french and indian war occur or the seven years war in north america. the british, of course, will call this the french and indian war. the name as we'll see in today's lecture can be a little misleading because not all indian peoples by any means sided with the french. indian peoples shifted in loyalty. some were more neutral at the beginning of the conflict. others joined the french. others had a wait and see attitude. some would change sides during the war. so native peoples belonged to particular groups. we have to think of them as iroquois and even within the iroquois of the various nations within that native confederacy. let's say the mohawks as compared to the senecas, and, of course, you have to do the same with the other native groups,

shawnees, delawares, potawatomies, miamis, many, many others, and we'll talk about some of those today. so the name french and indian war can be used to indicate the seven years war north america, but it's very important to remember that it doesn't really mean that all the natives by any means are simply on the french side or that they stay on one side throughout the war. again, native peoples enter this conflict for their own reasons, for their own interests. and we'll see that their interests are not identical at all to the french, let alone to the british. so what is ft. necessity? ft. necessarisy is a site in western -- southwestern pennsylvania today. then it was in this broad region called the ohio country.

it was where washington in the summer of 1754 established a simple crude fort in a meadow. there was a large meadow there. and that has been preserved to today amidst a great forest of endless miles. and washington thought i'll establish a defensive position here. there had already been at that time the first skirmishes between the virginians and the french. now, what happened is that the french who were several hundred at ft. duquesne and who had even more native allies in the area, came to contest washington, and they were stronger and forced him to surrender in july 1754. and so this first military action of washington's in the war is a failure. he and the virginians are defeated.

however, they're able to surrender on honorable terms and permitted to return to virginia. so, yet the french have sent the message that british colonials will not have an easy time if they pass into the ohio country. they will be contested by the french and the french, of course, will rely on native allies such as the delawares and the shawnees, and it's interesting to note that in relying on the delawares and shawnees, the french were calling upon the assistance of native peoples who had been forced westward by british colonials in eastern pennsylvania. and some of these native peoples forced westward, of course, harbored resentment against the british and british colonials and helps -- this helps to explain why some of them aided the french at this early stage

in the conflict. now, in 1754 and into '55, the british government decided that the conflict in north america was serious enough that british troops should become directly involved. now, this is a very interesting point. the year is 1755. war has not yet been declared between britain and france. and yet, there is fighting in north america that's already begun. the british government makes the decision to send two regiments of troops totaling nearly 2,000 men to north america to join in the conflict there. even though britain and france are not yet at war in europe,

but the british government is thinking that north america is sufficiently important that we have to stop the french possession and capture of the ohio country. we cannot tolerate that. it's strategically important to us to be involved here. and the man who was appointed the head of the two british regiments was a veteran soldier, a veteran general, general edward braddock, and here we see a portrait of braddock. braddock entered the american scene very confident thinking that his regulars would carry the day. and not only he thought take ft. duquesne but march onward to niagara and other points and

defeat the french. this was braddock's conception. no doubt he was overconfident. he landed -- where did his troops first come? they came to virginia and then moved into maryland and then northwestward toward ft ft. duquesne. accompanying him were virginia militia men. and george washington was at the head of those virginia militia assisting general braddock. so here we have colonials, british colonials from virginia working with the british commander general braddock. braddock didn't find everything easy. he found that the colonists weren't necessarily simply cooperative with the british war effort, especially farmers, and

it took benjamin franklin's intervention to help procure wagons and horses for the british army. and franklin acted as an agent for general braddock and rural counties, and basically his message to the farmers was cooperate with the king. he is here to defend us. his troops that is. and if you cooperate, the king will pay well for your horses and carts. do not be afraid. you can come along as teamsters as well as the men who would manage the carts or drive them, and you will get good pay, but if you do not cooperate, then the king's business must be done and you will lose your wagons and horses and get nothing. so, of course, the farmers did cooperate. and the king paid in good hard

money. well, here we see roughly the path of braddock from virginia and then maryland along north of the potomac and then long journey through the heavily wooded terrain finally approaching ft. duquesne in july 1754. there he encounters a force of roughly a thousand in the enemy camp. they are -- have come out of the ft. duquesne. they didn't necessarily expect to meet braddock and his men, but they did. and the fierce fight ensued. opposing braddock were several hundred french soldiers and perhaps 600 natives of the

potawatomies, miamis, some shawnees and delawares, peoples who lived in the ohio country in the vicinity and who believed that france was now strong in the region and their best bet lay in allying with france and strengthening their ties to the french. also significant was the fact that braddock had rejected assistance from delaware and shawnee chiefs and told one delaware chief that the indians would not inherit the land, that it was the british land. braddock, in other words, believed he needed no native help. he was terribly wrong as events would prove. instead, he alienated the delawares and shawnees. some aided the french. the french had other native allies in the ohio country and

