Seven Years' War · 1754-1763

1754-1763: the war that redrew North America

France and Britain fought for control of North America, and Native nations fought for their own lands between them. Students follow the war from the Ohio valley to Quebec, the peace of 1763 that removed France from the continent, and Pontiac's War that followed.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1748
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

France and Britain fought for control of North America, and Native nations fought for their own lands between them. Students follow the war from the Ohio valley to Quebec, the peace of 1763 that removed France from the continent, and Pontiac's War that followed.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why France, Britain and Native nations all wanted the Ohio valley.
  • Locate the Forks of the Ohio, Quebec and Detroit and describe what happened at each.
  • Describe the results of 1763 for France, Britain and Native nations.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1748

Before the war

Open the map in 1748. Find the British American colonies along the Atlantic coast and Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico. Then look at the land west of the Appalachian Mountains. Which Native nations lived there?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1748

The Forks of the Ohio

Zoom in where two rivers meet to form the Ohio, today's Pittsburgh. In 1754 the French built Fort Duquesne here, and a young George Washington was sent to challenge them. Why was this spot so important?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1748

Quebec falls

Move to Quebec on the St. Lawrence River. In September 1759 British troops defeated the French on the Plains of Abraham, just outside the city walls. Why did the fall of Quebec decide the war in North America?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. In 1754 New France had fewer than 100,000 colonists, while the British colonies had more than a million. Why could France still hold out for years?
  2. Most Ohio valley nations sided with France at first. What could France offer that Britain could not?
  3. In the Treaty of Paris of 1763, France gave up Canada and its lands east of the Mississippi. No Native nation signed it. Why does that matter?
  4. In 1763 the Odawa leader Pontiac and his allies attacked British forts. What did they fear from British rule?
  5. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 banned colonial settlement west of the Appalachians. Who would welcome it, and who would be angry?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Frederick the Great of Prussia, Britain's ally in the Seven Years' War. Afterwards, discuss: the war was fought in Europe, North America and India at once. How did decisions made in European capitals affect Native nations who never agreed to them?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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