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During the 1700s, Britain and France were two of the strongest powers in Europe.
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The Iroquois was a powerful Native American grouop who conquered or joined five other tribes. The they were known as the six nations.
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In the 1740s hosptility between the two forces grew. British fur traders built a fort at a place called Pickawillany. Acting quickly, thed French attacked pickawillany and drove the British traders out of Ohio.
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By the 1750s, the Iroquois came under pressure as the British moved into the Ohio Valley. Eventually, the leaders of the confederacy gave certain trading rights to the British and reluctantly became their allies.
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In the fall of 1753, Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia sent a surveyor names George Washington into the Ohio country. His mission was to tell the French that they were trespassing on land that Great Britzin clained.
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In the spring of 1754, Dinwiddie made Washington a lieutenant colonel. He then sent Washington back to the Ohio country with a militia of 150 men.
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Representatives from several colonies met in Albany, New York, in June 1754 to dicuss the threat of war. They wanted to find a way to defend themselves against the French.
