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Admin moved page What caused the French and Indian War? to What caused the French and Indian War
== What Triggered the French and Indian War? ==
At the same time, the European colonial governments tried to find ways to coexist with North America's original inhabitants, often making alliances with some tribes while alienating others. Sometimes, as in the French and Indian War (which in Europe was referred to as the Seven Years’ War), European politics regarding balances of power resulted in conflict in the colonies. As Europe's wars became more heated, fighting broke out between the French and the British in the American colonies. Both sides called upon Native American allies to assist them, exacerbating tensions between the tribes and tensions between the tribes and colonists. Ultimately, the British Government found it necessary to pour additional troops and resources into protecting its possessions in the Americas and taxed their colonists to pay for these resources. These taxes eventually became a rallying cry for the American independence movement.
The French and Indian War, the North American phase of the larger Seven Years’ War, began after a series of incidents in the upper Ohio River valley. The French and British governments both claimed it as their territory. Military forces assembled by both imperial powers built forts in the region and attempted to capture each others’ forts. These skirmishes, which included an expedition led by George Washington, ultimately led to the escalation of a broader, full-scale war between Great Britain and France.
Aided by such reports, the French soon learned of the British fort that William Trent and his small group of men were constructing, and French forces moved swiftly to compel its surrender on April 17, 1754. The French destroyed the unfinished fort, building in its place the much more formidable Fort Duquesne.
== What was George Washington's role in the French and Indian War? ==
== Why did the French and Indian War escalate the Seven Years War? ==
British expeditions that sought to challenge French forts in the western frontier spiraled out of control. Instead of intimidating the French, Washington's expedition ended in disaster. Not only was he was forced to surrender to the French and allied Indian troops, but his actions also encouraged the British to escalate these minor skirmishes with France into an outright war that would eventually migrate to Europe.
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Republished from the [https://history.state.gov/ Office of the Historian, United States Department of State]
