History of Pennsylvania - French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The western portions of Pennsylvania were among disputed territory between the colonial British and French during the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years War). The French established numerous fortified sites in the area, including the pivotal Fort Duquesne (later developed as the city of Pittsburgh). Indian tribes loyal to the French because of their long trading history raided pioneer settlements in western Pennsylvania. The settlers' pleas for military relief were stymied by a power struggle in Philadelphia between Governor Robert Morris and the Pennsylvania Assembly. Morris wanted to send military forces to the frontier, but the Assembly, whose leadership included Benjamin Franklin, refused to grant the funds unless Morris agreed to the taxation of the proprietary lands, the vast tracts still owned by the Penn family and others. The dispute was finally settled, and military relief sent, when the owners of the proprietary lands sent 5,000 pounds to the colonial government, on condition that it was considered a free gift and not a down payment on taxes.

Britain's victory in the war secured Pennsylvania's frontier, as the Ohio Country came under formal British control following the Treaty of Paris in 1763, when France ceded its lands east of the Mississippi River. Shortly after this, the American Indian Pontiac's Rebellion began. After it was settled, the British government passed the Proclamation Act barring any further settlement west of the Appalachians by European-American settlers, in order to preserve a territory for the American Indians. By that time, remnants of numerous tribes, after encroachment in the East, had migrated to present-day Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, which also had tribes that had historically been in the region for centuries.