spanish Succession was primarily fought in Europe. In addition to the two main combatants, the war also involved numerous Native American
tribes allied with each nation, and Spain
, which was allied with France.
The war was fought on three fronts:
Following a preliminary peace in 1712, the Treaty of Utrecht ended the war in 1713. It resulted in the French cession of claims to the territories of Hudson Bay
, Acadia, and Newfoundland to Britain, while retaining Cape Breton
and other islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Some of its terms were ambiguous, and concerns of various Indian tribes were not included in the treaty, setting the stage for future conflicts.
, war broke out
over who should succeed him to the Spanish throne. Although the war was at first restricted to a few powers in Europe, in May 1702 it widened when England
declared war on Spain
and France
. The hostilities in North America were further encouraged by existing frictions along the frontier areas separating the colonies of these powers. This disharmony was most pronounced along the northern and southwestern frontiers of the English colonies
, which then stretched from the Province of Carolina
in the south to the Province of Massachusetts Bay
in the north, with additional colonial settlements or trading outposts on Newfoundland and at Hudson Bay
.
The total population of the English colonies at the time has been estimated at 250,000, with Virginia and New England
dominating. The population centers of these colonies were concentrated along the coast, with small settlements inland, sometimes reaching as far as the Appalachian Mountains
. Most Europeans colonists knew very little of the interior of the continent, to the west of the Appalachians and south of the Great Lakes
. This area was dominated by native tribes, although French and English traders had penetrated the area. Spanish missionaries in La Florida
had established a network of missions
, pacifying and converting to Christianity
many of the local natives. The Spanish population was relatively small (about 1,500), and the Indian population they ministered to has been estimated to number 20,000. French explorers had located the mouth of the Mississippi River
, near which established a small colonial presence in 1699 at Fort Maurepas
(near present-day Biloxi, Mississippi
). From there they began to establish trade routes into the interior, establishing friendly relations with the Choctaw
, a large tribe whose natural enemies included the British-allied Chickasaw
. All of these populations had suffered to some degree from the introduction of Eurasian infectious disease
s like smallpox
by early explorers and traders.
The arrival of the French in the South threatened existing trade links that Carolina colonists had established into the interior, and Spanish territorial claims, creating tension among all three powers. France and Spain, allies in this conflict, had been on opposite sides of the recently ended Nine Years' War. Conflicting territorial claims between Carolina and Florida south of the Savannah River
were overlaid by animosity over religious divisions between the Roman Catholic Spanish and the Protestant English along the coast.
To the north, the conflict held a strong economic component in addition to territorial disputes. Newfoundland was the site of a British colony based at St. John's
, and the French colonial base was at Plaisance, with both sides also holding a number of smaller permanent settlements. The island also had many seasonal settlements used by fishermen from Europe. These colonists, numbering fewer than 2,000 English and 1,000 French permanent settlers (and many more seasonal visitors), competed with one another for the fisheries of the Grand Banks, which were also used by fishermen from Acadia (then encompassing all of present-day Nova Scotia
and New Brunswick
) and Massachusetts. The border area between New France
and Massachusetts (which then included the Province of Maine
) was also uncertain; there was a French settlement in Penobscot Bay
near the site of modern Castine, Maine
that had already been the site of conflict during the Nine Years' War, and the territory between the Penobscot and Kennebec River
s had been contested in that conflict. The frontier areas between the Saint Lawrence River
and the primarily coastal settlements of Massachusetts and New York
were still dominated by natives (primarily Abenaki and Iroquois
), and the Hudson River
–Lake Champlain
corridor had also been used for raiding expeditions in both directions in earlier conflicts. Although the Indian threat had receded somewhat due to reductions in the native population as a result of disease and the last war, they were still seen to pose a potent threat to outlying settlements.
The Hudson Bay territories (known to the English as Prince Rupert's Land) were not significantly fought over in this war. Although they had been a scene of much dispute by competing French and English companies starting in the 1680s, the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick
left France in control of all but one outpost on the bay. The only incident of note was a French attack
on that outpost, Fort Albany
, in 1709. The Hudson's Bay Company
, unhappy that Ryswick had not returned its territories, successfully lobbied for the return of its territories in the negotiations that ended this war.
s, but many had little more than fortified wooden houses with gun ports
through which defenders could fire, and overhanging second floors from which they might fire down on attackers trying to break in below. Europeans were typically armed with smooth-bore musket
s that had a maximum range of about 100 yards (91.4 m), but were inaccurate at ranges beyond half that distance. Some colonists also carried pike
s, while Indian warriors were either supplied with European arms, or were armed with more primitive weapons like tomahawk
s and bows and arrows. A small number of colonists had training in the operation of cannon
and other types of artillery
; these were the only effective weapons for attacking significant stone or wooden defenses.
English colonists were generally organized into militia
companies, and their colonies had no regular military presence beyond a small number in some of the communities of Newfoundland. The French colonists were also organized into militias, but they also had a standing defense force called the troupes de la marine
. This force consisted of some experienced officers, and was manned by recruits sent over from France. Numbering between 500 and 1,200, they were spread throughout the territories of New France with concentrations in the major population centers. Spanish Florida was defended by a few hundred regular troops; Spanish policy was to pacify the Indians in their territory and not to provide them with weapons. This policy had devastating consequences: before the war, Florida held an estimated 8,000 Indians, but this was reduced to 200 after English raids made early in the war.
had, in the aftermath of the last war developed a "Project sur la Caroline" that called for establishing relationships with natives in the Mississippi watershed and then leveraging those relationships to push the English off the continent, or at least limit them to coastal areas. In pursuit of this grand strategy he rediscovered the mouth of the Mississippi (which had first been found by La Salle
in 1670), and established Fort Maurepas in 1699. From this base, and Fort Louis de la Mobile (founded in 1702), he began to establish relationships with the local Choctaw, Chickasaw, Natchez, and other tribes.
English traders and explorers from Carolina had, since its founding in 1670, already established a substantial trading network across the southeastern part of the continent that extended all the way to the Mississippi. Its leaders, who had little respect for the Spanish in Florida, understood the threat posed by the French arrival on the coast. Both Joseph Blake
, Carolina's governor until his death in 1700, and James Moore
, who succeeded Blake in 1702, articulated visions of expansion to the south and west at the expense of French and Spanish interests.
In January 1702, before the war broke out in Europe, Iberville had approached the Spanish with the recommendation that the Apalachee Indians be armed and sent against the English and their allies. The Spanish organized an expedition under Francisco Romo de Uriza that left Pensacola in August for the trading centers of the Carolina backcountry. The English, with advance warning of the expedition, organized a defense at the head of the Flint River
and routed the Spanish-led force
, with upwards of 500 Spanish-led Indians killed or captured.
