Queen Anne's War
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Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) or the Third Indian War was one in a series of
French and Indian Wars The French and Indian Wars were a series of conflicts that occurred in North America between 1688 and 1763, some of which indirectly were related to the European dynastic wars. The title ''French and Indian War'' in the singular is used in the U ...
fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of
Anne, Queen of Great Britain Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England, List of Scottish monarchs, Scotland, and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 8 March 1702, and List of British monarchs, Queen of Great Britain and Irel ...
. In the United States, it is often studied as a standalone conflict under this name, although it is also viewed as the American theater of the
War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
. In France, it was known as the Second Intercolonial War. The war was primarily a conflict between French, Spanish and English colonial ambitions for control of the North American continent while the
War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
was being fought in Europe. Each side drew in various Indigenous communities as allies, and it was fought on four fronts. In the south,
Spanish Florida Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...
and the English
Province of Carolina The Province of Carolina was a colony of the Kingdom of England (1663–1707) and later the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until the Carolinas were partitioned into North and Sou ...
attacked one another, and English colonists engaged French colonists based at Fort Louis de la Louisiane (near present-day
Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...
), with Indigenous bands allied on each side. The southern war did not result in significant territorial changes, but it resulted in seriously decimating the Indigenous population of Spanish Florida and parts of southern Georgia, with destruction of the network of
Spanish missions in Florida Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established Christian missions, missions in Spanish Florida (''La Florida'') in order to convert the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous tribes to Roman Catholi ...
. In
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
, English colonists and Indigenous allies fought against French colonists and their Indigenous forces, especially in
Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...
and unsettled border frontier with
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.
Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
was repeatedly targeted by British colonial expeditions, and the British captured in 1710 the Acadian capital
Port Royal Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cen ...
. French colonists and the
Wabanaki Confederacy The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner"; also: Wabanakia, "Dawnland") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of five principal Eastern Algonquian nations ...
sought to thwart British expansion into Acadia, whose border
New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
defined as the
Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 natural river within the U.S. state of Ma ...
in what is now southern
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
.William Williamson. ''The History of the State of Maine''. Vol. 2. 1832. p. 27; ; Campbell, Gary. ''The Road to Canada: The Grand Communications Route from Saint John to Quebec''. Goose Lane Editions and The New Brunswick Heritage Military Project. 2005. p. 21. They executed raids in the
Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...
(including Maine), most famously the Raid on Deerfield in 1704 and one on Groton in 1707, in both cases taking numerous captives to
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
and
Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawà:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, across from Montreal. Establi ...
(a Mohawk mission village) for ransom or adoption by Mohawk families. In
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
, English colonists based at St. John's disputed control of the island with the French colonists of Plaisance, present-day Placentia. Most of the conflict consisted of economically destructive raids on settlements. The French colonists successfully captured St. John's in 1709, but the British colonists quickly reoccupied it after the French abandoned it. French privateers based in Acadia and Plaisance captured many ships from New England's fishing and shipping industries. Privateers took 102 prizes into Plaisance, second only to
Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
in France's American colonies. The naval conflict ended with the British capture of Acadia (Nova Scotia). The
Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...
ended the war in 1713, following a preliminary peace in 1712. France ceded the territories of
Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...
, Acadia, and Newfoundland to Britain while retaining
Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...
and other islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Some terms were ambiguous in the treaty, and the concerns of various Indigenous communities were not included, thereby setting the stage for future conflicts.