its western margins, and the result was a staggering british defeat out of braddoof. out of braddock's men who were engaged, out of the number of 1,400, 1,000 were either killed or wounded. out of the number of 1400, 1,000 were either killed or wounded. over 400 killed out of a force of about 1,400 in the advance line and 400 wounded. many officers were killed or wounded. braddock himself was shot and killed. mortally wounded. and after he died, he was buried in the road. washington had several horses shot out from under him. he was lucky that he survived this campaign. the troops themselves beat a hasty retreat going all the way back to philadelphia. so in this first major conflict between the british and french

in north america, with their respective colonists involved especially here, colonists from virginia and there were some french canadians assisting the french war effort here, the british side suffered a great defeat. and one of the reasons, of course, was the french had the native support, and the british in this battle had virtually none. so the year again is 1755. and now it's apparent, war is in full tilt. well, let's now move to another important theater of the war. now, again, remember that acadia today called nova scotia, province of canada, is in the maritime zone of the atlantic. and french colonists had settled here going back to the mid to late 1600s. and also, there was a good native population in acadia

mainly of the mick maxs -- of the mi'kmaqs and another group as well, and the point was that the situation of acadia was very tricky at the beginning of the war, very complex, uncertain and fraught with conflict. let me just back up for a minute and say why. and maybe we can going to an overall map of north america to come back and explain this point. in 1713 after the british had conquered and the british in that war relied on new england troops principally from massachusetts to take hold of acadia, in 1713, after a war

between britain and france, france ceded or surrendered acadia to the british. the british will rename that province nova scotia. the french, however, were still in the region. first of all, most of the colonists, the great, great majority in acadia, were french. second of all, the french retained, according to the peace treaty, this island, which is cape breton island today. it's hard to see that it's an island on the map, but it is. there's a narrow channel between it and the rest of nova scotia or acadia.

so the french did retain this island and also this island off the coast of acadia. besides that, this region was also part of french canada. the point is this. 1713, going back to an earlier french/british war, after all, this was an era of french/british conflict and the seven years war that we talk about today is the culmination of this really in the colonial period. in 1713, when the british gained governance of nova scotia or acadia, the colonists were french. so what did the british say to the french then? they basically wanted them to remove. they wanted the french colonists

out if they could effect that. and then they would bring in -- they would bring in -- remove the french catholics if they could to better control the territory which after all was close to the gulf which borders the gulf of st. lawrence and the entry to the st. lawrence river. the point is though, the british military in acadia was weak. they only had a few hundred men. and even though they would have liked to have removed the french catholics if they could have in 1713, they did not. and they found it more politic and wiser to allow them to remain, an they did remain. and basically over the next several decades, the french population grew.

it had a very high birth rate, higher than the number of deaths even though the population was small. nevertheless, it was growing by the time we're talking about in the 1950s, there were about 13,000 french colonists in the area of acadia and cape breton island and this island which was called by the isle st. john and now is prince edward island and in surrounding areas. there were about 13,000 french. well, a couple of things happened to lead to the main topic that i'm going to talk about next. that is the expulsion of the acadians. please. >> when did you say they were -- [ inaudible question ]

>> the population reached 13,000 french colonists in nova scotia by the 1750s. it had been much smaller than that back 50 years before then or 40 years before when the british had gained the governance. >> did you say something about preddand? >> prince edward island is today this island here. that's its flame in canada. however, in this period, the french, and we have to remember that they first gave colonial names to this region, the french using the name acadia or acadie in french to indicate what we call nova scotia, and they called the prince edward island the isle st. john. okay. well there were several things which determined british authorities on the expulsion of the acaddians in the mid-1750 is, a is, and it occurred during this war in north america that we

talked about that began in the ohio country. as french, british tensions built to a pitch, certain british officials determined or decided that it would be in their empire's interests to evict and deport the acadians, the french settlers in acadia. who were the main actors in this? and why was the decision taken and what was the acadian position at the time? we could devote a whole class to that. so i can only hit a few high points here. let's go back to the map of acadia. and we come to the rationale of the british. the rationale was that a small minority of the acadians, even though living under british though living under british rule had assisted the french in warfare during the 1740s. and then a small number had assisted the french in warfare

in this region in 1754-'55. what was the position of most of the acadian settlers, the great majority in the great majority wanted to say neutral.the great wanted to say neutral. they said let us be subjects of the king of britain. that's fine. but we insist on two conditions basically. and one of these conditions we'll see was the most important. the first condition was we should not be forced to make war against our own countrymen or natives, indians. we will be loyal to britain. we will not, of course, take up war, arms against britain. but nor should we be compelled as subjects to take up arms against the french. the french in canada are, after all, our kin, our relative. we would be loyal to britain if

we may be neutral. second of all, we expect the british to respect our religious freedom and to grant us the right to have as many catholic priests as we need, even though they are trained in france, even though their loyalties are french, the priests should be free to minister to our religious needs. there might have been some give on the question of religion, but in the time of war there was none. finally on this question of loyalty allegiance and what the british governor of nova scotia did in 1753-'54 is he said now is the time. there is war with the french. we know it's happening in virginia. braddock's defeat. we cannot trust the acadians. they say they will stay out of the conflict. but we know they may give secret assistance to the french on the