When formal notification of hostilities arrived, Governor Moore organized and led a force against Spanish Florida. In the 1702 Siege of St. Augustine
, 500 English soldiers and militia along with 300 Indians captured and burned the town of St. Augustine
. The English were unable to take the main fortress, and withdrew when a Spanish fleet arrived from Havana
. In 1706 Carolina successfully repulsed an attack
on Charles Town by a combined Spanish and French amphibious force sent from Havana.
The Apalachee
and Timucua
of Spanish Florida were virtually wiped out in a raiding expedition by Moore that became known as the Apalachee Massacre
of 1704. Many of the survivors of these raids were relocated to the Savannah River
, where they were confined to reservations. Raids consisting of large native forces, sometimes including a small number of white men, continued in the following years, including major expeditions directed at Pensacola
in 1707 and Mobile in 1709. The Muscogee (Creek), Yamasee
, and Chickasaw
, armed and led by Englishmen, dominated these conflicts at the expense of the Choctaw
, Timucua, and Apalachee, the latter being somewhat more pacific in nature than the Creek and Chickasaw.
, led attacks against New England
settlements from Wells
to Falmouth (present-day Portland, Maine
). They killed or took prisoner more than 160 settlers. In February 1704, Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville
led 250 Abenaki and Caughnawaga
Indians and 50 French Canadians in a raid on Deerfield in the Province of Massachusetts Bay
, and destroyed the settlement, killing and capturing many colonists. More than 100 captives were taken on an overland journey hundreds of miles north to the Caughnawaga mission village near Montreal, where most of the children who survived were adopted by the Mohawk people. Several adults were later redeemed or released in negotiated prisoner exchanges. Unable to effectively combat these raids, New England colonists retaliated by launching an expedition against Acadia
. Led by the famous Indian fighter Benjamin Church, the expedition raided Grand Pre
, Chignecto
, and other settlements. Although French accounts claim that Church attempted an attack on Acadia's capital, Port Royal
, Church's account of the expedition describes a war council in which the expedition decided against making an attack.
Raiding activity continued in northern Massachusetts in 1705, against which the English colonists were unable to mount an effective defense. The raids happened too quickly for defensive forces to organize, and reprisal raids usually found Indian camps and settlements empty. There was a lull in the raiding while the French and English leaders negotiated —with only limited success —the exchange of prisoners. Raids by Indians, sometimes with French participation, persisted until the end of the war.
In May 1707, Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley
organized an expedition to take Port Royal. Led by John March
, 1,600 men failed to take the fort by siege
; a followup expedition in August was also repulsed. In response, the French developed an ambitious plan to raid most of the New Hampshire
settlements on the Piscataqua River
. However, much of the Indian support needed never materialized, and the Massachusetts town of Haverhill
was raided
instead. In 1709, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil
, governor of New France
, reported that two thirds of the fields north of Boston
were untended due to French and Indian raids. French-Indian war parties were returning without prisoners because the New England colonists stayed in their forts and would not come out.
In September 1710, 3,600 British and colonial forces led by Francis Nicholson
finally captured Port Royal
after a siege of one week. This ended official French control of the peninsular portion of Acadia (present-day mainland Nova Scotia
), although resistance continued until the end of the war.
, opposed attacking the Province of New York
. They were reluctant to arouse the Iroquois
, who they feared more than they did the British, and with whom they had made the Great Peace of Montreal
in 1701. New York merchants were opposed to attacking New France
, because it would interrupt the lucrative Indian fur trade
, much of which came through New France. Despite of the efforts of Peter Schuyler, the Albany
commissioner of Indians, to interest them in the war, the Iroquois maintained their neutrality throughout the conflict.
Francis Nicholson and Samuel Vetch
, with some financial and logistical support from the queen, organized an ambitious assault against New France in 1709. The plan involved an overland assault on Montreal
via Lake Champlain and a sea-based assault by naval forces against Quebec
. The land expedition reached the southern end of Lake Champlain, but was called off when the promised naval support for the attack on Quebec never materialized (those forces were diverted to support Portugal
). The Iroquois had made vague promises of support for this effort, but successfully delayed sending support until it seemed clear the expedition was going to fail. After this failure, Nicholson and Schuyler traveled to London
accompanied by King Hendrick
and other sachem
s to arouse interest in the North American frontier war. The Indian delegation caused a sensation in London, and Queen Anne granted them an audience. Nicholson and Schuyler were successful in their endeavour—the queen gave support for Nicholson's successful capture of Port Royal in 1710. With that success under his belt, Nicholson again returned to England, and gained support for a renewed attempt on Quebec in 1711.
The plan for 1711 again called for land and sea-based attacks; its execution was a disaster. A fleet of 15 ships of the line and transports carrying 5,000 troops led by Admiral Hovenden Walker
arrived at Boston in June, doubling the town's population and greatly straining the colony's ability to provide necessary provisions. Sailing for Quebec at the end of July, the expedition
entered the Gulf of Saint Lawrence
, and a number of its ships foundered on the rocky shores near the mouth of the Saint Lawrence in the fog. More than 700 troops were lost, and Walker called the expedition off. In the meantime, Nicholson had departed for Montreal overland, but had only reached Lake George
when word of Walker's disaster reached him; he also turned back. In this expedition, the Iroquois provided several hundred warriors to fight with the English, but they also sent warnings of the expedition to the French.
, the English at St. John's
on Conception Bay
. During King William's War, d'Iberville had destroyed most of the English communities
in 1696–7; the island again became a battleground in 1702. In August of that year, an English fleet under the command of Commodore John Leake
descended on the outlying French communities but made no attempts on Plaisance. During the winter of 1705 Daniel d'Auger de Subercase
, the French governor at Plaisance, retaliated, leading a combined French and Mi'kmaq expedition that destroyed several English settlements and unsuccessfully besieged Fort William at St. John's
. The French and their Indian allies continued to harry the English throughout the summer, and did damages claimed at £188,000 to the English establishments. The English sent a fleet in 1706 that destroyed French fishing outposts on the island's northern coasts. In December 1708 a combined force of French, Canadian, and Mi'kmaq volunteers captured St. John's
, and destroyed the fortifications. Lacking the resources to hold the prize, they abandoned it, and St. John's was reoccupied and refortified by the English in 1709. (The same French expedition also tried to take Ferryland
, but it successfully resisted.)
English fleet commanders contemplated, but did not make, attacks on Plaisance in 1703 and 1711 (the latter by Admiral Walker in the aftermath of the disaster at the mouth of the St. Lawrence).
