The first of the
French and Indian WarsThe French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts in North America that represented the actions there that accompanied the European dynastic wars. In Quebec, the wars are generally referred to as the Intercolonial Wars...
,
King William's War (1689–97) was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the War of the Grand Alliance (1688–97). It was fought between England, France, and their respective
American IndianThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples...
allies in the colonies of
Canada (New France)Canada was the name of the French colony that once stretched along the St. Lawrence River; the other colonies of New France were Acadia, Louisiana and Newfoundland. Canada, the most developed colony of New France, was divided in three districts named Québec, Trois-Rivières, and Montréal. Each...
,
AcadiaAcadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day New England, stretching as far south as Philadelphia...
, and
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
.
England's Catholic
King James IIJames II & VII was King of England and Ireland as James II, and Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
was deposed at the end of 1688 in the
Glorious RevolutionThe Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians with an invading army led by the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau who, as a result, ascended the English throne as William III of England...
, after which Protestant
William of OrangeWilliam III was a sovereign Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland, and as William II over Scotland...
was made king.
The first of the
French and Indian WarsThe French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts in North America that represented the actions there that accompanied the European dynastic wars. In Quebec, the wars are generally referred to as the Intercolonial Wars...
,
King William's War (1689–97) was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the War of the Grand Alliance (1688–97). It was fought between England, France, and their respective
American IndianThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples...
allies in the colonies of
Canada (New France)Canada was the name of the French colony that once stretched along the St. Lawrence River; the other colonies of New France were Acadia, Louisiana and Newfoundland. Canada, the most developed colony of New France, was divided in three districts named Québec, Trois-Rivières, and Montréal. Each...
,
AcadiaAcadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day New England, stretching as far south as Philadelphia...
, and
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
.
Cause of war
England's Catholic
King James IIJames II & VII was King of England and Ireland as James II, and Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
was deposed at the end of 1688 in the
Glorious RevolutionThe Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians with an invading army led by the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau who, as a result, ascended the English throne as William III of England...
, after which Protestant
William of OrangeWilliam III was a sovereign Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland, and as William II over Scotland...
was made king. William joined the League of Augsburg against France, where James had fled.
Tensions on the
frontierA frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary.-Colonial North America:In the earliest days of European settlement of the Atlantic coast, the frontier was essentially any part of the forested interior of the continent beyond the fringe of existing...
between the
Dominion of New EnglandThe Dominion of New England in America was a short-lived administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America....
(which included present-day
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
) and the colonies of
New FranceNew France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763...
to the north were already under some stress, as New England's governor
Edmund AndrosSir Edmund Andros was an early colonial English governor in North America, and head of the short-lived Dominion of New England....
had engaged in a raid against French settlements in
Penobscot BayPenobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...
in 1688. Andros, a Catholic appointed by King James, was deposed in 1689 when news of the revolution reached
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
.
War
In June 1689, several hundred Abenaki and
PennacookThe Pennacook, or Merrimack, tribe were a people that formerly inhabited the Merrimack River Valley of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and portions of southern Maine...
Indians under the command of Kancamagus and Mesandowit raided
Dover, New HampshireDover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 26,884 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Strafford County, and home to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, the Woodman Institute Museum, and the Children's Museum of New...
, killing more than 20 and taking 29 captives, who were sold into captivity in
New FranceNew France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763...
.
Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-CastinJean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin was a French military officer serving in Canada, and an Abenaki chief....
, a Frenchman whose home on
Penobscot BayPenobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...
(near present-day
Castine, MaineCastine is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,343 at the 2000 census. Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institution that graduates officers and engineers for the United States Merchant Marine and marine related industries...
, named for him) had been plundered by Governor Andros in 1688, led an Abenaki war party to raid
PemaquidBristol is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,644 at the 2000 census. A fishing and resort area, Bristol includes the villages of New Harbor, Pemaquid, Round Pond, Bristol Mills and Chamberlain. It includes the Pemaquid Archeological Site, a U.S...
in August 1689. In response Benjamin Church, noted for his Indian fighting skill from
King Philip's WarKing Philip's War, sometimes called Metacom's War or Metacom's Rebellion, was an armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day southern New England and English colonists and their Native American allies from 1675–1676...
