Section+4+The+French+and+Indian+War

=The British vs. The French=

British victory over the French in North America enlarged the British empire but led to new conflicts with the colonists.

- France had begun its North American empire in 1534, when Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River. - In 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded the town of Quebec. - In 1682, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, claimed the entire Mississippi Valley for France, naming it Louisiana in honor of King Louis XIV. - In 1754 the European population of New France, the French colony in North America, had grown to only about 70,000

France and Great Britain had already fought two wars during the 1700's. In 1754, the British French conflict happened again. In that year, the French built Fort Duquesne--the site of modern Pittsburgh.