), sovereignty over Newfoundland, the Hudson Bay
region, and the Caribbean
island of St. Kitts. France recognized British suzerainty
over the Iroquois, and agreed that commerce with Native Americans further inland would be open to all nations. It retained all of the islands in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, including Cape Breton Island
, and retained fishing rights in the area, including rights to dry fish on the northern shore
of Newfoundland.
. Indians that had been resettled along the Atlantic coast chafed under British rule, as did those allied to the British in this war. This discontent flared into the 1715 Yamasee War
that posed a major threat to South Carolina's viability. The loss of population in the Spanish territories contributed to the 1732 founding of the Province of Georgia
, which was, like Carolina, granted on territory Spain had originally claimed. Following military action by James Moore against the Tuscarora
s of North Carolina (part of the Tuscarora War
begun in 1711), many of them fled north as refugees to join their linguistic cousins, the Iroquois.
The economic costs of the war were high in some of the southern English colonies, including those that saw little military activity. Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania to a lesser extent, were hit hard by the cost of shipping their export products (primarily tobacco
) to European markets, and also suffered because of several particularly bad harvests. South Carolina accumulated a significant debt burden to finance military operations.
as a center of shipbuilding and trade, combined with a financial windfall caused by the crown's military spending on the 1711 Quebec expedition, offset some of the costs of waging the war.
in the following years. This presence, combined with the rights to use the Newfoundland shore, resulted in continued friction between French and British fishing interests, which was not fully resolved until late in the 18th century. The economic effects of the war were severe in Newfoundland, with the fishing fleets plying its waters significantly reduced. The British fishing fleet began to recover immediately after the peace was finalized. The British attempted to prevent Spanish ships from fishing in Newfoundland waters, as they previously had. However, many Spanish ships were simply reflagged with English straw owner
s to evade British controls.
The British capture of Acadia had long-term consequences for the Acadians and Mi'kmaq living there. Britain's hold on Nova Scotia was initially quite tenuous, a situation that French and Mi'kmaq resistance leaders capitalized on. British relations with the Mi'kmaq after the war developed in the context of British expansion not just in Nova Scotia, but also along the Maine coast, where New Englanders began moving into Abenaki lands, often in violation of previous treaties. Since neither the Abenakis nor the Mi'kmaq were recognized in the Treaty of Utrecht, the Mi'kmaq and Abenakis resisted these incursions into their lands. This conflict, abetted by French intriguers like Sébastien Rale
, developed into Dummer's War
(1722–1727).
British relations with the nominally conquered Acadians were also difficult. Repeated British demands that Acadians swear oaths to the British crown were resisted, and eventually sparked an exodus
by the Acadians to Île-Royale and Île-Saint-Jean (present-day Prince Edward Island
). By the 1740s French leaders like Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre
orchestrated a guerrilla war
with their Mi'kmaq allies against British attempts to expand Protestant settlements in peninsular Nova Scotia.
Friction also persisted between France and Britain over Acadia's borders. The treaty was vague about describing its boundaries, which even the French had never really formally described. France insisted that only the Acadian peninsula (modern Nova Scotia except Cape Breton Island) was included in the treaty, and that they retained the rights to modern New Brunswick
. The disputes over Acadia, which flared into open conflict during King George's War
in the 1740s, would not be resolved until the British conquest of all French North American territories in the area in the Seven Years' War
.
in Iroquois territory. French settlements on the Gulf Coast continued to grow, with the settlement of New Orleans in 1718, and other attempts, ultimately unsuccessful, to expand into Spanish-controlled Texas and Florida. French trading networks penetrated the continent along the waterways feeding the Gulf of Mexico, renewing conflicts with both the British and the Spanish. Trading networks established in the Mississippi River watershed, including the Ohio River
valley, also brought the French into more contact with British trading networks and colonial settlements that crossed the Appalachian Mountains. Conflicting claims over that territory eventually led to war in 1754, when the French and Indian War
broke out.
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n theater
Theater (warfare)
In warfare, a theater, is defined as an area or place within which important military events occur or are progressing. The entirety of the air, land, and sea area that is or that may potentially become involved in war operations....
of the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
was known in the British colonies
British colonization of the Americas
British colonization of the Americas began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas...
, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars
French and Indian Wars
The French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts lasting 74 years in North America that represented colonial events related to the European dynastic wars...
fought between France
Early Modern France
Kingdom of France is the early modern period of French history from the end of the 15th century to the end of the 18th century...
and England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
, later Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
, in North America for control of the continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
. The War of the Spanish Succession was primarily fought in Europe. In addition to the two main combatants, the war also involved numerous Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribes allied with each nation, and Spain
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
, which was allied with France.
The war was fought on three fronts:
- Spanish FloridaSpanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
and the English Province of CarolinaProvince of CarolinaThe Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...
were each subjected to attacks from the other, and the English engaged the French based at MobileMobile, AlabamaMobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
in what was essentially a proxy war involving primarily allied Indians on both sides. The southern war, although it did not result in significant territorial changes, had the effect of nearly wiping out the Indian population of Spanish Florida, including parts of present-day southern Georgia, and destroying Spain's network of missionsSpanish missions in FloridaBeginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established a number of missions throughout la Florida in order to convert the Indians to Christianity, to facilitate control of the area, and to prevent its colonization by other countries, in particular, England and France...
in the area. - The English colonies of New EnglandNew EnglandNew England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
fought with French and Indian forces based in AcadiaAcadiaAcadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
and CanadaCanada, New FranceCanada was the name of the French colony that once stretched along the St. Lawrence River; the other colonies of New France were Acadia, Louisiana and Newfoundland. Canada, the most developed colony of New France, was divided into three districts, each with its own government: Quebec,...
. QuebecQuebec CityQuebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
was repeatedly targeted (but never successfully reached) by British expeditions, and the Acadian capital Port RoyalPort Royal, Nova ScotiaPort Royal was the capital of Acadia from 1605 to 1710 and is now a town called Annapolis Royal in the western part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Initially Port Royal was located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, at the site of the present reconstruction of the...
was taken in 1710Siege of Port Royal (1710)The Siege of Port Royal , also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal...
. The French and Indians executed raids against targets in MassachusettsProvince of Massachusetts BayThe Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
(including present-day MaineMaineMaine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
), most famously raiding Deerfield in 1704. - On Newfoundland, English colonists based at St. John'sSt. John's, Newfoundland and LabradorSt. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...
disputed control of the island with the French based at Plaisance. Most of the conflict consisted of economically destructive raids against the other side's settlements. The French successfully captured St. John'sBattle of St. John'sThe Battle of St. John's was the French capture of St. John's, the capital of the British Colony of Newfoundland, on , during Queen Anne's War. A mixed and motley force of 164 men led by Joseph de Monbeton de Brouillan de Saint-Ovide, king's lieutenant to Philippe Pastour de Costebelle, the French...
in 1709, but the British quickly reoccupied it after the French abandoned it.
