The French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years War, began in 1754. The cause of the war was a race for possession of the same territory -- the trans-Appalachian region.
Back to "Colonial Period" Chronology
The Lieutenant-Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia decided to send George Washington with a message to the French commandant on French Creek asking for withdrawal of the French as trespassers. The French refused to leave. They captured a fort, today Pittsburgh, built by the British in 1754. In 1755, General Braddock came to America from Britain, with his army, to recapture the fort. He refused to take any advice of the people who knew the situation better and his army was defeated while he was killed. England withheld the declaration of the war until 1756.
When England's victory was almost sure, Spain entered the war in 1761. Now, the British triumph was delayed, and, with the involvement of England, France, and Spain, the war lasted until 1763.
The French and Indian War was part of a wider European conflict known as the Seven years War which pitted England and Prussia against France, Austria, Russia and Spain. The French and Indian War was concluded by the Treaty Of Paris of February 10, 1763. It was signed by England, France, and Spain.
By the Treaty of Paris in 1763, France lost Canada in favor of Great Britain and all claims to territory east of the Mississippi, while Spain, in order to recover Cuba which Britain had taken, ceded Florida. New Orleans went with Louisiana to Spain, but with these exceptions England now held the whole of North America east of the Mississippi.
The Treaty of Paris was a triumph for England over her rivals in the race for worldwide empire.
Channing, Edward. A History of the United States. Vol.2., (New York; The Macmillan Company, 1926).
Hockett, Homer C. Political and Social Growth of the American People 1492-1865. (New York; The Macmillan Company, 1940).
Ogg, Frederic Austin. Builders of the Republic. (New Haven; Yale University Press, 1927).