Do historians regard the French and Indian War and Seven Years War as apart of the same conflict?

by BoomBachette

I was discussing with someone online and about George Washington as one of the instigators of the Seven Years War with his ambush on French forces in North America.

My friend claimed that the French and Indian War was not apart of the Seven Years War, instead having already been resolved (at least Washington’s actions in them) before the Seven Years War started. This really challenged my (admittedly limited) knowledge on how I viewed the conflict.

So I’m wondering, do historians consider them apart of the same conflict? Are there certain texts you would recommend for me to read up on it?

parvum_opus

Hi there,

This subject is barely touched and it can be a bit confusing even then because of all the names, years, what counts as a war, what doesn't, etc. These conflicts, treaties, and events surrounding them all, directly influenced the trajectory of Native American cultures across the entirety of North and Central America, the birth of the United States, and unravelling of the British Empire in the Americas, and I'll never understand why it isn't taught.

Nutshell version of the answer to your question: When French & Indian War (singular) is used, it pretty much only refers to the North American campaign of the Seven Years' War from 1754-1763, so yes, F&I was a part of Seven Years' War. Just think of it as "same war, different continents."

Somewhat in-depth version: It's not generally agreed upon how many wars there were. I personally would count 6 total "real" colonial wars with endings resulting in some form of treaty fought in North America. Most were associated with various European wars happening at the same time. In the Americas there is the French & Indian Wars (plural) which was the series of 4 wars lasting from 1688 to 1763. All 4 had European and North American campaigns, and the European and American campaigns also had different names. Along with the 4 F&I's, there was Dummer's and Le Loutre's Wars which were both fought over the control of land covering Nova Scotia, and Eastern Quebec and Maine (called Acadia at the time.) There were several other random battles and such, and some pretty aggressive activity in the Caribbean, but for the sake of time and information overload I'll skip most of that and stick with everything in mainland North America only. I'll also only use the United States term for each one because there are like 5 different names for each of these wars depending on who you ask.

French and Indian Wars in order:

  • War 1: 1688-1697:
    King William's War (F&I War #1, Americas) Britain & native allies vs France & native allies
    part of:
    Nine Years' War (Europe): Spain, Britain, Portugal, Sweden, Holy Roman Empire, Netherlands & a few others vs France.
  • War 2: 1701-1714:
    Queen Anne's War (F&I War #2, 1702-1713, Americas) Britain & native allies vs France, Spain & native allies.
    part of:
    War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714 Europe): Spanish Habsburg dynasty Loyalists, Britain, Prussia, Holy Roman Empire, Netherlands, Savoy & a few others vs Spanish Borbón-Anjou dynasty loyalists, Bavaria, France & a few others
  • War 3: 1722-1725:
    Dummer's War/Father Rale's War - American Colonies & native allies vs several French-allied native tribes. One that France and Britain proper stayed out of aside from supplying their allies/colonies with goods.
  • War 4: 1740-1748:
    King George's War (F&I War #3, 1744-1748, Americas) Britain & native allies vs France & native allies.
    part of:
    War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748, Europe): Habsburg Empire, Britain, Russia, Netherlands, others vs France, Prussia, Spain, Bavaria, Sweden, others.
  • War 5: 1749-1755
    Father Le Loutre's War - Britain vs France, native allies & Acadian French loyalists.
  • War 6: 1754-1763
    French & Indian War (F&I War #4, 1754-1763, Americas) Britain & native allies vs France & native allies.
    part of:
    Seven Years' War (1756-1763, Europe): Britain, Prussia, Portugal, others vs France, Habsburg Empire, Russia, Spain, Sweden, India (Mughal Empire), others.

If you want to do some really in-depth research, I would recommend starting at the onset of the Beaver Wars. It's a rarely discussed subject and if you are counting conflicts by years, they were sort of the start of the French & Indian Wars. They began around 1608/1609 and actually overlap with King William's War, officially ending in 1701.

Books: There are hundreds out there, but I'll list some of my personal favourites from grad school that I still keep for reference on my bookshelf. My specific interest and specialty is New France and the war from the French and Native American points of view, so I do not have many Anglocentric books other than the broad reference stuff like Crucible of War and the colonial topics. If that's not your interest, you can at least probably find something in my list to get you started.

  • First, not a book, but I'd highly recommend watching The War That Made America. It's a 4 part PBS documentary that covers the F&I War, and it's absolutely amazing. I'm pretty sure you can watch the whole thing on youtube for free. It's also on DVD, but it's pretty expensive. It's a little dated in video quality and has bad acting, but it's easy to get past that.
  • Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766, Fred Anderson. ISBN: 0375706363 (this is generally accepted as the go-to source for F&I War information. It's like 900 pages, and it's absolutely awesome. Highly recommend.)
  • The War that Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War, Fred Anderson. ISBN: 0143038047 (probably the #2 book. Cut down version. Not as good as Crucible, but still great)
  • Masters of Empire: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America, Michael McDonnell. ISBN: 0809029532
  • Through So Many Dangers: The Memoirs and Adventures of Robert Kirk, Late of the Royal Highland Regiment, Robert Kirkwood. ISBN: 1930098602 (basically the diary of a guy who fought with the Highlanders)
  • The Seven Years War in North America: A Brief History with Documents, Timothy J. Shannon. ISBN: 0312445782 (this one is sort of like a school textbook)
  • Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America, Eric Jay Dolin.
    ISBN: 0393340020 (this is a good choice to begin with)
  • Any books on New France and early Canadian history by William John Eccles, he's written several. He goes by W.J. Eccles and William J. Eccles sometimes.
  • Montcalm & Wolfe: Two Men Who Forever Changed the Course of Canadian History, Roch Carrier. ISBN: 1554687633
  • American Colonies: The Settling of North America, Vol. 1, Alan Taylor.
    ISBN: 0142002100
  • Raiders from New France: North American Forest Warfare Tactics, 17th-18th Centuries, René Chartrand. ISBN: 1472833503
  • Elusive Empires: Constructing Colonialism in the Ohio Valley, 1673-1800, Eric Hinderaker.
    ISBN: 0521663458
  • Empires in the Mountains: French and Indian War Campaigns and Forts in the Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Hudson River Corridor, Russell P. Bellico.
    ISBN: 0916346836
  • Bloody Mohawk: The French and Indian War & American Revolution on New York's Frontier, Richard Berleth. ISBN: 1883789664
  • There is a 4 volume series of books called "Narratives of the French & Indian War." It's snippets from firsthand and contemporaneous accounts of various events and situations. Stories from diaries, newspapers, letters, etc., compiled into books.
    ISBN's: 1846774950, 1846775531, 1782827897, 1782828117

Also, there are thousands of free academic papers online covering the F&I Wars. Just google what you want and find some pdf's.