who were unable to make effective reply. The provincials, of whom Washington was one of the officers, fought frontier fashion, from behind trees, covering the retreat of the shattered army. Against the western border, left exposed by this failure, the French now directed the savages, for most of the tribes quickly turned to the side which seemed to be winning. "It is incredible," wrote a French captain, "what a quantity of scalps they bring us. . . . . . These miserable English are in the extremity of distress, and repent too late of the unjust war they began against us." To Washington, in command of a few hundred militia, fell the hard task of defending as best he could the harassed frontier. The years 1756 and 1757 brought fresh disasters for the English. The Canadian forces led by the able Marquis de Montcalm gained control of western New York and the Lake Champlain district. In the crisis there came to the front one of the really great Englishmen of the century, William Pitt. His statesmanship rose so far above the level of the place-seeking politicians of his day that he had not up to this time won a cabinet appointment. Now as the dominating personality in a new ministry he became the organizer of victory. When England declared war in 1756, a diplomatic revolution took place in Europe. France, the ally of Prussia in the previous struggle, growing apprehensive of her rising power, joined with Austria and Russia, while England acted with Prussia. Ambitious for the place of predominance among the states of Europe, France aspired also to rank as the greatest colonial and maritime power. Grasping at both objects she dissipated her resources in the effort to put huge armies into the field while increasing her navy at the same time. Pitt discerned the error of France and concentrated his effort upon the building up of British sea power, letting Prussia fight the battles of the alliance on the continent with the aid of money subsidies. In consequence, British naval strength soon outdistanced that of France, and her sea power eventually won the war. Moreover, Pitt put aside the incompetent army officers who owed their rank to seniority or favoritism and promoted young men to the positions of responsibility. The later successes of Jeffrey Amherst and James Wolfe vindicated his wisdom. Pitt also tactfully appealed to the loyalty of Americans, giving fairer recognition to colonial officers, and undertaking to pay for the operations of colonial troops outside of their own jurisdictions. The population of the English colonies outnumbered that of the French about thirteen to one, but it was impossible to muster it in full force. The assemblies had to be appealed to separately in carrying forward war plans, for all schemes of intercolonial union came to nought.1 While the English provinces were in little danger of actual conquest, the success of the French would have meant peace on terms which would have stopped British expansion. The task of the English, therefore, was to regain the offensive, and, if possible, to break down the French defense of the Ohio Valley and Canada. This was Pitt's strategy. The superiority of the British navy began to tell in 1758, cutting off supplies and reënforcements for the Canadian armies, and coöperating with the land force under Amherst in a successful attack on Louisburg. The tide of war turned. Despite minor reverses in the Lake Champlain Valley, the year was one of victory. Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario was taken, and an expedition under General John Forbes marched against Fort Duquesne. Defeating the enemy in a skirmish on the way, they found that the discouraged French had burned the fortifications and withdrawn. The new Fort Pitt erected at the forks of the Ohio was a monument to the British statesman. Again, in the summer of 1759, a fleet in the St. Lawrence cut off succor for the French and enabled Wolfe to lay siege to Quebec, the chief stronghold of Canada. Nature was the ally of the defenders. Almost inaccessible cliffs guarded the approaches from the river side, and Montcalm hoped to avoid a combat until the early northern winter compelled his enemy to raise the siege. Wolfe, however, in mid-September, found a path which enabled him to scale the heights and force Montcalm to battle. The prize of victory was the possession of Quebec. The next year saw the fall of Montreal and the completion of the conquest of Canada. Pitt aimed at victory so complete that England could dictate the terms of peace; but the final triumph was delayed by Spain's entry into the war in 1761. The Bourbon allies hoped that 1 See page 95 for the efforts to form a union. their united fleets might more than match the sea power of the English. The naval war of the final years only added, however, to the series of British successes, and involved Spain as well as France in the disasters of defeat. During this final stage a shift in politics led to Pitt's resignation and the peace negotiations fell to his successors. By the treaties of Paris in 1763 France yielded to Great Britain Canada and all claims to territory east of the Mississippi, while Spain, in order to recover Cuba which Britain had taken, ceded Florida.1 New Orleans went with Louisiana to Spain, but with this exception England now held the whole of North America east of the Mississippi. France retained only two little islands in the St. Lawrence, of importance to fishermen. In the Far East, also, the fruits of British generalship were garnered by the diplomats at Paris in the expulsion of France from India. THE PROBLEM OF THE WEST The treaties of 1763 swept away all European opposition to English expansion to the Mississippi, but the management of this vast new estate was beset with difficulties. What policy should be followed with respect to the Indian occupants? Should white settlers be permitted to go beyond the Alleghanies, and if so, on what conditions? What additional provision was needed for the defense of the augmented empire? Finally, how should the great debt incurred in the war be met, and how should the vast sums be raised which were needed for this purpose and for administration? These questions confronted the ministry in 1763. The Indian problem seemed most pressing of all. The time had come when Indian relations could no longer be left to the governments of the separate colonies. Sad confusion had resulted from the diversity of provincial laws, and the natives had suffered many things at the hands of unscrupulous whites. The ministry resolved to take the responsibility for Indian affairs as an imperial matter. The Six Nations, while sympathetic with the British, had on the whole maintained a neutral 1 This is equivalent to saying that Spain, like France, relinquished her claim to all territory east of the Mississippi. The boundary between the Spanish, English, and French claims in the Gulf region had been ill-defined. France Spain RESULTS OF FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, 1756-1763. attitude during the war, but the more remote tribes in the Ohio Valley and Northwest had sided with the French, chiefly through fear that British success would mean the loss of their lands. The advance of the British farming frontier alarmed them, while the French promised not to disturb their occupation and to maintain profitable trade relations. As the war drew to a close the restlessness of the Indians warned the English of danger. Unprincipled Frenchmen were playing upon the fears of the natives to keep them at war even after the white opponents had ceased to fight. In 1763 the tribes of the Northwest made a concerted effort against the English. The great chief Pontiac brought the natives far and wide into his plan for striking a blow which would drive them back across the Alleghenies. At the same moment attacks were made on the posts at Mackinac, Detroit, Presqu'île, and Fort Pitt. Such attempts of the natives to defend their homes and hunting grounds have always ended in the same way. However severe the punishment suffered by the whites, the check has been but temporary, and the flood has afterwards advanced more irresistibly than before. In 1764 two well-led expeditions to the Ohio country reduced the tribes to submission. The ministry, anticipating hostilities, had tried to avert them by a Royal Proclamation relating to the regions acquired by the war. The Spanish and French settlements along the Gulf of Mexico were designated as the Provinces of East and West Florida, while for the French inhabitants of the St. Lawrence Basin the Province of Quebec was erected. Between these two lay the broad domain west of the mountains where dwelt the natives. This the Proclamation provided should remain in the hands of the Indians, and all grants of land therein were forbidden "for the present." The purpose of this prohibition was perhaps primarily to assure the natives that their rights would be respected and encroachments prevented until, by negotiations from time to time with the proper officers, they might agree to relinquish portions of their territory. The ministry was also desirous by this means to preserve the fur trade from the injury which it would sustain from an inrush of settlers. Following peace Indian affairs were placed in the hands of two superintendents, Sir William Johnson for the "Northern Dis |