SAQs for APUSH Topic 3.2 — The French and Indian War

Ten questions designed to help students review for the annual exam and that relate to an armed struggle that started in 1754 and pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France, each side supported by military units from the parent country and by Native American allies.

1. In the half-century leading up to 1754 and the start of the French and Indian War, colonial rivalry increasingly intensified between Britain and France. Name one major difference between the British and the French in terms of what part of North America they sought to colonize? The number of male and female migrants they attracted? Their relationships with native populations. And their imperial goals.
2. In the half-century leading up to 1754 and the start of the French and Indian War, colonial rivalry intensified between Britain and France, as the growing population of the British colonies expanded into the interior of North America and increasingly threatened French–Indian trade networks and American Indian autonomy. Prior to 1754, what was considered the “interior of North America?” The skin of what large semiaquatic broad-tailed rodent did the French and Amerian Indians’ traded for that the British also sought to trade for with the American Indians? Lastly, what does the term “American Indian autonomy” mean?
3. The competition among the British, French, and American Indians for economic and political advantage in North America culminated in the Seven Years’ War (the French and Indian War), in which Britain defeated France and allied American Indians. What territory did Britain acquire from France as a result of its victory in the French and Indian War?
4. After the British victory in the French and Indian War, imperial officials’ attempts to prevent the colonists from moving westward generated colonial opposition. Name and briefly describe one piece of evidence in support of this claim. Give one reason why imperial officials would attempt to prevent the colonists from moving westward after the British victory in the French and Indian War.
5. After the British victory in the French and Indian War, native groups sought to both continue trading with Europeans and resist the encroachments of colonists on tribal lands. Evidence in support of the claim that native groups after the French and Indian War sought to resist the encroachments of colonists on tribal land can be found in something called Pontiac’s War. Click here for ten questions that relate to Pontiac’s War, a 1763 historical event named after a prominent Native American Indian leader.
6. After the British victory in the French and Indian War, imperial officials’ attempts to prevent colonists from moving westward generated colonial opposition. Name and briefly describe one example of colonial opposition to imperial efforts to prevent colonists from moving westward.
7. Name and briefly describe one political consequence of the French and Indian War.
8. Name and briefly describe one economic consequence of the French and Indian War.
9. Name and briefly describe one social consequence of the French and Indian War.
10. What does the term “salutary neglect” mean and how does it relate to the history of the French and Indian War?

Pre and Post War Boundaries

The Proclamation Line of 1763

The Proclamation Line of 1763