Following a preliminary peace in 1712, the Treaty of Utrecht ended the war in 1713. It resulted in the French cession of claims to the territories of Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
, Acadia, and Newfoundland to Britain, while retaining Cape Breton
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
and other islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Some of its terms were ambiguous, and concerns of various Indian tribes were not included in the treaty, setting the stage for future conflicts.
Background
In 1701, following the death in late 1700 of King Charles II of SpainCharles II of Spain
Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain and the ruler of large parts of Italy, the Spanish territories in the Southern Low Countries, and Spain's overseas Empire, stretching from the Americas to the Spanish East Indies...
, war broke out
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
over who should succeed him to the Spanish throne. Although the war was at first restricted to a few powers in Europe, in May 1702 it widened when England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
declared war on Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The hostilities in North America were further encouraged by existing frictions along the frontier areas separating the colonies of these powers. This disharmony was most pronounced along the northern and southwestern frontiers of the English colonies
British colonization of the Americas
British colonization of the Americas began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas...
, which then stretched from the Province of Carolina
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...
in the south to the Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
in the north, with additional colonial settlements or trading outposts on Newfoundland and at Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
.
The total population of the English colonies at the time has been estimated at 250,000, with Virginia and New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
dominating. The population centers of these colonies were concentrated along the coast, with small settlements inland, sometimes reaching as far as the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
. Most Europeans colonists knew very little of the interior of the continent, to the west of the Appalachians and south of the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
. This area was dominated by native tribes, although French and English traders had penetrated the area. Spanish missionaries in La Florida
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
had established a network of missions
Spanish missions in Florida
Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established a number of missions throughout la Florida in order to convert the Indians to Christianity, to facilitate control of the area, and to prevent its colonization by other countries, in particular, England and France...
, pacifying and converting to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
many of the local natives. The Spanish population was relatively small (about 1,500), and the Indian population they ministered to has been estimated to number 20,000. French explorers had located the mouth of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, near which established a small colonial presence in 1699 at Fort Maurepas
Fort Maurepas
Not to be confused with the Fort Maurepas built in 1699 by Bienville and Iberville in present-day Ocean Springs, Mississippi.Fort Maurepas was one of the first forts built by Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye and his men. In 1733, they traveled from Fort St. Charles, which was...
(near present-day Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi, Mississippi
Biloxi is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, in the United States. The 2010 census recorded the population as 44,054. Along with Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County....
). From there they began to establish trade routes into the interior, establishing friendly relations with the Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
, a large tribe whose natural enemies included the British-allied Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
. All of these populations had suffered to some degree from the introduction of Eurasian infectious disease
Infectious disease
Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
s like smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
by early explorers and traders.
The arrival of the French in the South threatened existing trade links that Carolina colonists had established into the interior, and Spanish territorial claims, creating tension among all three powers. France and Spain, allies in this conflict, had been on opposite sides of the recently ended Nine Years' War. Conflicting territorial claims between Carolina and Florida south of the Savannah River
Savannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
were overlaid by animosity over religious divisions between the Roman Catholic Spanish and the Protestant English along the coast.
To the north, the conflict held a strong economic component in addition to territorial disputes. Newfoundland was the site of a British colony based at St. John's
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...
, and the French colonial base was at Plaisance, with both sides also holding a number of smaller permanent settlements. The island also had many seasonal settlements used by fishermen from Europe. These colonists, numbering fewer than 2,000 English and 1,000 French permanent settlers (and many more seasonal visitors), competed with one another for the fisheries of the Grand Banks, which were also used by fishermen from Acadia (then encompassing all of present-day Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
and New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
) and Massachusetts. The border area between New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
and Massachusetts (which then included the Province of Maine
Province of Maine
The Province of Maine refers to several English colonies of that name that existed in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, at times roughly encompassing portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec...
) was also uncertain; there was a French settlement in Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...
near the site of modern Castine, Maine
Castine, Maine
Castine is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States and was once the capital of Acadia . The population was 1,343 at the 2000 census. Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institution that graduates officers and engineers for the United States Merchant Marine and marine...
that had already been the site of conflict during the Nine Years' War, and the territory between the Penobscot and Kennebec River
Kennebec River
The Kennebec River is a river that is entirely within the U.S. state of Maine. It rises in Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine. The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river then flows southward...
s had been contested in that conflict. The frontier areas between the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
and the primarily coastal settlements of Massachusetts and New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
were still dominated by natives (primarily Abenaki and Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
), and the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
–Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
corridor had also been used for raiding expeditions in both directions in earlier conflicts. Although the Indian threat had receded somewhat due to reductions in the native population as a result of disease and the last war, they were still seen to pose a potent threat to outlying settlements.
The Hudson Bay territories (known to the English as Prince Rupert's Land) were not significantly fought over in this war. Although they had been a scene of much dispute by competing French and English companies starting in the 1680s, the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick
Treaty of Ryswick
The Treaty of Ryswick or Ryswyck was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick in the Dutch Republic. The treaty settled the Nine Years' War, which pitted France against the Grand Alliance of England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the United Provinces.Negotiations started in May...
left France in control of all but one outpost on the bay. The only incident of note was a French attack
Battle of Fort Albany (1709)
The Battle of Fort Albany was an attack by French colonial volunteers and their native allies against the Hudson's Bay Company outpost of Fort Albany in the southern reaches of Hudson Bay. About 70 Frenchmen and 30 Indians attacked the fort, which was under the command of John Fullartine. ...
on that outpost, Fort Albany
Fort Albany, Ontario
Fort Albany First Nation is a community in within the Cochrane District of Northern Ontario, Canada. Situated on the southern shore of the Albany River, Fort Albany First Nation is only accessible by air or by winter road....
, in 1709. The Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
, unhappy that Ryswick had not returned its territories, successfully lobbied for the return of its territories in the negotiations that ended this war.
