Primary Sources: Wars & Conflicts: French and Indian War

"Between the years 1754 and 1763, major powers engaged in a global struggle, the Seven Years War. In North America, this conflict was referred to as the French and Indian War. The conflict between the French and British Empires included indigenous nations.The French and Indian War helped set the stage for the American Revolution by necessitating British taxation of the American colonists to pay for the war costs. For Native American groups who sided with the French, the outcome of the conflict would prove devastating. This collection of documents, images, maps, and artifacts provides various perspectives on the war, incorporating the view from the leadership and from more marginalized groups. By analyzing, exploring, and interpreting these primary sources, students will gain insight into the experience of eighteenth-century warfare, from the point of view of the “winners” and the “losers.” "

"The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a variety of material associated with the French and Indian War (the North American part of the Seven Years' War), including manuscripts, maps, and prints. This guide compiles links to digital materials related to the French and Indian War that are available throughout the Library of Congress Web site. In addition, it provides links to external Web sites focusing on the French and Indian War and a bibliography containing selections for both general and younger readers."

A soldier's diary provides a vivid first-hand account of fighting in northern New York during the early stages of the Seven Years' War, when the British and colonial forces suffered a series of punishing defeats at the hands of the French and their Indian allies.

Includes historical newspaper coverage and other sources related to the French and Indian War and to Fort Necessity.

Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society

During the 18th century, American colonists found themselves increasingly involved in wars, often imperial ones, spiraling out of European battlefields onto the North American continent. The Seven Years War between France and Great Britain began along the western frontier and spread in 1754. New Englanders eagerly volunteered for expeditions leading to the invasion of French Canada. British and colonial forces succeeded together in capturing the great French fortress of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia in 1758. But as Massachusetts soldier Gibson Clough discovered, the British regular army looked down on the colonial militia. British concepts of discipline and social hierarchy varied significantly from colonial ones, and the war experience began to encourage colonists’ conception of themselves as Americans.