The French and Indian War (1754-1763) was the last great colonial conflict waged between Great Britain and France in North America. Often considered a theater of the global Seven Years' War (1756-1763), it was sparked over a territorial dispute in the Ohio River Valley but escalated into a full-scale war of conquest and imperial domination. The war reached its climax at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in September 1759, which led to the British capture of Quebec City and the fall of New France. In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, France ceded Canada to Britain, ending the century-long struggle between the two empires for control of the North American continent.
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Definition
Timeline
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11 Dec 1753Major Washington arrives at Fort LeBoeuf to demand the French stop building forts on the Ohio River. He is politely, but firmly, rebuffed.
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28 May 1754Washington and Mingo chief Tanacharison ambush a party of French soldiers at Jumonville Glen, killing the French commander.
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3 Jul 1754Battle of Fort Necessity; the French allow Washington and his men to return home after signing a document admitting they 'assassinated' a French diplomat.
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9 Jul 1755A British expeditionary force under Gen. Braddock is ambushed by French and Indians near the Monongahela River in modern PA; 800 British casualties, including Braddock.
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8 Sep 1755Battle of Lake George results in a British victory.
