Why We Don't Speak French [The War That Made America]

Pittsburgh Tribune Review ^ | Jan 15, 2006 | Michael Machosky

[Ditto]

When you hear the phrase "the war that made America," that war should be pretty obvious.

The Revolutionary War first comes to mind.

If not, it's got to be the Civil War, which forged America as the modern industrial superpower in its fires.

Strike two.

"The War That Made America," WQED's four-part, $13-million-plus documentary refers to the French and Indian War, which the filmmakers contend had an impact far larger than once thought, and set the stage for the Revolution. But aside from "Last of the Mohicans," for most Americans, the French and Indian War is as dense and mysterious as the trackless forests of 18th-century Western Pennsylvania.

There's a lot of work to be done, starting with that name.

"I always jokingly say I wish we could call the series, 'Why we don't speak French,' " says writer-producer-director Eric Stange, who worked on episodes 1 and 3. "If things didn't happen as they did in that war, the whole future of North America would have turned out very differently."

..........snip..........

Go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/entertainment/s_412907.html for the rest of the article.

[Ditto]

The first part of the film airs tonight on PBS -- 9PM Eastern.

I have seen excerpts, and it looks to be very well done.

[Ditto]

FYI ping

[Aetius]

"Last of the Mohicans" is a great movie.

[RonF]

IIRC, the French and Indian War is where George Washington and numerous other Colonial military officers got valuable combat experience that they used in the Revolutionary War.

[FlipWilson]

If you want to get a great detail of the "Seven Years War" portion of the French and Indian War, read "Montcalm and Wolfe" by Francis Parkman. He also does an excellent job in earlier works of exhaustively tracking European exploration of America. I am willing to bet that his works served as a source for this documentary.

[FlipWilson]

Quote: "Anderson asserted that "the forks of the Ohio" -- which became Fort Duquesne, then Fort Pitt, then Pittsburgh -- was the key that unlocked the rest of the continent for whoever controlled it."

Try Ticonderoga. Much more important, much more front and center in the war. Pittsburgh and the Ohio were largely unexplored tracts of land. Ticonderoga was the key to the highway between Canada and New York City.

[Jacquerie]

Due to their fervent belief in nonviolence the Quakers running PA did little to combat the invaders. Murdering Indians advanced to the Philly environs before repulsed. If memory serves, the Quakers effectively relinquished control shortly after the war. There's a lesson for today's lefties.

[Jack Hammer]

Yes, there it is, just as listed by PBS here on the East Coast: "George Washington massacres a French convoy and triggers a war."

They just can't resist, can they? Not "George Washington's canny strategic insight leads to the interception of a French convoy headed for mischief and, with tactical abilities superior to those of the well-trained French commanders, he shepherds a defeat for the French; the French respond by launching a vicious war." Nope: "George Wasington MASSACRES a French convoy and TRIGGERS a war." Clearly PBS considers George Washington to be the villain of the hour.

Hope this isn't a harbinger of (PC) things to come, but... Oh, well - let's set up the VCR and anticipate a pleasant experience.

[Ditto]

Pittsburgh and the Ohio were largely unexplored tracts of land. Ticonderoga was the key to the highway between Canada and New York City.

I think you missed the larger point. Ticonderga was a indeed a key strategic point from a military standpoint during the war. It controlled the overland route between the populated settlements in French Canada and the populated settlements in the British colonies.

The "Forks of the Ohio," on the other hand, held the key to the entire North American contintent west of the Alleghenies. It was claimed by both the British and the French because it was so very strategic in controlling the interior. With no war, and the French in control of the Ohio and Mississippi, most of what is today the United States, would be speaking French. (and probably not bathing regularly either ;~)

Neither side went to war over Ticonderoga. They went to war for control over the Forks of the Ohio. In the 1750s, it was perhaps the most strategic point on earth.

[massgopguy]

The Founding Father actually considered making German the language of the United States as it was the second most spoken language.

[Alberta's Child]

I don't think Ticonderoga was quite as important as you suggest. While its location along a route between New York City and Montreal was critical in the colonial era, you have to remember that this didn't become a major trade route like the Ohio River valley until later. The biggest impediment for the New York-Montreal route was that Lake Champlain is part of the St. Lawrence River watershed -- which meant that ships could not travel directly between New York and Lake Champlain until years later, when the canal system through Fort Ann and Whitehall was constructed to connect the navigable waterways in the Hudson and St. Lawrence valleys.

This also explains why Vermont was involved in territorial disputes for years before and after the American Revolution. The famous Green Mountain Boys of the Revolution were actually formed as a separatist militia long before the revolution -- in an attempt to separate the area between Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River from the colony of New York. That status was never formally resolved even during the American Revolution, which is why Vermont wasn't included among the original thirteen states. From a geographic standpoint, the people of Vermont had every reason to consider themselves part of Lower Canada (now Quebec) instead of the United States . . . because their primary trade route was to the north, not the south.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

The Founding Father actually considered making German the language of the United States as it was the second most spoken language.

I hear that all the time, but have never seen a contemporary account of it. Do you happen to have one?

[rock_lobsta]

So, who won? 8-P

[rfreedom4u]

I believe it is also the war in which the French labeled Washington a war criminal.

[You Dirty Rats]

In the 1750s, it was perhaps the most strategic point on earth.

It wasn't even the most strategic point in North America.

The decisive battle of the War IMHO was the battle on the plains of Abraham. The loss of Quebec doomed France's influence further inland. What good is Pittsburgh to France if they didn't have Quebec?

The battle of Quebec is arguably the most decisive battle ever fought on North American soil, if you look at the total impact of the outcome.

[Canadian Volunteer]

But....but....but.....it didn't happen on American soil. Ergo, it doesn't count. ;)

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***Due to their fervent belief in nonviolence the Quakers running PA did little to combat the invaders. Murdering Indians advanced to the Philly environs before repulsed. If memory serves, the Quakers effectively relinquished control shortly after the war. There's a lesson for today's lefties.***

True. In one instance the people had to bring in the dead and place them in front of the town hall door so the Quakers were forced to walk over them to get inside. This caused a vote in favor of a few armed troops.

This came just after the PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOL HOUSE MASSACRE in which every student and teacher were massacred by the Indians. The attack came in the morning because the teacher had his BIBLE open for (gasp!) MORNING DEVOTIONS.

[FlipWilson]

I agree with you that in terms of colonizing the Western U.S. the Ohio was crucial. But, in terms of the Seven Year's War, Ticonderoga was THE objective as it was a dagger to the heart of either Canada or the British Colonies. The British spent more in time and treasure to capture Ti than they did to capture Dusquene, even counting the Braddock exbidition. Moreover, the Ohio River was not easily accessed through the St. Lawerence watershed either as just about every major water route in those times required a bit of portage.

It was not until the British were booted from America and the proclamation line ended that the Ohio became more important than the Hudson.

[Ditto]

The battle of Quebec is arguably the most decisive battle ever fought on North American soil, if you look at the total impact of the outcome.

You miss the point as well. You, and the other poster are talking about what was strategic ground from a military sense once the war began.

I, and the article, are talking about what area was of such strategic importance that possession of it drove these competing empires to war in the first place. That spot was the Forks of the Ohio.