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== Migration and Conflict ==

== Migration and Conflict ==

West of the Appalachian Mountains is the Ohio Valley.  This area was rich in animals necessary for the lucrative fur trade, and covered vast amounts of unsettled land.  The Ohio valley was occupied by roaming Native American tribes, primarily those of the Iroquois League of Nations.  Both the British and the French traded with the Indians in this region.  As the population and confidence of the English settlers in the colonies grew in the mid-1700s, they began to migrate to Ohio.  There they conflicted with French fur trade with Indians.  Because of this, conflict between the English colonists and the French traders increased around 1740.

West of the Appalachian Mountains is the Ohio Valley.  This area was rich in animals necessary for the lucrative fur trade, and covered vast amounts of unsettled land.  The Ohio valley was occupied by Native American tribes, primarily peoples such as the Shawnee and Lenni-Lenape (Delaware) who had been displaced by the Iroquois League.  Both the British and the French traded with the Indians in this region.  As the population and confidence of the English settlers in the colonies grew in the mid-1700s, they began to migrate to Ohio.  There they came into conflict with the French over the fur trade and control of the region.  Conflict between the English colonists and the French traders increased after the end of King George's War in 1748.

In 1754, 7 colonies met to address these problems at the Albany Congress.  They adopted Ben Franklin's Albany Plan of Union based on the Iroquois League of Nations.  The Albany Plan of Union attempted to unite the (English) colonies sufficiently to defend themselves against the French.

In 1754, 7 colonies met to address these problems at the Albany Congress.  They considered, but did not adopt Benjamin Franklin's Albany Plan of Union.  The Albany Plan of Union attempted to unite the English colonies with the Iroquois League in a defensive stance against New France.

The governor of Virginia sent a 21-year-old named George Washington to stop the French from building a fort in modern day Pennsylvania, and to protest French attacks.  But in Western Pennsylvania, at Fort Necessity, French defeated and captured him and his 400 troops.  They made him sign a statement in French (which George Washington did not understand) that his men had assassinated some Frenchmen.  Then they released George Washington.  He remembered that lesson and in the Revolutionary War made sure that in the future he always had an aide who could understand French.  That future aide would be the very influential Founding Father named Alexander Hamilton.

The governor of Virginia sent a 21-year-old named George Washington to stop the French from building a fort near the site of present day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and to protest French attacks.  But in Western Pennsylvania, at Fort Necessity, the French defeated and captured him and his 400 troops.  They made him sign a statement in French (which George Washington did not understand) that his men had assassinated some Frenchmen.  Then they released George Washington.  He remembered that lesson and in the Revolutionary War made sure that in the future he always had an aide who could understand French.  That future aide would be the very influential Founding Father named Alexander Hamilton.

While George Washington was humiliated by this experience, that did not matter to the young colonies trying to assert themselves.  When he returned to Virginia was treated as their hero.  

While George Washington was humiliated by this experience, that did not matter to the young colonies trying to assert themselves.  When he returned to Virginia was treated as their hero.