Background

When war broke out in Europe in 1701 following the death of the last Hapsburg monarch, Charles II, European powers disputed the succession. The zone of conflict was initially restricted to a few powers in Europe, but it widened in May 1702 when England declared war on Spain and France. Both the English and French wanted to keep their American colonies neutral, but they did not reach an agreement. The American colonists had their own tensions which had been growing along the borders separating the French and English colonies. They were concerned about boundaries and governing authority in the northern and southwestern frontiers of the English colonies, which stretched from the
Province of Carolina The Province of Carolina was a colony of the Kingdom of England (1663–1707) and later the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until the Carolinas were partitioned into North and Sou ...
in the south to the
Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...
in the north, with additional colonial settlements or trading outposts on
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
and at
Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...
. The total population of the English colonies was about 250,000, with
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
and
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
dominating. The colonists were concentrated along the coast, with small settlements inland, sometimes reaching as far as the
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...
. Colonists knew little of the interior of the continent to the west of the Appalachians and south of the
Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...
. This area was dominated by numerous historic Indigenous communities, although French and English traders had penetrated it. Spanish missionaries in '' La Florida'' had established a network of missions in an effort to convert the Indigenous to Roman Catholicism and focus their labor. The Spanish population was relatively small (about 1,500), and the Indigenous population to whom they ministered has been estimated at 20,000. French explorers had located the mouth of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
, and they established a small colonial presence at Fort Maurepas near
Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...
, in 1699. From there, they began to build trade routes into the interior, establishing friendly relations with the
Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...
, a large community whose enemies included the English-allied
Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...
. All of these populations had suffered to some degree from the introduction of infectious diseases such as
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
, endemic among early explorers and traders. The Native Americans had no immunity and suffered high mortality. The arrival of French colonists in the south threatened existing trade links that Carolina colonists had established into the interior, creating tension among all three powers. France and Spain, allies in this conflict, had been on opposite sides of the recently ended
Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...
. Conflicting territorial claims between Carolina and Florida south of the
Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...
were overlaid by animosity over religious divisions between the Roman Catholic colonists of New Spain and the Protestant English colonists along the coast.Arnade, p. 32 To the north, the conflict held a strong economic component in addition to territorial disputes. Newfoundland was the site of a British colony at St. John's and a French colony at Plaisance, with both sides also holding a number of smaller permanent settlements. The island also had many seasonal settlements used by fishermen from Europe. These colonists numbered fewer than 2,000 English and 1,000 French permanent settlers (and many more seasonal visitors), who competed with one another for the fisheries of the
Grand Banks The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordfi ...
, which were also harvested by fishermen from Acadia (then encompassing all of
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
and
New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
) and Massachusetts. The borders and boundaries remained uncertain between
Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...
and New England despite battles along the border throughout
King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand Allian ...
.
New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
defined the border of Acadia as the
Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 natural river within the U.S. state of Ma ...
in southern
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
. There were Catholic missions at
Norridgewock Norridgewock (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Nanrantsouak'') was the name of both an Indigenous village and a Band society, band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans/First Nations in Canada, ...
and
Penobscot The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic p ...
and a French settlement in
Penobscot Bay Penobscot Bay () is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean in south central Maine, a stretch known as Midcoast Maine, in a broader Atlantic region known as Down East. The bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River, ...
near
Castine, Maine Castine ( ) is a town in Hancock County in eastern Maine, United States.; John Faragher. ''Great and Nobel Scheme''. 2005. p. 68. The population was 1,320 at the 2020 census. Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institut ...
, which had all been bases for attacks on New England settlers migrating toward Acadia during King William's War. The frontier areas between the
Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...
and the primarily coastal settlements of Massachusetts and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
were still dominated by Indigenous peoples, primarily
Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...
in the east and
Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
west of the Hudson River. The
Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...
Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...
corridor had also been used for raiding expeditions in both directions in earlier conflicts. The threat of Indigenous peoples had receded somewhat because of reductions in the population as a result of disease and the last war, but they still posed a potent threat to outlying settlements. The Hudson Bay territories (also known as Prince Rupert's Land) were not significantly fought over in this war. They had been a scene of much dispute by competing French and English companies starting in the 1680s, but the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick left France in control of all but one outpost on the bay. The only incident of note was a French attack on the outpost of Fort Albany in 1709. The
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
was unhappy that Ryswick had not returned its territories, and it successfully lobbied for their return in the negotiations that ended this war.


Technology and organization

The colonial military technology used in North America was not as developed as in Europe. Only a few colonial settlements had stone fortifications at the start of the war, such as
St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...
,
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...
, and
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ame ...
, although Port Royal's fortifications were completed early in the war. Some villages and settlements were protected by wooden
palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...
s, but many had little more than fortified wooden houses with gun ports through which defenders could fire, and overhanging second floors from which they might fire down on attackers trying to break in below. Europeans and colonists were typically armed with smooth-bore muskets that had a maximum range of about but were inaccurate at ranges beyond half that distance. Some colonists also carried pikes, while Indigenous warriors either carried arms supplied by the colonists or were armed with weapons such as primitive tomahawks and bows. A small number of colonists had training in the operation of cannon and other types of artillery, which were the only effective weapons for attacking significant stone or wooden defenses.Peckham, p. 26 English colonists were generally organized into militia companies, and their colonies had no regular military presence beyond a small number in some of the communities of Newfoundland.Prowse, p. 223 The French colonists were also organized into militias, but they also had a standing defense force called the '' troupes de la marine''. This force consisted of some experienced officers and was manned by recruits sent over from France, numbering between 500 and 1,200. They were spread throughout the territories of New France, with concentrations in the major population centers. Spanish Florida was defended by a few hundred regular troops; Spanish policy was to pacify the Indigenous peoples in their territory and not to provide them with weapons. Florida held an estimated 8,000 Indigenous peoples before the war, but this was reduced to 200 after English colonist raids made early in the war.


