French and Indian Wars
The French and Indian Wars were a series of conflicts that occurred in North America between 1688 and 1763, some of which indirectly were related to the European dynastic wars. The title French and Indian War in the singular is used in the United States specifically for the warfare of 1754–63, which composed the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War and the aftermath of which led to the American Revolution. The French and Indian Wars were preceded by the Beaver Wars.
Not to be confused with the French and Indian War, the name given to the fourth conflict of the following wars.In Quebec, the various wars are generally referred to as the Intercolonial Wars. Some conflicts involved Spanish and Dutch forces, but all pitted the Kingdom of Great Britain, its colonies, and their Indigenous allies on one side against France, its colonies, and its Indigenous allies on the other. A driving cause behind the wars was the desire of each country to take control of the interior territories of America, as well as the region around Hudson Bay; both were deemed essential to domination of the fur trade.
European military forces[edit]
British[edit]
The British military forces consisted of the British Army's regular regiments and independent companies; the provincial regiments raised by the several colonies in British America, and the colonial militia.
Indigenous allies[edit]
British allies[edit]
The Iroquois League played an important strategic role in the struggle between Britain and France over northeastern America because of its location east and south of Lake Ontario. The League's aggressive military and commercial policy gave the five Iroquois nations control over large parts of the country, forcing many smaller Indigenous nations into submission. The Iroquois used the Covenant Chain to join with the colony of New York and other British colonies in a compact that generally benefitted the parties and ultimately was disastrous for France.[3]