Early Wars in the New World

In 1689-1697 King William's War between England and France.

1702-1713 Queen Anne's War between England and France (cost France Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Hudson Bay)

1744 - 1748 King George's War

All these wars were indecisive, and merely struggles for position in the New World.

In 1699 the French tightened their hold on the mouth of the Mississippi River and built palisaded posts in Illinois.  The British on the other hand, locked up the Hudson Bay and founded Georgia colony in 1732 as a center for fur traders to undermine the Spanish Indian alliances in East and West Florida.

Thus began the French and Indian War (Seven Year's War) in 1754.  Left over from King George's War when the British navy had kept the French from fur trade in America, the British found allies in the Indians, who were now dependent on guns, blankets and bullets from the white man, and not at all happy with the French.

Well supplied British traders from the back country of Pennsylvania began moving into the Ohio Valley.  Traders welcomed them.  George Croghan  even ordered a post built at the Miami Village of Pickawillany.  (George  was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country became the region's key figure by his 1746 appointment to the Iroquois' Onondaga Council and remained so until his banishment from the frontier in 1777).

By building the Miami post, the British threatened the very heart of the French empire in North America,  cutting the trade routes between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. 

France struck first.  A band of French traders and Ottawa Indians attacked the Miami village in 1752.  The post was destroyed, defenders killed and Indian chiefs allied with the British  were boiled and eaten by the Ottawas...yuk!

French Governor Duquesne, riding high on victory, built a chain of forts from Lake Erie to the Ohio
River, sealing off the Ohio Valley from British settlers from Pennsylvania:  Fort Presqu'isle (Lake Erie), Fort Le Boeuf (French Creek), Fort Venangol (Allegheny River), Fort Duquesne (Forks of Ohio). 

War was England's only recourse - both to preserve Britain's national honor, but also to keep the West open for trade. 

Next time...Clash of 2 Empires in the New World
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Today in Pioneer History: On September 7, 1813,  the United States gets its nickname, Uncle Sam. The name is linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, who supplied barrels of beef to the United States Army during the War of 1812.Wilson (1766-1854) stamped the barrels with “U.S.” for United States, but soldiers began referring to the grub as “Uncle Sam’s.”