Course of the war


Carolina and Florida

Prominent French and English colonists understood at the turn of the 18th century that control of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
would have a significant role in future development and trade, and each developed visionary plans to thwart the other's activities. French Canadian explorer
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...
had developed a "Project sur la Caroline" in the aftermath of the previous war which called for establishing relationships with Indigenous peoples in the Mississippi watershed and then leveraging those relationships to push the English colonists off the continent, or at least limit them to coastal areas. In pursuit of this grand strategy, he rediscovered the mouth of the Mississippi (which had first been found by La Salle in 1670) and established Fort Maurepas in 1699. From this base and Fort Louis de la Mobile (founded in 1702), he began to establish relationships with the local Choctaw, Chickasaw,
Natchez people ttps://archive.org/details/dcouverteett01marg The Internet Archive website The Natchez ( , ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area in the Lower Mississippi Valley, n ...
, and other communities. English colonial traders and explorers from Carolina had established a substantial trading network across the southeastern part of the continent that extended all the way to the Mississippi. Its leaders had little respect for the Spanish in Florida, but they understood the threat posed by the French arrival on the coast. Both Carolina governor Joseph Blake and his successor James Moore articulated visions of expansion to the south and west at the expense of French and Spanish interests. Iberville had approached the Spanish in January 1702 before the war broke out in Europe, recommending that the
Apalachee The Apalachee were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, specifically an Indigenous people of Florida, who lived in the Florida Panhandle until the early 18th century. They lived between the Aucilla River and Ochlockonee River,Bobby ...
warriors be armed and sent against the English colonists and their allies. The Spanish organized an expedition under Francisco Romo de Uriza; it left
Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
in August for the trading centers of the Carolina back country. The English colonists had advance warning of the expedition and organized a defense at the head of the Flint River, where they routed the Spanish-led force, and captured or killed some 500 Spanish-led Indigenous peoples. Carolina's Governor Moore received notification concerning the hostilities, and he organized and led a force against Spanish Florida.Arnade, p. 33 500 English colonial soldiers and militia and 300 Indigenous peoples captured and burned the town of
St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...
in the Siege of St. Augustine (1702). The English were unable to take the main fortress and withdrew when a Spanish fleet arrived from
Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.an attack on Charles Town by a combined Spanish and French amphibious force sent from Havana. The
Apalachee The Apalachee were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, specifically an Indigenous people of Florida, who lived in the Florida Panhandle until the early 18th century. They lived between the Aucilla River and Ochlockonee River,Bobby ...
and
Timucua The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The va ...
of Spanish Florida were virtually wiped out in a raiding expedition by Moore that became known as the Apalachee massacre of 1704. Many of the survivors of these raids were relocated to the
Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the Southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and South Carolina. The river flows from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, ...
where they were confined to reservations. Raids continued in the following years consisting of large Indigenous forces, sometimes including a small number of white men; this included major expeditions directed at
Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...
in 1707 and Mobile in 1709. The
Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...
(Creek),
Yamasee The Yamasees (also spelled Yamassees, Yemasees or Yemassees) were a multiethnic confederation of Native Americans who lived in the coastal region of present-day northern coastal Georgia near the Savannah River and later in northeastern Florida. ...
, and
Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...
were armed and led by English colonists, and they dominated these conflicts at the expense of the
Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...
, Timucua, and Apalachee.Covington, p. 340


