Revolution & French-Indian War Revolution/French-indian War the Thesis

REVOLUTION & FRENCH-INDIAN WAR

Revolution/French-Indian War

The French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War were fairly close together in terms of timing and they had a lot of parallels and commonalities including some of the major personnel in the conflict. The French and Indian War as well as the Revolutionary War both involved people and countries that were fighting for much the same thing, that being control of lands far from the home country in the pursuit and hopes of controlling a lucrative area of land in the New World. The wars were both manifestations of colonial spats and negotiations that both involved France, Great Britain and who would become the Americans, and even Spain to a lesser extent. Indeed, it was a Spaniard king who commissioned the Columbus voyage that led to the discovery of North America. The French and Indian War set the tone for the coming fall of both British and French control in the North American region as well as around the world (Kline, 2013).

The Similarities

One similarity between the two conflicts, as noted in the introduction, is the timing. The conflicts lasted for about ten years and it started just over twenty years before the American Revolution. It lasted in total from 1754 to 1763. The end of this first conflict was a smidge over a decade before the American Revolution occurred. Another clear parallel between the French-Indian war and the American Revolution is that both Great Britain and France were both involved in both conflicts and they were on opposite ends of the battlefield both times. In the case of the French & Indian War, the war was between two colonies of British American and New France. In the Revolution, what would become the United States was joined by France for part of the war (AmericanRevolution.org).

Another commonality between the Revolutionary War and French and Indian War was that they both occurred in the eastern edge of what is now the United States. At that time, Great Britain laid claim to what eventually became the thirteen original American colonies all the way down to about mid-Georgia, with Spain laying claim to southern Georgia and Florida.Britain also controlled much of what is now Canda but "New France" was an area in that district that was in dispute. There was also a buffer zone between the western edge of the eastern seaboard area as France was directly abutting them to the west stretching from Louisiana up to the Great Lakes and into parts of Canada including Montreal. New France was to the north of Montreal with the British-controlled colonies being just south of there (History Central, 2013).

Another, and major, commonality between the two conflicts is that George Washington, then a British general, and Thomas Gage were partners in that war and were involved in a retreat from French forces that occurred during the French and Indian War conflict. During the Revolutionary War, the two men would become opponents on different sides of the battle lines as Gage remained with the British and Washington was leading the nascent American forces (History Channel, 2013).

Another similarity between the two conflicts was the way Britain's opponent fought in both conflicts. In the French and Indian war, one of the main reasons that the war includes "Indian" in the name is that the French were heavily outnumbered by the British and they used very unconventional tactics under the advice and assistance of the Indians in the area. In the Revolutionary War, the Americans faced similar odds but also used non-traditional military tactics including battle ruses and targeted assassinations of key military figures rather than standing up to the British toe to toe, as was their strong suit and preference (Kline, 2013).

In both wars, it was also clear that Virginia was a clear focal point of the war. The aforementioned retreat by George Washington and Mr. Gage culminated and completed in Georgia and some of the most important Revolutionary War battles and events occurred in different forts and areas within Virginia as….....