, led an expedition into the territory of present-day
MaineThe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
that was largely ineffectual except for dissuading an attack against Falmouth (present-day
PortlandPortland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2007 estimated city population was 62,875. Portland is Maine's cultural, social and economic capital. It is also the principal city of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, with...
).
Also in August 1689, 1,500 Iroquois attacked the French settlement at
LachineThe Lachine massacre occurred when fifteen hundred Mohawk warriors attacked by surprise the small, three hundred seventy-five inhabitant, settlement of Lachine, New France at the upper end of Montreal Island on the morning of August 5, 1689...
before New France had even learned of the start of the war. Frontenac later attacked the Iroquois village of Onondaga. New France and its Indian allies then attacked English frontier settlements, most notably the
Schenectady MassacreThe Schenectady Massacre was an attack against the village of Schenectady in the colony of New York on 1690-02-08. It was carried out by a party of over 200 French commandos and Sault and Algonquin Indian raiders that set out from Montreal to attack English outposts to the south, and was intended...
of 1690. The English captured
Port Royal, Nova ScotiaPort Royal is a small rural community in the western part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin, a sub-basin of the Bay of Fundy, near the town of Annapolis Royal...
, the capital of Acadia, and then launched an expedition to seize the capital of
New FranceNew France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763...
, but were defeated in the
Battle of QuebecThe Battle of Québec was fought in October 1690 between the colonies of New France and Massachusetts, then ruled by the kingdoms of France and England, respectively. It was the first time Québec's defences were tested....
. The French attacked the British-held coast, recapturing Port Royal.
The Quebec expedition was the last major offensive of King William’s War; for the remainder of the war the English colonists were reduced to defensive operations and skirmishes. In early 1692, in the
Candlemas MassacreThe Candlemas Massacre took place in early 1692 during King William's War, when an estimated 150 Abenakis commanded by officers of New France entered the town of York, Maine, killing about 100 of the English settlers and burning down buildings, taking another estimated 80 villagers hostage, on a...
an estimated 150 Abenakis commanded by officers of New France entered the town of York, Maine, killing about 100 of the English settlers and burning down buildings. The
Iroquois Five NationsThe Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an indigenous people of North America. In the 16th century or earlier, the Iroquois came together in an association known as the Iroquois League, or the "League of Peace and Power"...
suffered from the weakness of their English allies. In 1693 and 1696, the French and their Indian allies ravaged Iroquois towns and destroyed crops while New York colonists remained passive. After the English and French made peace in 1697, the Iroquois, now abandoned by the English colonists, remained at war with New France until 1701.
Aftermath
The
Treaty of RyswickThe Treaty of Ryswick or Ryswyck was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick in the Dutch Republic. The treaty settled the Nine Years' War, which pitted France against the Grand Alliance of England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the United Provinces.Negotiations started in May...
in 1697 ended the war between the two colonial powers, reverting the colonial borders to the
status quo ante bellumThe term status quo ante bellum comes from Latin meaning literally, the state in which things were before the war.The term was originally used in treaties to refer to the withdrawal of enemy troops and the restoration of prewar leadership. When used as such, it means that no side gains or loses...
. The peace did not last long, and within five years the colonies were embroiled in the next of the French and Indian Wars,
Queen Anne's WarQueen Anne's War was the second in a series of four French and Indian Wars fought between France and England . in North America for control of the continent and was the counterpart of the War of the Spanish Succession in Europe...
. After their settlement with France in 1701, the Iroquois remained neutral in the early part of the war.
See also
- Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War was the second in a series of four French and Indian Wars fought between France and England . in North America for control of the continent and was the counterpart of the War of the Spanish Succession in Europe...
(1702–13)
- King George's War
King George's War is the name given to the operations in North America that formed part of the 1740–1748 War of the Austrian Succession. It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars....
(1744–48)
- French and Indian War
The French and Indian War, also known as the War of the Conquest or referred as part of the larger conflict known as the Seven Years' War, was a war fought in North America between 1754 and 1763...
(1754–63), last of the French and Indian WarsThe French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts in North America that represented the actions there that accompanied the European dynastic wars. In Quebec, the wars are generally referred to as the Intercolonial Wars...
- British military history
The Military history of Britain may refer to the military history of the United Kingdom or the military history of the island of Great Britain see:...
External links