Technology and organization
Military technology used in North America was not as developed as it was in Europe. Only a few colonial settlements had stone fortifications (among them St. Augustine, Boston, Quebec, and St. John's) at the start of the war, although Port Royal's fortifications were completed early in the war. Some frontier villages were protected by wooden palisadePalisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
s, but many had little more than fortified wooden houses with gun ports
Embrasure
In military architecture, an embrasure is the opening in a crenellation or battlement between the two raised solid portions or merlons, sometimes called a crenel or crenelle...
through which defenders could fire, and overhanging second floors from which they might fire down on attackers trying to break in below. Europeans were typically armed with smooth-bore musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
s that had a maximum range of about 100 yards (91.4 m), but were inaccurate at ranges beyond half that distance. Some colonists also carried pike
Pike (weapon)
A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the...
s, while Indian warriors were either supplied with European arms, or were armed with more primitive weapons like tomahawk
Tomahawk (axe)
A tomahawk is a type of axe native to North America, traditionally resembling a hatchet with a straight shaft. The name came into the English language in the 17th century as a transliteration of the Powhatan word.Tomahawks were general purpose tools used by Native Americans and European Colonials...
s and bows and arrows. A small number of colonists had training in the operation of cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
and other types of artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
; these were the only effective weapons for attacking significant stone or wooden defenses.
English colonists were generally organized into militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
companies, and their colonies had no regular military presence beyond a small number in some of the communities of Newfoundland. The French colonists were also organized into militias, but they also had a standing defense force called the troupes de la marine
Troupes de la marine
See also Troupes de Marine for later history of same Corps.The Troupes de la Marine , also known as independent companies of the navy and colonial regulars, were under the authority of the French Minister of Marine, who was also responsible for the French navy, overseas trade, and French...
. This force consisted of some experienced officers, and was manned by recruits sent over from France. Numbering between 500 and 1,200, they were spread throughout the territories of New France with concentrations in the major population centers. Spanish Florida was defended by a few hundred regular troops; Spanish policy was to pacify the Indians in their territory and not to provide them with weapons. This policy had devastating consequences: before the war, Florida held an estimated 8,000 Indians, but this was reduced to 200 after English raids made early in the war.
Florida and Carolina
Prominent French and English colonists understood at the turn of the 18th century that control of the Mississippi River would have a significant role in future development and trade, and each developed visionary plans to thwart the other's activities. The French Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'IbervillePierre Le Moyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville pronounced as described in note] (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1702 (probable)was a soldier, ship captain, explorer, colonial administrator, knight of...
had, in the aftermath of the last war developed a "Project sur la Caroline" that called for establishing relationships with natives in the Mississippi watershed and then leveraging those relationships to push the English off the continent, or at least limit them to coastal areas. In pursuit of this grand strategy he rediscovered the mouth of the Mississippi (which had first been found by La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, or Robert de LaSalle was a French explorer. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico...
in 1670), and established Fort Maurepas in 1699. From this base, and Fort Louis de la Mobile (founded in 1702), he began to establish relationships with the local Choctaw, Chickasaw, Natchez, and other tribes.
English traders and explorers from Carolina had, since its founding in 1670, already established a substantial trading network across the southeastern part of the continent that extended all the way to the Mississippi. Its leaders, who had little respect for the Spanish in Florida, understood the threat posed by the French arrival on the coast. Both Joseph Blake
Joseph Blake (governor)
Joseph Blake , the nephew of British Admiral Robert Blake, was governor of colonial South Carolina in 1694 , and from 1696 to his death 1700.-References:*-See also:*List of colonial governors of South Carolina...
, Carolina's governor until his death in 1700, and James Moore
James Moore (South Carolina politician)
James Moore was the British governor of colonial South Carolina between 1700 and 1703. He is remembered for leading several invasions of Spanish Florida, including attacks in 1704 and 1706 which wiped out most of the Spanish missions in Florida....
, who succeeded Blake in 1702, articulated visions of expansion to the south and west at the expense of French and Spanish interests.
In January 1702, before the war broke out in Europe, Iberville had approached the Spanish with the recommendation that the Apalachee Indians be armed and sent against the English and their allies. The Spanish organized an expedition under Francisco Romo de Uriza that left Pensacola in August for the trading centers of the Carolina backcountry. The English, with advance warning of the expedition, organized a defense at the head of the Flint River
Flint River (Georgia)
The Flint River is a river in the U.S. state of Georgia. The river drains of western Georgia, flowing south from the upper Piedmont region south of Atlanta to the wetlands of the Gulf Coastal Plain in the southwestern corner of the state. Along with the Apalachicola and the Chattahoochee rivers,...
and routed the Spanish-led force
Battle of Flint River
The Battle of Flint River was a failed attack by Spanish and Apalachee Indian forces against Creek Indians in October 1702 in what is now the state of Georgia...
, with upwards of 500 Spanish-led Indians killed or captured.
When formal notification of hostilities arrived, Governor Moore organized and led a force against Spanish Florida. In the 1702 Siege of St. Augustine
Siege of St. Augustine (1702)
The Siege of St. Augustine was an action in Queen Anne's War during November and December 1702. It was conducted by English provincial forces from the Province of Carolina and their native allies, under the command of Carolina's governor James Moore, against the Spanish colonial fortress of...
, 500 English soldiers and militia along with 300 Indians captured and burned the town of St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
. The English were unable to take the main fortress, and withdrew when a Spanish fleet arrived from Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
. In 1706 Carolina successfully repulsed an attack
Charles Town expedition
The Charles Town expedition was a combined French and Spanish attempt under Captain Jacques Fefebvre to capture the capital of the English Province of Carolina, Charles Town during Queen Anne's War .Organized and funded primarily by the French and launched from Havana, Cuba, the...
on Charles Town by a combined Spanish and French amphibious force sent from Havana.
The Apalachee
Apalachee
The Apalachee are a Native American people who historically lived in the Florida Panhandle, and now live primarily in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Their historical territory was known to the Spanish colonists as the Apalachee Province...
and Timucua
Timucua
The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The various groups of Timucua spoke several dialects of the...
of Spanish Florida were virtually wiped out in a raiding expedition by Moore that became known as the Apalachee Massacre
Apalachee Massacre
The Apalachee massacre was a series of brutal raids by English colonists from the Province of Carolina and their Indian allies against a largely pacific population of Apalachee Indians in northern Spanish Florida that took place during Queen Anne's War in 1704...
of 1704. Many of the survivors of these raids were relocated to the Savannah River
Savannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...
, where they were confined to reservations. Raids consisting of large native forces, sometimes including a small number of white men, continued in the following years, including major expeditions directed at Pensacola
Siege of Pensacola (1707)
The Siege of Pensacola was two separate attempts in 1707 by English-supported Creek Indians to capture the town and fortress of Pensacola, then one of two major settlements in Spanish Florida. The first attempt, in August 1707, resulted in the destruction of the town, but Fort San Carlos de...
in 1707 and Mobile in 1709. The Muscogee (Creek), Yamasee
Yamasee
The Yamasee were a multiethnic confederation of Native Americans that lived in the coastal region of present-day northern coastal Georgia near the Savannah River and later in northeastern Florida.-History:...
