Struggle For Control of North America

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In the 1740's, Great Britain and France both realized that a struggle for control of North America was unavoidable. The French involvement in the fur trade and England's concern with their cash crops caused the desire for more land to grow, which ultimately led to clashes between the two empires.

France pushed westward in pursuit of its one valuable resource, the beaver. European fashion setters valued beaver fur hats for their warmth and luxurious appearance. Demands for the fur grew. French voyageurs even recruited Indians into the fur business in order to help with the hunt. French fur-trappers and their Indian partners ranged from all over North America in pursuit of the beaver. They hiked, rode, snow shoed, sailed, and paddled across astonishing distances and ever deeper into the heart of the continent.

Tobacco continued to be the main crop in the English colonies but intense tobacco cultivation quickly exhausted the soil, creating a nearly insatiable demand for land. Relentlessly seeking fresh fields to plant tobacco, English growers pushed ever farther westward.

Because of English expansion, French anticipating conflict, planted several fortified posts. Early clashes between the two empires begun with King William's and Queen Anne's War. Hostility quickly enlarged between the two and before long both sides where recruiting whatever Indian allies they could. These actions obviously show that both, Great Britain and France knew that major war for North America was unavoidable; as later proved with the seven years war.

In the 1740's France and England both realized that war for power over North America was inevitable. Due to French's contribution to the fur trade and their hunt for the beaver and English's concern with their cash crops and their need for adequate harvesting land, military clashes between the two soon produced.

Political structure at that time led to Bismarck's success in war. With the untimely death of the Danish King, Christian VII, both Schleswig and Holstein refused to recognize the dynastic succession of the Danish King Frederick VII and appealed to the Frankfurt Assembly for recognition of Schleswig-Holstein as an independent German state, free from the Danish crown (doc2). With the declaration of an all-German war on the Kingdom of Denmark by the Frankfurt Assembly, Prussia immediately prepared a small military force to fight for the independence of Schleswig and Holstein (docs3,4). Prussia's aid proved victorious with the Danish defenses easily besieged (doc5). The English heard about the success of Prussia and of their preparations for an invasion of Jutland.

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