Review of "The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War," by Fred Anderson

 Review of

The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War, by Fred Anderson ISBN 0143038044

Five out of five stars

A war that paved the way for war

 The war that is referred to as the French and Indian War in the United States was fundamentally a classic great power battle between Britain and France. With British allies on the European continent, battles taking place in North America, the Caribbean and Asia, it was a global conflict. Outside of the United States, it is commonly referred to as the Seven Years War. Action on the North American continent was only a part of the struggle yet is generally considered by Americans to be distinct from the other action.

 As the American name implies, there were three fundamental belligerents in the war in North America. The British crown forces of the British military and their American auxiliaries, the Native American tribes and the French forces and their American auxiliaries. The Native American tribes at the time were a significant military force and both the British and French sides actively recruited their military support or at the least their stand aside neutrality. It was a difficult choice for the Native American leaders, for both the British and French forces fundamentally wanted to assert themselves over the Native Americans.

 Success in battle in North America shifted back and forth, with each side winning battles, but then struggling to exploit their gains. Given the rough features of the terrain and the harsh Canadian winters, the fighting season was climactically and geographically defined. The few invasion routes were clearly defined, so the direction of the attack was never a surprise.

 Anderson does an excellent job in explaining the complex forces that were in play in the French and Indian War as well as the aftermath. At the end, the British Empire gained control of what became Canada and all of the land west of the American colonies to the Mississippi River.

 What is likely the best part of the book is the explanations of the consequential aftermath. As always happens in wartime, crown money poured into the colonies, leading to an economic boom. There was the inevitable aftermath of economic recession, which led to discontent in the colonies. Although American hatred of the Native Americans was likely inevitable due to the demand for their land, the fighting of the French and Indian War made it greater and quicker.

 As is always the case when a major war ends, subsequent problems erupted that led to future conflict. There were several consequences of the British victory. The first was that with the French now evicted from North America, the Native American tribes could no longer court both the French and British. They now faced the British-Americans only and they had been weakened by the conflict. The American forces that fought alongside the British became aware of the fact that they could in fact engage in  military action on their own and they had created their own military officers. George Washington being first among them.

 The most significant consequence of the war was the enormous debt that the British crown accrued. To the leaders in England, it was natural that the colonists, being major beneficiaries of the victory and subjects of the crown, should pay increased taxes to cover the cost of the war. This desire to raise their taxes led to the most significant objections by the colonists.

 The French and Indian War is generally not extensively covered in the history courses, even though it was significant in the development of the American colonies as politically independent entities. This book serves as an excellent primer on this major war.