, and Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
, armed and led by Englishmen, dominated these conflicts at the expense of the Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
, Timucua, and Apalachee, the latter being somewhat more pacific in nature than the Creek and Chickasaw.
New England and Acadia
In 1703, Alexandre Leneuf de La Vallière de Beaubassin, who commanded a few French Canadians and 500 Native AmericansIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, led attacks against New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
settlements from Wells
Wells, Maine
Wells is a town in York County, Maine, United States. Founded in 1643, it is the third-oldest town in Maine. The population was 9,400 at the 2000 census. Wells Beach is a popular summer destination.-History:...
to Falmouth (present-day Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
). They killed or took prisoner more than 160 settlers. In February 1704, Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville
Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville
Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville was a colonial military officer of New France. He is best known in North America for leading the raid on Deerfield, Province of Massachusetts Bay against English settlers on 29 February 1704...
led 250 Abenaki and Caughnawaga
Mohawk nation
Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...
Indians and 50 French Canadians in a raid on Deerfield in the Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
, and destroyed the settlement, killing and capturing many colonists. More than 100 captives were taken on an overland journey hundreds of miles north to the Caughnawaga mission village near Montreal, where most of the children who survived were adopted by the Mohawk people. Several adults were later redeemed or released in negotiated prisoner exchanges. Unable to effectively combat these raids, New England colonists retaliated by launching an expedition against Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
. Led by the famous Indian fighter Benjamin Church, the expedition raided Grand Pre
Raid on Grand Pre
The Raid on Grand Pré was the major action of a raiding expedition conducted by New England militia Colonel Benjamin Church against French Acadia in June 1704, during Queen Anne's War...
, Chignecto
Isthmus of Chignecto
The Isthmus of Chignecto is an isthmus bordering the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia which connects the Nova Scotia peninsula with North America....
, and other settlements. Although French accounts claim that Church attempted an attack on Acadia's capital, Port Royal
Port Royal, Nova Scotia
Port Royal was the capital of Acadia from 1605 to 1710 and is now a town called Annapolis Royal in the western part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Initially Port Royal was located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, at the site of the present reconstruction of the...
, Church's account of the expedition describes a war council in which the expedition decided against making an attack.
Raiding activity continued in northern Massachusetts in 1705, against which the English colonists were unable to mount an effective defense. The raids happened too quickly for defensive forces to organize, and reprisal raids usually found Indian camps and settlements empty. There was a lull in the raiding while the French and English leaders negotiated —with only limited success —the exchange of prisoners. Raids by Indians, sometimes with French participation, persisted until the end of the war.
In May 1707, Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley
Joseph Dudley
Joseph Dudley was an English colonial administrator. A native of Roxbury, Massachusetts and son of one of its founders, he had a leading role in the administration of the unpopular Dominion of New England , and served briefly on the council of the Province of New York, where he oversaw the trial...
organized an expedition to take Port Royal. Led by John March
John March
John March was in a variety of businesses in Newbury, Massachusetts. He was a colonel in the Massachusetts Bay militia and, in that position, was active in a number of military operations against the French and Indians by the English in King William's War and Queen Anne's War.March was in charge...
, 1,600 men failed to take the fort by siege
Siege of Port Royal (1707)
The Siege of Port Royal in 1707 was two separate attempts by English colonists from New England to conquer Acadia by capturing its capital Port Royal during Queen Anne's War. Both attempts were made by colonial militia, and were led by men inexperienced in siege warfare...
; a followup expedition in August was also repulsed. In response, the French developed an ambitious plan to raid most of the New Hampshire
Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire is a name first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was formally organized as an English royal colony on October 7, 1691, during the period of English colonization...
settlements on the Piscataqua River
Piscataqua River
The Piscataqua River, in the northeastern United States, is a long tidal estuary formed by the confluence of the Salmon Falls and Cocheco rivers...
. However, much of the Indian support needed never materialized, and the Massachusetts town of Haverhill
Haverhill, Massachusetts
Haverhill is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 60,879 at the 2010 census.Located on the Merrimack River, it began as a farming community that would evolve into an important industrial center, beginning with sawmills and gristmills run by water power. In the...
was raided
Raid on Haverhill
The Raid on Haverhill was a military engagement that took place on August 29, 1708 during Queen Anne's War. French, Algonquin, and Abenaki warriors under the command of Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville descended on Haverhill, then a small frontier community in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. ...
instead. In 1709, Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil
Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil
Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil was a French politician, who was Governor-general of New France from 1703 to 1725....
, governor of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, reported that two thirds of the fields north of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
were untended due to French and Indian raids. French-Indian war parties were returning without prisoners because the New England colonists stayed in their forts and would not come out.
In September 1710, 3,600 British and colonial forces led by Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson was a British military officer and colonial administrator. His military service included time in Africa and Europe, after which he was sent as leader of the troops supporting Sir Edmund Andros in the Dominion of New England. There he distinguished himself, and was appointed...
finally captured Port Royal
Siege of Port Royal (1710)
The Siege of Port Royal , also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal...
after a siege of one week. This ended official French control of the peninsular portion of Acadia (present-day mainland Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
), although resistance continued until the end of the war.
Expeditions against Quebec
The French in New France's heartland, CanadaCanada, New France
Canada was the name of the French colony that once stretched along the St. Lawrence River; the other colonies of New France were Acadia, Louisiana and Newfoundland. Canada, the most developed colony of New France, was divided into three districts, each with its own government: Quebec,...
, opposed attacking the Province of New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
. They were reluctant to arouse the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
, who they feared more than they did the British, and with whom they had made the Great Peace of Montreal
Great Peace of Montreal
The Great Peace of Montreal was a peace treaty between New France and 40 First Nations of North America. It was signed on August 4, 1701, by Louis-Hector de Callière, governor of New France, and 1300 representatives of 40 aboriginal nations of the North East of North America...
in 1701. New York merchants were opposed to attacking New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, because it would interrupt the lucrative Indian fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
, much of which came through New France. Despite of the efforts of Peter Schuyler, the Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
commissioner of Indians, to interest them in the war, the Iroquois maintained their neutrality throughout the conflict.
Francis Nicholson and Samuel Vetch
Samuel Vetch
Samuel Vetch was a Scottish soldier and colonial governor of Nova Scotia.-Early life:...
