The crown of France had just issued the Edict of Nantes in 1598 which had granted limited toleration to French Protestants. Prior to the Edict of Nantes, the tension between the Roman Catholics and the Protestant Huguenots, as a result over 10,000 Protestant Huguenots had died. However, after the bloody resolution, France would have a new ruler to the throne, King Louis XIV. This paved the way for Frances desired expansion in the new world, the establishment of Québec. In which Samuel de Champlain …show more content…
Concerned by the French land-grabbing and cutthroat fur-trade competition, the colonists were determined to fight for their economic security and sovereignty of their way in life in the Americas. Rivalry for land had pressured both sides to the snapping point, in 1749 a group of colonial speculators, highly influential Virginians, which included the Washington family, had been given the vague legal rights to some 500,000 acres which disputed the same land in which the French had erected a chain of forts, most notably Fort Duquesne. In 1754 the Virginian Governor issued Washington as a lieutenant colonel in command to secure the Virginians’ claim to the disputed lands. His detachment of 150 militiamen firing first on a small patrol of French troops 40 miles from Fort Duquesne. In due time, the French returned with reinforcements surrounding Washington’s hastily made encampment and was forced to surrender on July 4th, 1754. However, Washington was allowed to march his men with the full honors of war. Without delay, the British authorities in Nova Scotia had begun to exile the French Acadians, whom Britain had conquered in 1713, fearing the possible backstab in the future due to rising conflicts with France again. Most deportees were scattered as far south as Lousiana, where the descendants of the French-speaking Acadians now called …show more content…
Who was popularly known as the “Great Commoner.” Pitt used the common people as the backbone of his strength, who in turn admired him greatly. In 1757 Pitt had become a foremost leader in the London government and earned the title “ Organizer of Victory.” The British had won a significant victory in 1758 against the Louisbourg sending a powerful force to attack the even more strengthened fort. Next on Pitt’s list was Québec, assigning the 32-year-old James Wolfe to this task to take Québec. James Wolfe had successfully sent a force scaling a poorly guarded part of the rocky elevation face of the cliff. The 2 armies met on the Plains of Abraham on the outskirts of Québec. Both commanders of the British under Wolfe and the French commanded by Marquis de Montcalm both fell, but ultimately the French were defeated. The battle of Québec in 1759 was one of the most important engagements in British and American history and when Montréal fell in 1760, the French flag was kept raised for the last time in Canada. From the Treaty of Paris in 1763, French power was thrown completely off the continent of North America. Then to compensate for their ally Spain, France had to give up most of its claimed territories which were ceded to