The Seven Years War

The Seven Years War

The Seven Years War
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	6.95

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		cajuns, isthmus, formation, commander, allegiance, foothold, treaty, oath, doorstep, shortly, aspect, threat, army, attempt, affected, loss
	content words:		United States, Indian War, Seven Years War, North America, Hudson Bay, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Fort Beausejour, French Acadian, John River

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The Seven Years War
By Mary Lynn Bushong

¹     In the United States this war is called the French and Indian War, but in Canada, it goes by the European name, the Seven Years War. It was fought between the British and the French for control of the eastern half of North America.

²     Some problems in the war dated back to a treaty in 1713. It gave the British control of Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, and Acadia. By the 1740's though, the French were starting to encroach on the British claimed territories.

³     The French built a fort (Beausejour) on the isthmus that attached Acadia (Nova Scotia) to New Brunswick. The British were unhappy because the French were ignoring British claims to the land.

⁴     In May 1755, the British got ready to fight. An attack force was gathered in Boston. By the beginning of June, 2,000 men plus supplies were unloaded a few miles from Fort Beausejour.

⁵     This army far outnumbered the French army plus the French Acadian farmers who defended the fort. The Frenchmen hoped for reinforcements from Louisbourg, a large fort on the St. John River. That fort could not help because it was also under threat. The commander of Fort Beausejour surrendered shortly after the British arrived at his gate.

⁶     After the loss of that fort, other French forts began falling to the British. Finally, they arrived at the French fort of Louisbourg. The French reinforcements left the area to avoid provoking the British, and the English left the fort alone.

⁷     The French Acadian farmers were put in a difficult position. The soldiers and administrators of the various small colonies were given passage back to France or Canada, but no one worried about the peasants. Some were willing to swear an oath of allegiance to Britain and so keep their land.

⁸     Most were herded onto ships and sent to various points in the States, especially Louisiana, where Acadians became known as "Cajuns." Their former homesteads were burned to the ground.

⁹     There were other deportations in later years, but the one in 1755 was the biggest.

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