, with some financial and logistical support from the queen, organized an ambitious assault against New France in 1709. The plan involved an overland assault on Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
via Lake Champlain and a sea-based assault by naval forces against Quebec
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
. The land expedition reached the southern end of Lake Champlain, but was called off when the promised naval support for the attack on Quebec never materialized (those forces were diverted to support Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
). The Iroquois had made vague promises of support for this effort, but successfully delayed sending support until it seemed clear the expedition was going to fail. After this failure, Nicholson and Schuyler traveled to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
accompanied by King Hendrick
Hendrick Tejonihokarawa
Hendrick Tejonihokarawa, also known as Tee Yee Neen Ho Ga Row and Hendrick Peters was a pro-English leader of the Mohawk who was one of the "Four Mohawk Kings" who went to London in 1710 to meet with Queen Anne...
and other sachem
Sachem
A sachem[p] or sagamore is a paramount chief among the Algonquians or other northeast American tribes. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms from different Eastern Algonquian languages...
s to arouse interest in the North American frontier war. The Indian delegation caused a sensation in London, and Queen Anne granted them an audience. Nicholson and Schuyler were successful in their endeavour—the queen gave support for Nicholson's successful capture of Port Royal in 1710. With that success under his belt, Nicholson again returned to England, and gained support for a renewed attempt on Quebec in 1711.
The plan for 1711 again called for land and sea-based attacks; its execution was a disaster. A fleet of 15 ships of the line and transports carrying 5,000 troops led by Admiral Hovenden Walker
Hovenden Walker
Sir Hovenden Walker was a British naval officer noted for having led an abortive 1711 expedition against Quebec City, then the capital of New France....
arrived at Boston in June, doubling the town's population and greatly straining the colony's ability to provide necessary provisions. Sailing for Quebec at the end of July, the expedition
Quebec Expedition
The Quebec Expedition, or the Walker Expedition to Quebec, was a British attempt to attack Quebec in 1711 in Queen Anne's War, the North American theatre of the War of Spanish Succession...
entered the Gulf of Saint Lawrence
Gulf of Saint Lawrence
The Gulf of Saint Lawrence , the world's largest estuary, is the outlet of North America's Great Lakes via the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean...
, and a number of its ships foundered on the rocky shores near the mouth of the Saint Lawrence in the fog. More than 700 troops were lost, and Walker called the expedition off. In the meantime, Nicholson had departed for Montreal overland, but had only reached Lake George
Lake George (New York)
Lake George, nicknamed the Queen of American Lakes, is a long, narrow oligotrophic lake draining northwards into Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River Drainage basin located at the southeast base of the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York, U.S.A.. It lies within the upper region of the...
when word of Walker's disaster reached him; he also turned back. In this expedition, the Iroquois provided several hundred warriors to fight with the English, but they also sent warnings of the expedition to the French.
Newfoundland
Newfoundland's coast was dotted with small French and English communities, with some fishing stations occupied seasonally by fishermen from Europe. Both sides had fortified their principal towns, the French at Plaisance on the western side of the Avalon PeninsulaAvalon Peninsula
The Avalon Peninsula is a large peninsula that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland.The peninsula is home to 257,223 people, which is approximately 51% of Newfoundland's population in 2009, and is the location of the provincial capital, St. John's. It is connected to the...
, the English at St. John's
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...
on Conception Bay
Conception Bay
Conception Bay is a Canadian bay located on the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland. The bay indents the Avalon Peninsula with the opening of the bay to the Atlantic Ocean at the northeast. It is bounded by Cape St. Francis in the south and Split Point near Bay de Verde in the north...
. During King William's War, d'Iberville had destroyed most of the English communities
Avalon Peninsula Campaign
The Avalon Peninsula Campaign occurred during King Williams War when forces of New France, led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, destroyed 23 English settlements along the coast of the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland in the span of three months...
in 1696–7; the island again became a battleground in 1702. In August of that year, an English fleet under the command of Commodore John Leake
John Leake
Sir John Leake was an English Admiral in the Royal Navy and a politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1715.Leake was born at Rotherhithe, the second son of Richard Leake, Master Gunner of England....
descended on the outlying French communities but made no attempts on Plaisance. During the winter of 1705 Daniel d'Auger de Subercase
Daniel d'Auger de Subercase
Daniel d'Auger de Subercase naval officer and French governor of Newfoundland, born Orthez, Béarn died Cannes-Ecluse, Île-de-France....
, the French governor at Plaisance, retaliated, leading a combined French and Mi'kmaq expedition that destroyed several English settlements and unsuccessfully besieged Fort William at St. John's
Siege of St. John's
The Siege of St. John's was a failed attempt by French forces led by Daniel d'Auger de Subercase to take the fort at St. John's, Newfoundland during the winter months of 1705. Leading a mixed force of regulars, militia, and Indians, Subercase burned much of the town and laid an ineffectual siege...
. The French and their Indian allies continued to harry the English throughout the summer, and did damages claimed at £188,000 to the English establishments. The English sent a fleet in 1706 that destroyed French fishing outposts on the island's northern coasts. In December 1708 a combined force of French, Canadian, and Mi'kmaq volunteers captured St. John's
Battle of St. John's
The Battle of St. John's was the French capture of St. John's, the capital of the British Colony of Newfoundland, on , during Queen Anne's War. A mixed and motley force of 164 men led by Joseph de Monbeton de Brouillan de Saint-Ovide, king's lieutenant to Philippe Pastour de Costebelle, the French...
, and destroyed the fortifications. Lacking the resources to hold the prize, they abandoned it, and St. John's was reoccupied and refortified by the English in 1709. (The same French expedition also tried to take Ferryland
Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador
Ferryland is a town in Newfoundland and Labrador on the Avalon Peninsula. According to the 2006 Statistics Canada census, its population is 529. Addresses in Ferryland use the alphanumerically lowest postal codes in Canada, starting with A0A....
, but it successfully resisted.)
English fleet commanders contemplated, but did not make, attacks on Plaisance in 1703 and 1711 (the latter by Admiral Walker in the aftermath of the disaster at the mouth of the St. Lawrence).
Peace
In 1712, Britain and France declared an armistice, and a final peace agreement was signed the following year. Under terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, Britain gained Acadia (which they renamed Nova ScotiaNova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
), sovereignty over Newfoundland, the Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
region, and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
island of St. Kitts. France recognized British suzerainty
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
over the Iroquois, and agreed that commerce with Native Americans further inland would be open to all nations. It retained all of the islands in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, including Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
, and retained fishing rights in the area, including rights to dry fish on the northern shore
French Shore
The French Treaty Shore resulted from the 1713 ratification of the Treaty of Utrecht. The provisions of the treaty allowed the French to fish in season along the north coast of Newfoundland between Cape Bonavista and Point Riche. This area had been frequented by fishermen from Brittany since the...
of Newfoundland.