Acadia and New England

Throughout the war, New France and the
Wabanaki Confederacy The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner"; also: Wabanakia, "Dawnland") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of five principal Eastern Algonquian nations ...
thwarted New England expansion into Acadia, whose border New France defined as the
Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 natural river within the U.S. state of Ma ...
in southern
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
. In 1703, Michel Leneuf de la Vallière de Beaubassin commanded a few French Canadians and 500 Indigenous peoples of the Wabanaki Confederacy, and they led attacks against
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
settlements from Wells to Falmouth (
Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...
) in the Northeast Coast Campaign. They killed or captured more than 300 settlers. There were also a series of raids deep into New England by French and Indigenous forces aimed at securing captives. There was an active trade in captives, as families and communities struggled to raise ransoms to reclaim them. In February 1704, Jean-Baptiste Hertel de Rouville led 250
Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was pred ...
and Caughnawaga Indians (mostly Mohawk) and 50 French Canadians in a raid on Deerfield in the
Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...
. They destroyed the settlement, killing many and capturing more than 100 captives. These were taken on an overland journey hundreds of miles north to the Caughnawaga mission village south of
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. Most of the children who survived the journey were adopted by Mohawk families. Several adults were later redeemed (ransomed) or released in negotiated prisoner exchanges, including the minister, John Williams, who tried for years without success to ransom his daughter Eunice. She became fully assimilated, marrying a Mohawk man.Peckham, p. 64 Likewise in August 1704, there was a raid in
Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...
(in the part of town to later become
Westborough Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,567 at the 2020 census, in over 7,000 households. Incorporated in 1717, the town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed ...
), from which captives were also taken to Caughnawaga.Parkman, Ebenezer. (1769). ''The Story of the Rice Boys: Captured by the Indians 8 August 1704.'' Westborough Historical Society, Westborough, MA, 1906. 7 pp
Download PDF
/ref> There was an active slave trade of the captive colonists during these years, and communities raised funds to ransom their citizens from Indigenous captivity. For instance a captured boy, Ashur Rice, was returned to Marlborough after he was ransomed in 1708 by his father Thomas Rice. New England colonists were unable to effectively combat these raids, so they retaliated by launching an expedition against
Acadia Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...
led by the famous Indigenous fighter Benjamin Church. The expedition raided Grand Pré, Chignecto, and other settlements. French accounts claim that Church attempted an attack on Acadia's capital of Port Royal, but Church's account of the expedition describes a war council in which the expedition decided against making an attack. Father
Sébastien Rale Sébastien Rale (; also Racle, Râle, Rasle, Rasles, and Sebastian Rale; January 20, 1657 – August 23, 1724) was a French Society of Jesus, Jesuit missionary and lexicographer who preached amongst the Abenaki and encouraged their resistanc ...
was widely suspected of inciting the
Norridgewock Norridgewock (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Nanrantsouak'') was the name of both an Indigenous village and a Band society, band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans/First Nations in Canada, ...
community against the New Englanders, and Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley put a price on his head. In the winter of 1705, Massachusetts dispatched 275 militiamen under the command of Colonel Winthrop Hilton to seize Rale and sack the village. The priest was warned in time, however, and escaped into the woods with his papers, but the militia burned the village and church. French and Wabanaki Confederacy continued making raids in northern Massachusetts in 1705, against which the New England colonists were unable to mount an effective defense. The raids happened too quickly for defensive forces to organize, and reprisal raids usually found tribal camps and settlements empty. There was a lull in the raiding while leaders from New France and New England negotiated the exchange of prisoners, with only limited success. Raids by Indigenous peoples persisted until the end of the war, sometimes with French participation. In May 1707, Governor Dudley organized an expedition to take Port Royal led by John March. However, 1,600 men failed to take the fort by
siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
, and a follow-up expedition in August was also repulsed. In response, the French developed an ambitious plan to raid most of the
New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
settlements on the
Piscataqua River The Piscataqua River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River to the Atlant ...
. However, much of the Indigenous support needed never materialized, and the Massachusetts town of Haverhill was raided instead. In 1709,
New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...
governor Philippe de Rigaud Vaudreuil reported that two-thirds of the fields north of
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
were untended because of French and Indigenous raids. French–Indigenous war parties were returning without prisoners because the New England colonists stayed in their forts and would not come out. In October 1710, 3,600 British and colonial forces led by
Francis Nicholson Lieutenant-General Francis Nicholson (12 November 1655 – ) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of South Carolina from 1721 to 1725. He previously was the Governor of Nova Scotia from 1712 to 1715, ...
finally captured Port Royal after a siege of one week. This ended official French control of the peninsular portion of Acadia (present-day mainland
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
),Peckham, p. 71 although resistance continued until the end of the war. Resistance by the Wabanaki Confederation continued in the 1711 Battle of Bloody Creek and raids along the Maine frontier. The remainder of Acadia (present-day eastern Maine and
New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
) remained disputed territory between New England and New France.