nearby cape breton island, the isle st. john or in quebec. they must be eliminated. they must be basically expelled, deported. the key officer there was a governor, the governor of nova scotia, a man named charles lawrence. lawrence was acting with the basic approval of the british government in london. although they did not give him explicit instructions, they gave him enough leeway where he could order the evacuation of the acadians if he chose. the evacuation of the acadians only became possible during war. and only because massachusetts sent 2,000 men to attack french

forts in the region of acadia and the border lands. and there was no clear boundary between british and french territory. where were the french forts located here? on this isthmus between acadia and what is today the province of new brunswick. it wasn't called that then. this was part of french canada. this was under british rule. there's no clear boundary in the early 1750s, the french establish a couple of forts here. some acadians, the minority living in the area assist the french. most of the acadians wanted nothing to do with the conflict. they wanted to stay out. they wanted to keep their land. they would be willing british subjects if they were allowed to be neutral and respected in religion. the british authorities, governor lawrence, governor

shirley in massachusetts, and the men of massachusetts said now is the time to strike at acadia and nova scotia. what can we do there? if we push out the french, we will settle there. the land will be ours. it's wartime. the enemy cannot be trusted. and so the key to the expulsion was the new england invasion assisted and, of course, the new englanders were coming to nova scotia which was british territory. but they were to making war against the french forts in the border region. that was what was occurring. and if those attacks were successful, then they could go about the expulsion and only if the attacks were successful. it was wartime again. and sure enough, the new england

men, 2,000, with some british support, most of the troops were new england, they had some british ships assisting them and a couple hundred british troops. they took over the french coover canadian forts, and then shortly after those forts were taken over, the year was 1755. it was the summer. the government in nova scotia, the british government decided to go ahead with the evacuation. well, the only way governor lawrence could accomplish that was through the massachusetts troops. and that is what occurred. and it was a very, very sad tragic train of events where -- and the news spread to boston from halifax. halifax is a city, as you know, in nova scotia today named for the earl of halifax, a major leader in the british government. and a report came out of halifax to boston.

we are now upon a great and noble scheme of sending the neutral french out of this province who have always been secret enemies and have encouraged the savages to cut our throats. we can't trust them, they say. they may say they want to be neutral. they want to stay out of the conflict. they will even give us int intelligence on what the french canadians are doing, and many -- most of them were. they wanted -- acadians wanted to be neutral and to retain their property and lands. they didn't want to be embroiled and caught in this conflict beyond their control, but the fact is here they were dragged in in a terrible way, and the british authorities, with the support of the new england troops and colonel winslow, john winslow of massachusetts, conveyed the news to the french inhabitants gathered in towns and churches and brought into forts, and the way the british

authorities did this was by subterfuge, it's true. how could they evacuate a population in those days with the limited technology? they basically said this. we order all men to come into the fort or to meet at this church. you will be safe. we will discuss the situation about your lands. we will have some discussions. then they said you are now under arrest, and then they sent word to the women and children in the villages. if you want to see your man, you come to the fort. that's the next stage to expulsion, and that's how it was done. it was done through deceit. it was a calculated policy. they wanted to remove the french, strengthen the british interest, give room to the new englanders to colonize and to have a protestant-dominated colony.

john winslow said to the inhabitants, most who could not speak english, he said it through an interpreter. gentlemen, your land and cattle and livestock of all sorts are forfeited to the crown with all your effects saving your money and household goods and that you yourselves, the whole french inhabitants from these districts, are to be removed from this province. winslow himself thought it very dis agragreeable he was was his word. he was not one who went about this task with any smile. rather, it was with sorrow, but they thought it, quote, necessary, and a massachusetts captain remarked that the inhabitants gathered together before embarkation, and when

they were told they are going to be expolled with, quote, lamentation, i must confess it seemed to be something shocking. one acadian woman writing of her husband at the time and in a family account said her husband remained seated for a long time. mr. leblanc in front of the he arth, his head in his hands and his face bathed in tears. he said not a single word, but he began to collect all the objects that could be carried with them. in other words, they would only be allowed to carry what they could. all their livestock, all their physical property was seized and forfeited to the british crown. please. >> where exactly did they expel the acadians to? >> well, that's an excellent point, and the next slide. here is a portrait of colonel winslow of massachusetts who was very much involved in the

expulsion under governor lawrence in 1755, and this is an inspiration by a -- by an acadian artist or a canadian artist, excuse me, of the early 20th century imagining what this may have been like when the british passed word to the acadian men gathered in a church that you are now to be expelled. all your lands and life stoke forfeit to the government, and imagining what that scene may have been like. so this scene lives in the memories, of course, of acadians and their descendants to the day, and, of course, it's something that's extraordinarily important in the history of canada and north america in general. you can't really separate, you see, the history of the british colonies that later become the united states from the history