Southern colonies
Spanish Florida never really recovered its economy or population due to the effects of the war, and was ceded to Britain following the Seven Years' War in the 1763 Treaty of ParisTreaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
. Indians that had been resettled along the Atlantic coast chafed under British rule, as did those allied to the British in this war. This discontent flared into the 1715 Yamasee War
Yamasee War
The Yamasee War was a conflict between British settlers of colonial South Carolina and various Native American Indian tribes, including the Yamasee, Muscogee, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Catawba, Apalachee, Apalachicola, Yuchi, Savannah River Shawnee, Congaree, Waxhaw, Pee Dee, Cape Fear, Cheraw, and...
that posed a major threat to South Carolina's viability. The loss of population in the Spanish territories contributed to the 1732 founding of the Province of Georgia
Province of Georgia
The Province of Georgia was one of the Southern colonies in British America. It was the last of the thirteen original colonies established by Great Britain in what later became the United States...
, which was, like Carolina, granted on territory Spain had originally claimed. Following military action by James Moore against the Tuscarora
Tuscarora (tribe)
The Tuscarora are a Native American people of the Iroquoian-language family, with members in New York, Canada, and North Carolina...
s of North Carolina (part of the Tuscarora War
Tuscarora War
The Tuscarora War was fought in North Carolina during the autumn of 1711 until 11 February 1715 between the British, Dutch, and German settlers and the Tuscarora Native Americans. A treaty was signed in 1715....
begun in 1711), many of them fled north as refugees to join their linguistic cousins, the Iroquois.
The economic costs of the war were high in some of the southern English colonies, including those that saw little military activity. Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania to a lesser extent, were hit hard by the cost of shipping their export products (primarily tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
) to European markets, and also suffered because of several particularly bad harvests. South Carolina accumulated a significant debt burden to finance military operations.
New England
Although Massachusetts and New Hampshire were on the front line of the war, the New England colonies suffered less economic damage than other areas. The importance of BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
as a center of shipbuilding and trade, combined with a financial windfall caused by the crown's military spending on the 1711 Quebec expedition, offset some of the costs of waging the war.
Newfoundland and Acadia
The loss of Newfoundland and Acadia restricted the French presence on the Atlantic to Cape Breton Island. French settlers from Newfoundland were resettled there, creating the colony of Île-Royale, and France constructed the Fortress of LouisbourgFortress of Louisbourg
The Fortress of Louisbourg is a national historic site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th century French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia...
in the following years. This presence, combined with the rights to use the Newfoundland shore, resulted in continued friction between French and British fishing interests, which was not fully resolved until late in the 18th century. The economic effects of the war were severe in Newfoundland, with the fishing fleets plying its waters significantly reduced. The British fishing fleet began to recover immediately after the peace was finalized. The British attempted to prevent Spanish ships from fishing in Newfoundland waters, as they previously had. However, many Spanish ships were simply reflagged with English straw owner
Straw owner
A straw owner is a person who owns property legally or has the legal appearance of owning something but does so on behalf of another, sometimes for a fee, and typically solely to hide the identity of the effective owner...
s to evade British controls.
The British capture of Acadia had long-term consequences for the Acadians and Mi'kmaq living there. Britain's hold on Nova Scotia was initially quite tenuous, a situation that French and Mi'kmaq resistance leaders capitalized on. British relations with the Mi'kmaq after the war developed in the context of British expansion not just in Nova Scotia, but also along the Maine coast, where New Englanders began moving into Abenaki lands, often in violation of previous treaties. Since neither the Abenakis nor the Mi'kmaq were recognized in the Treaty of Utrecht, the Mi'kmaq and Abenakis resisted these incursions into their lands. This conflict, abetted by French intriguers like Sébastien Rale
Sébastien Rale
Sébastien Rale, , , was a Jesuit missionary and lexicographer who worked among the eastern Abenaki people, but became caught up in political and military struggles between New France, New England and the natives, which would claim his life during Dummer's War.-Early years:Born in Pontarlier, France,...
, developed into Dummer's War
Dummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...
(1722–1727).
British relations with the nominally conquered Acadians were also difficult. Repeated British demands that Acadians swear oaths to the British crown were resisted, and eventually sparked an exodus
Acadian Exodus
The Acadian Exodus happened during Father Le Loutre’s War and involved almost half of the total Acadian population of Nova Scotia deciding to relocate to French controlled territories...
by the Acadians to Île-Royale and Île-Saint-Jean (present-day Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
). By the 1740s French leaders like Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre
Jean-Louis Le Loutre
Abbé Jean-Louis Le Loutre was a Catholic priest and missionary for the Paris Foreign Missions Society...
orchestrated a guerrilla war
Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre’s War , also known as the Indian War, the Micmac War and the Anglo-Micmac War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the British and New England colonists were led by British Officer Charles...
with their Mi'kmaq allies against British attempts to expand Protestant settlements in peninsular Nova Scotia.
Friction also persisted between France and Britain over Acadia's borders. The treaty was vague about describing its boundaries, which even the French had never really formally described. France insisted that only the Acadian peninsula (modern Nova Scotia except Cape Breton Island) was included in the treaty, and that they retained the rights to modern New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
. The disputes over Acadia, which flared into open conflict during King George's War
King George's War
King George's War is the name given to the operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession . It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia...
in the 1740s, would not be resolved until the British conquest of all French North American territories in the area in the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
.
Trade
The French did not fully comply with the commerce provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht. They attempted to prevent English trade with remote Indian tribes, and erected Fort NiagaraFort Niagara
Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in North America. It is located near Youngstown, New York, on the eastern bank of the Niagara River at its mouth, on Lake Ontario.-Origin:...
in Iroquois territory. French settlements on the Gulf Coast continued to grow, with the settlement of New Orleans in 1718, and other attempts, ultimately unsuccessful, to expand into Spanish-controlled Texas and Florida. French trading networks penetrated the continent along the waterways feeding the Gulf of Mexico, renewing conflicts with both the British and the Spanish. Trading networks established in the Mississippi River watershed, including the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
valley, also brought the French into more contact with British trading networks and colonial settlements that crossed the Appalachian Mountains. Conflicting claims over that territory eventually led to war in 1754, when the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
broke out.
See also
- List of conflicts in British America
- British military historyBritish military historyThe Military history of Britain, including the military history of the United Kingdom and the military history of the island of Great Britain, is discussed in the following articles:...
- French military history
- Spanish military history
- British colonization of the AmericasBritish colonization of the AmericasBritish colonization of the Americas began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas...
- French colonization of the AmericasFrench colonization of the AmericasThe French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America...
- Spanish colonization of the AmericasSpanish colonization of the AmericasColonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
- Colonial American military historyColonial American military historyColonial American military history is the military record of the Thirteen Colonies from their founding to the American Revolution in 1775. - Rangers :...
External links
- Genealogical notes on Massachusetts raids in Queen Anne's War
- Select Bibliography of Queen Anne's War compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History