New France

The French in New France's heartland of
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
opposed attacking the
Province of New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to ...
. They were reluctant to arouse the
Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
, whom they feared more than they did the British colonists and with whom they had made the Great Peace of Montreal in 1701. New York merchants were opposed to attacking New France because it would interrupt the lucrative Indigenous
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
, much of which came through New France. The Iroquois maintained their neutrality throughout the conflict, despite Peter Schuyler's efforts to interest them in the war. (Schuyler was Albany's commissioner of Indians.) Francis Nicholson and Samuel Vetch organized an ambitious assault against New France in 1709, with some financial and logistical support from the queen. The plan involved an overland assault on
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
via
Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...
and a sea-based assault by naval forces against
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. The land expedition reached the southern end of Lake Champlain, but it was called off when the promised naval support never materialized for the attack on Quebec. (Those forces were diverted to support
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
.) The Iroquois had made vague promises of support for this effort, but successfully delayed sending support until it seemed clear that the expedition was going to fail. After this failure, Nicholson and Schuyler traveled to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
accompanied by King Hendrick and other
sachem Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Alg ...
s to arouse interest in the North American frontier war. The Indigenous delegation caused a sensation in London, and Queen Anne granted them an audience. Nicholson and Schuyler were successful in their endeavor: the queen gave support for Nicholson's successful capture of Port Royal in 1710. With that success under his belt, Nicholson again returned to England and gained support for a renewed attempt on Quebec in 1711. The plan for 1711 again called for land and sea-based attacks, but its execution was a disaster. A fleet of 15
ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...
and transports carrying 5,000 troops led by Admiral Hovenden Walker arrived at
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
in June, doubling the town's population and greatly straining the colony's ability to provide necessary provisions. The expedition sailed for Quebec at the end of July, but a number of its ships foundered on the rocky shores near the mouth of the
Saint Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence (; 31 December 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the Persecution of Christians, persecution of the Christians that the Roman Empire, Rom ...
in the fog. More than 700 troops were lost, and Walker called off the expedition. In the meantime, Nicholson had departed for Montreal overland but had only reached Lake George when word reached him of Walker's disaster, and he also turned back. In this expedition, the Iroquois provided several hundred warriors to fight with the English colonists, but they simultaneously sent warnings to the French about the expedition, effectively playing both sides of the conflict.


Newfoundland

Newfoundland's coast was dotted with small French and English communities, with some fishing stations occupied seasonally by fishermen from Europe. Both sides had fortified their principal towns, the French at Plaisance on the western side of the
Avalon Peninsula The Avalon Peninsula () is a large peninsula that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland in Canada. It is in size. The peninsula is home to 270,348 people, about 52% of the province's population, according to the 2016 Ca ...
, the English at St. John's and in
Conception Bay Conception Bay (CB) is a bay on the southeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The population (in 2011) of people living in municipalities (or unincorporated census subdivisions) located along the coast of Conception Bay was 90,490 making it ...
(see Carbonear Island). During
King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand Allian ...
, d'Iberville had destroyed most of the English communities in 1696–97, and the island again became a battleground in 1702. In August of that year, an English fleet under the command of Commodore John Leake descended on the outlying French communities but made no attempts on Plaisance.Prowse, p. 235 During the winter of 1705, Plaisance's French governor Daniel d'Auger de Subercase retaliated, leading a combined French and
Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...
expedition that destroyed several English settlements and unsuccessfully besieged Fort William at St. John's. The French and their Indigenous allies continued to harass the English throughout the summer and did damages to the English establishments claimed at £188,000. The English sent a fleet in 1706 that destroyed French fishing outposts on the island's northern coasts. In December 1708, a combined force of French, Canadian, and Mi'kmaq volunteers captured St. John's and destroyed the fortifications. They lacked the resources to hold the prize, however, so they abandoned it, and St. John's was reoccupied and refortified by the English in 1709. (The same French expedition also tried to take Ferryland, but it successfully resisted.) English fleet commanders contemplated attacks on Plaisance in 1703 and 1711 but did not make them, the latter by Admiral Walker in the aftermath of the disaster at the mouth of the St. Lawrence.


