FRANCE’S NORTH AMERICAN EMPIRE
France had begun its North American
empire in 1534, when Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River. In 1608,
Samuel de Champlain founded the town of Quebec, the first permanent French
settlement in North America.
After establishing Quebec, French priests and traders spread into the heart of
the continent. In 1682, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, claimed the entire
Mississippi Valley for France, naming it Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV.
However, by 1754 the European population of New France, the French colony
in North America, had grown to only about 70,000 (compared to more than
1,000,000 in the British colonies).
From the start, New France differed from the British colonies. Typical French
colonists included fur traders and Catholic priests who wanted to convert Native
Americans. Neither had a desire to build towns or raise families.
The French colonists also developed friendlier relations with Native
Americans than did the British. They relied on Hurons, Ottawas, Ojibwas, and
others to do most of the trapping and then traded with them for the furs, which
were in great demand in Europe. This trade relationship led to several military
alliances. As early as 1609, for example, the Algonquin and other Native
Americans used Champlain’s help to defeat their traditional enemies, the
Mohawk Iroquois.
Britain Defeats an Old Enemy
As the French empire in North America expanded, it collided with the growing
British empire. France and Great Britain had already fought two inconclusive wars
during the previous half-century. In 1754, the French-British conflict reignited. In
that year, the French built Fort Duquesne at the point where the Allegheny and
Monongahela rivers join to form the Ohio—the site of modern Pittsburgh.
However, the British had previously granted 200,000
acres of land in the Ohio country to a group of wealthy
planters. The Virginia governor sent militia, a group of
ordinary citizens who performed military duties, to evict
the French.
The small band, led by an ambitious 22-year-old
officer named George Washington, established an
outpost called Fort Necessity about 40 miles from Fort
Duquesne. In May 1754, Washington’s militia attacked a
small detachment of French soldiers, and the French
swiftly counterattacked. In the battle that followed in
July, the French forced Washington to surrender.
Although neither side realized it, these battles at Fort
Necessity were the opening of the French and Indian
War, the fourth war between Great Britain and France for
control of North America.
EARLY FRENCH VICTORIES
A year after his defeat,
Washington again headed into battle, this time as an aide
to the British general Edward Braddock, whose mission
was to drive the French out of the Ohio Valley.
Braddock first launched an attack on Fort Duquesne.
As Braddock and nearly 1,500 soldiers neared the fort,
French soldiers and their Native American allies ambushed
them. The British soldiers, accustomed to enemies who
marched in orderly rows rather than ones who fought
from behind trees, turned and fled.
86 C
HAPTER 3
A
WASHINGTON’S
RESIGNATION
George Washington’s military
career nearly ended shortly after
it started. In 1754, as the British
prepared to wage war on France
in North America, Washington
eagerly awaited a position with
the regular British army.
The governor of Virginia offered
Washington the rank of captain—
a demotion from Washington’s
position as colonel. Washington
angrily rejected the offer as well
as a later proposal that he retain
the rank of colonel but have the
authority and pay of a captain.
The young Virginian’s patriotism,
however, was too strong. He
swallowed his pride and
relaunched his military career as
a volunteer aide to General
Braddock in the spring of 1755.
MAIN IDEA
MAIN IDEA
A
Contrasting
How was the
French colony in
North America
unlike the British
colonies?
A. Answer
France focused
on the fur trade
rather than on
settlement.The
French colonists
also developed
friendlier rela-
tions with
Native
Americans than
did the British.
