The French and Indian War

In the 1750's, France and Britain were fighting in Europe. The war expanded to the Americas. British clolonies wanted to take over french land in North America. They also wanted to take over the fur trade in the french territory. The french had moved into territories that the british had already claimed. In 1754, major George Washington was sent by Virginia's govenor to evict the french from fort Duquesne. Washington came upon a french scouting party and ordered his men to open fire. Washington's men killed 12 frenchmen and wounded 22. The war was on. During the first two years of the war the french and the indians became allies and defeated the british in various ocations. The tide of the war changed in 1756 when William Pitt became the secretary of state. The british applied new resources into the battle of north america and slowly started to capture french forts. In 1759, the british won the battle of the Plains of Abraham, which allowed them to capture Quebec. The next year they captured Montreal and thus completed the capture of Canada, effectively ending the war in north america. The war officially ended on February 10, 1763, with the signing of the treaty of Paris. France officially ceded all of its holdings in North America, west of the Mississipi. The cost of the war and of controling the newly aquired territory was high. The british looked to the colonies to help pay those costs. That began the long spiral events that led to the revolution.