Peace

In 1712, Britain and France declared an armistice, and a final peace agreement was signed the following year. Under terms of the 1713
Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...
, Britain gained Acadia (which they renamed
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
), sovereignty over
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
, the
Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...
region, and the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
island of St. Kitts. France recognized British
suzerainty A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy">polity.html" ;"title="state (polity)">state or polity">state (polity)">st ...
over the Iroquois and agreed that commerce with Indigenous peoples farther inland would be open to all nations. It retained all of the islands in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, including
Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...
, and retained fishing rights in the area, including rights to dry fish on the northern shore of Newfoundland. By the later years of the war, many Abenakis had tired of the conflict despite French pressures to continue raids against New England targets. The peace of Utrecht, however, had ignored Indigenous interests, and some Abenaki expressed willingness to negotiate a peace with the New Englanders. Governor Dudley organized a major peace conference at
Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on ...
(of which he was also governor). In negotiations there and at
Casco Bay Casco Bay is an bay, open bay of the Gulf of Maine on the coast of Maine in the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's chart for Casco Bay marks the dividing line between the bay and the Gulf of Maine as running from ...
, the Abenakis objected to British assertions that the French had ceded to Britain the territory of eastern Maine and
New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
, but they agreed to a confirmation of boundaries at the
Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 natural river within the U.S. state of Ma ...
and the establishment of government-run trading posts in their territory. The Treaty of Portsmouth was ratified on July 13, 1713, by eight representatives of some of the communities of the Wabanaki Confederacy; however, it included language asserting British sovereignty over their territory. Over the next year, other Abenaki tribal leaders also signed the treaty, but no Mi'kmaq ever signed it or any other treaty until 1726.


Consequences


Acadia and Newfoundland

The loss of Newfoundland and Acadia restricted the French presence on the Atlantic to Île-Saint-Jean (now
Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
) and Île-Royale (now
Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (, formerly '; or '; ) is a rugged and irregularly shaped island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18.7% of Nova Scotia's total area. Although ...
). French were resettled there from Newfoundland, and France constructed the
Fortress of Louisbourg The Fortress of Louisbourg () is a tourist attraction as a National Historic Sites of Canada, National Historic Site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th-century Kingdom of France, French fortress at Louisbourg, Nov ...
in the following years.Peckham, p. 74 This presence plus the rights to use the Newfoundland shore resulted in continued friction between French and British fishing interests, which was not fully resolved until late in the 18th century. The economic effects of the war were severe in Newfoundland, with the fishing fleets significantly reduced. The British fishing fleet began to recover immediately after the peace was finalized, and they attempted to prevent Spanish ships from fishing in Newfoundland waters, as they previously had. However, many Spanish ships were simply reflagged with English straw owners to evade British controls. The British capture of Acadia had long-term consequences for the Acadians and Mi'kmaq living there. Britain's hold on Nova Scotia was initially quite tenuous, a situation on which French and Mi'kmaq resistance leaders capitalized. British relations with the Mi'kmaq after the war developed in the context of British expansion in Nova Scotia and also along the Maine coast, where New Englanders began moving into Abenaki lands, often in violation of previous treaties. Neither the Abenakis nor the Mi'kmaq were recognized in the Treaty of Utrecht, and the 1713 Portsmouth treaty was interpreted differently by them than by the New England signatories, so the Mi'kmaq and Abenakis resisted these incursions into their lands. This conflict was increased by French intriguers such as
Sébastien Rale Sébastien Rale (; also Racle, Râle, Rasle, Rasles, and Sebastian Rale; January 20, 1657 – August 23, 1724) was a French Society of Jesus, Jesuit missionary and lexicographer who preached amongst the Abenaki and encouraged their resistanc ...
, and eventually they developed into Father Rale's War (1722–1727). British relations were also difficult with the nominally conquered Acadians. They resisted repeated British demands to swear oaths to the British crown, and eventually this sparked an exodus by the Acadians to Île-Royale and Île-Saint-Jean (present-day
Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
). By the 1740s, French leaders such as Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre orchestrated a guerrilla war with their Mi'kmaq allies against British attempts to expand Protestant settlements in peninsular Nova Scotia. Friction also persisted between France and Britain over Acadia's borders. The boundaries were unclear as laid out by the treaty, which even the French had never formally described. France insisted that only the Acadian peninsula was included in the treaty (modern Nova Scotia except Cape Breton Island) and that they retained the rights to modern
New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
.Peckham, p. 84 The disputes over Acadia flared into open conflict during
King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in ...
in the 1740s and were not resolved until the British conquest of all French North American territories in the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
.


