Much of what you think you know about American History may have come from watching Walt Disney cartoons. Indulge me to fill in some more of the story….
The time frame is around 1750 – the status quo at the time is that France controls “New France” (Quebec area) and claims the Mississippi River and the rivers that feed into it – basically everything West of the Allegheny mountains. The English colonies exist only East of the mountains.
William Penn’s Pennsylvania had spread Westward from Philadelphia and settlers (mostly Scotch-Irish) were starting to come into conflict with the French claims and their Indian allies as they moved further west.
At the time, Virginia was claiming that all of the territory West of the mountains and south of the Great Lakes was part of Virginia, which put Virginia and Pennsylvania on a collision course, and both of them with the French. Remember that prior to the Civil War, West Virginia was part of Virginia – Virginia was moving up the Cumberland River Valley as it grew.
In 1753, the colony of Virginia sent a young military officer named George Washington to the area where Pittsburgh is now – to assess the situation and start making the case that the area belonged to Virginia, to suggest to the French that they leave and to try to figure out where to build a road to support the Virginians who would migrate there. He arrived at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers and decided that this was the perfect place to build a fort on behalf of Virginia. Fort Prince George was founded.
Fort Prince George (named after the King, not after Washington) violated the #1 rule of locating a fort – it must be defensible. Normally, that means “build it on a hill” or maybe an island. When your Fort is on a hill, your cannons and bullets are shooting down and your enemy is shooting up. You win.
Fort Prince George was built at water level in a marshy area that flooded pretty much every year. It was on a peninsula that was very vulnerable – if your enemy sneaks in behind you, you are trapped and there was no way to escape by land. The French controlled the Ohio river and the supply routes up from New Orleans.
The French quickly showed 21 year old George Washington that he had a lot to learn about military tactics. They quickly overran the fort after it was discovered, and Washington and his troops were pushed back to an encampment named “Fort Necessity” to regroup. What was left of his militia was joined by 100 regular British troops sent from South Carolina The French pursued Washington with overwhelming numbers and Washington surrendered to the French and withdrew to Virginia without their weapons.
France and England then became embroiled in the 7 years war in Europe (the US part we know as the French and Indian wars). Regular British troops at the direction of William Pitt and under the command of Edward Braddock would then fight that war (Washington would serve as an aide to Braddock). After Braddock tried to recapture the fort (and failed and died), George Washington then was assigned to British General Forbes (as in Forbes Field) who would ultimately take possession of the remnants of the fort after the French forces fled.
The British having to fund the cost of their real troops and military supplies was why the English needed the Stamp Tax and the dreaded Tea Tax. The colonies wanted British military protection but not pay for it. You might point out that it was Virginia that wanted the benefits of British conquest but Massachusetts who was being asked to pay for it. Settlement of the NorthWest territories issue – in which Virginia gave up its claims beyond the Ohio River – were a key point hammered out during the founding of the new United States.
Don’t you feel so much better now? – or should we go back to the Donald Duck and Goofy version?
For a bonus question… 10 years later after their contact with young Mr Washington, France would provide the troops and war ships to General Washington that would be decisive in the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown. What was France’s motivation?
History can be worse than numbers in the hand of a statistician. I did not learn the Disney history, but I did learn a series of events quite different than what Art describes. My take: history is fascinating and gives insight to names like George Washington from our past. I would encourage a few minutes of time spent researching items such as brought to light here. Enrichment of the mind is a wonderful thing.