New England

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
and
New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
were on the front line of the war, yet the
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
colonies suffered less economic damage than other areas. Some of the costs of the war were offset by the importance of
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
as a center of shipbuilding and trade, combined with a financial windfall caused by the crown's military spending on the 1711 Quebec expedition.Craven, pp. 307–309


Southern colonies

Spanish Florida never really recovered its economy or population from the effects of the war,Weber, pp. 144–145 and it was ceded to Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris following the Seven Years' War. Indigenous peoples who had been resettled along the Atlantic coast chafed under British rule, as did those allied to the British in this war. This discontentment flared into the 1715
Yamasee War The Yamasee War (also spelled Yamassee or Yemassee) was a conflict fought in South Carolina from 1715 to 1717 between British settlers from the Province of Carolina and the Yamasee, who were supported by a number of allied Native Americans in ...
that posed a major threat to South Carolina's viability. The loss of population in the Spanish territories contributed to the 1732 founding of the
Province of Georgia The Province of Georgia (also Georgia Colony) was one of the Southern Colonies in colonial-era British America. In 1775 it was the last of the Thirteen Colonies to support the American Revolution. The original land grant of the Province of G ...
, which was granted on territory that Spain had originally claimed, as was also the case with Carolina. James Moore took military action against the
Tuscaroras The Tuscarora (in Tuscarora ''Skarù:ręˀ'') are an indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands in Canada and the United States. They are an Iroquoian Native American and First Nations people. The Tuscarora Nation, a federally recognize ...
of North Carolina in the
Tuscarora War The Tuscarora War was fought in North Carolina from September 10, 1711, until February 11, 1715, between the Tuscarora people and their allies on one side and European American settlers, the Yamasee, and other allies on the other. This was con ...
which began in 1711, and many of them fled north as refugees to join their linguistic cousins the Iroquois.Peckham, p. 75 The economic costs of the war were high in some of the southern English colonies, including those that saw little military activity.
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
, and
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
to a lesser extent, were hit hard by the cost of shipping their export products (primarily
tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
) to European markets, and they also suffered because of several particularly bad harvests.
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
accumulated a significant debt burden to finance military operations.


Trade

The French did not fully comply with the commerce provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht. They attempted to prevent English trade with remote Indigenous communities, and they erected
Fort Niagara Fort Niagara, also known as Old Fort Niagara, is a fortification originally built by New France to protect its interests in North America, specifically control of access between the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great L ...
in Iroquois territory. French settlements continued to grow on the Gulf Coast, with the settlement of
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
in 1718 and other (unsuccessful) attempts to expand into Spanish-controlled
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
and
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. French trading networks penetrated the continent along the waterways feeding the Gulf of Mexico, renewing conflicts with both the British and the Spanish. Trading networks established in the Mississippi River watershed, including the
Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
valley, also brought the French into more contact with British trading networks and colonial settlements that crossed the Appalachian Mountains. Conflicting claims over that territory eventually led to war in 1754, when the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
broke out.Parkman (1897), pp. 133–150


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * Greene, Evarts Boutell. ''Provincial America, 1690–1740'' (1905
ch 9 online pp. 136–153
* * * * * * * * * * Owen, John Hely. ''War at sea under Queen Anne 1702–1708'' (Cambridge UP, 2010). * * * * * * * * * Scouller, Raibeart E. ''The Armies of Queen Anne'' (Clarendon Press, 1966). * * * Sylvester, Herbert Milton. ''Indian Wars of New England: Queen Anne's war. Lovewell's war. Governor Shirley's war. French and Indian war''(1910
online
* * Waller, George M. "New York's Role in Queen Anne's War, 1702–1713." ''New York History'' 33.1 (1952): 40–53
online
* * * *


External links

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