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Name: Andrew Lindsay

Subject: History

Form: 6A

Date: 13/10/11

Explain how imperial rivalries in the Americas contributed to wars between European Powers during the

period 1702-1763

 The New World as an extension of European economy brought with it much wealth however, with

that great wealth came great conflict. The once weak states of the 15th and 16th centuries became mighty due

to the prosperity gained from the Americas therefore more rivals were present with limited resources. What

 was simply a mercantilist age became mixed and merged with imperialism where France and particularly 

Britain sought to garnish their empires. The West Indies and the newly located Northern Atlantic region soon

became worth fighting over and in large part played a major role in the precipitation of war in Europe in the

18th century.

 There were five major wars in which rivalries in the region were the cause of or were contributing 

factors to warfare among European Powers. Firstly was the French Indian war or Queen Anne’s War a direct

contributor to War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713). Then the War of Jenkins Ear (1939) which

contributed to the War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748), and finally the Seven Y ears’ War (1756-1763).

 The War of Spanish Succession was caused by the disputed succession to the Spanish throne. Charles

II of Spain was the last of the Spanish Hapsburgs. His closest heirs, both by marriage, were Louis XIV of 

France and the Emperor Leopold I. This was a very dangerous possibility for the weaker states and as such

the two 'maritime powers', England and Holland, made it clear that they would not tolerate the unification of 

Spain with either France or Austria. The main fighting in the war was not in Spain itself, but was fought over

the Spanish and French territories. The main issue for contention in the New World for which fighting 

occurred was the asiento which King Louis XIV had claimed in 1702. In 1701 he transferred the "Asiento," a

permit to sell slaves to the Spanish colonies, to France, with potentially damaging consequences for British

trade. 

Queen Anne's War was the North American theatre of the War of the Spanish Succession was

known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought

between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of 

the Spanish Succession was primarily fought in Europe. In addition to the two main combatants, the war also

involved numerous Native American tribes allied with each nation, and Spain, which was allied with France.

 The war was fought on three fronts: Spanish Florida and the English Province of Carolina were each

subjected to attacks from the other, and the English engaged the French based at Mobile in what was

essentially a proxy war involving primarily allied Indians on both sides. The southern war, although it did not

result in significant territorial changes, had the effect of nearly wiping out the Indian population of Spanish

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Florida, including parts of present-day southern Georgia, and destroying Spain's network of missions in the

area.

 The English colonies of New England fought with French and Indian forces based

in Acadia and Canada. Quebec was repeatedly targeted (but never successfully reached) by British

expeditions, and the Acadian capital Port Royal was taken in 1710. The French and Indians executed raidsagainst targets in Massachusetts (including present-day Maine), most famously raiding Deerfield in

1704.On Newfoundland, English colonists based at St. John's disputed control of the island with the French

based at Plaisance. Most of the conflict consisted of economically destructive raids against the other side's

settlements. The French successfully captured St. John's in 1709, but the British quickly reoccupied it after

the French abandoned it.

Most of the fighting in the Leewards eventually led the British to capturing the French area of St.

Kitts in 1702. In 1706 the French counter attacked in the region and the territories of course felt the majority 

of the effects of war. Nevis and Montserrat were also raided and continuous escalation in fighting occurred

until the Peace of Ultrecht was signed in 1713, where St. Kitts became fully British and remained so and

Britain gained the asiento.

 The second war leading to aggression between European Powers was the War of Jenkin’s Ear, an

almost completely Caribbeanwar. At the conclusion of the War of the Spanish Succession, the Treaty of 

Utrecht in 1713 gave Britain a thirty-year asiento, or contract-right, to supply an unlimited number of slaves

to the Spanish colonies, and 500 tons of goods per year. This provided British traders and smugglers 

potential inroads into the (traditionally) closed markets in Spanish America. However, Britain and Spain were

often at war during this period, fighting one another in the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718 – 20),

the Blockade of Porto Bello (1726) and the Anglo-Spanish War (1727 – 1729).

Spanish coastguards claimed that the asiento gave them the right to search British ships, and they 

confiscated a large amount of the goods searched. The British retaliated against the searches and fought

major and minor wars with the Spanish in 1718 and 1727 in which the metropole did not become involved.

 Then in 1738 a Captain Jenkins claimed before parliament that the Spanish government had cut off his ear.

 After very strained relations between 1727 and 1732, the situation improved between 1732 and 1737, when

Sir Robert Walpole supported Spain during the War of Polish Succession. But the causes of the problems

remained and when the opposition against Walpole grew, so did the anti-Spanish sentiment amongst the

British public.

 Walpole gave in to the pressure and approved the sending of troops to the West Indies and a

squadron to Gibraltar under Admiral Haddock, causing an immediate Spanish reaction. Spain asked for

financial compensation, which led to the British demand to annul the "Visitation Right" agreed to in

the Treaty of Seville (1729). In reaction, King Philip V of Spain annulled the "Asiento Right" and had all

British ships in Spanish harbours confiscated.

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 The British defeated Spain very easily in the western Caribbean. Porto Bello, Cartagena and Santiago

de Cuba were successfully raided and Spanish trade was so badly affect that only one treasure fleet returned in

ten years. British trade on the other hand flourished. In the eastern Caribbean, Britain, France aimed to

destroy each others competitiveness in the sugar trade and since Britain had command of the sea  – she was

successful.

 The War of the Austrian Succession (1740 – 48) –  also known as King George's War in North

 America, and incorporating the War of Jenkins' Ear with Spain and two of the three Silesian wars – involved

nearly all the powers of Europe, except for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Portuguese

Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The war was also conducted in North America and India. In North

 America the conflict was known in the British colonies as King George's War, and did not begin until after

formal war declarations of France and Britain reached the colonies in May 1744. The frontiers between New 

France and the British colonies of New England, New York, and Nova Scotia were the site of frequent small

scale raids, primarily by French colonial troops and their Indian allies against British targets, although severalattempts were made by British colonists to organize expeditions against New France. The most significant

incident was the capture of the French Fortress Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island (Île Royale) by an

expedition (29 April – 16 June 1745) of colonial militia organized by Massachusetts Governor William Shirley, 

commanded by William Pepperrell of Maine (then part of Massachusetts), and assisted by a Royal Navy 

fleet. A French expedition to recover Louisbourg in 1746 failed due to bad weather, disease, and the death of 

its commander. Louisbourg was returned to France in exchange for Madras, generating much anger among 

the British colonists, who felt they had eliminated a nest of privateers with its capture.

In the West Indies operations were merely a continuation of the War of Jenkins Ear. The fighting  was only to a small scale and was only carried out by privateers. The British dominated to such an extent that

goods could not even reach the French islands and prices rose dramatically. After the Peace of Aix-la-

Chapelle that settled both wars the Spanish took over supplying slaves to their own settlements and without

cover British smuggling was easily seen.

 The Seven Years' War was a global military conflict between 1756 and 1763, involving most of 

the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West

 African coast, India, and the Philippines. 

 Though the Seven Years War officially began in 1756 in Europe, hostilities had erupted two yearsearlier, in 1754, in America's Ohio Valley when a Virginian major of militia, George Washington, ambushed

a small French detachment. This was the catalyst for the great war to come. From that moment on, both

Motherlands dispatched troops, albeit not in equal numbers. For France, the war in Europe was the top

priority, so the country sent just a few troops. It also considered it was more important to protect its

colonies in the West Indies, since sugar cane was more lucrative than the fur trade in New France. But Great

Britain was determined to destroy France's colonial empire, and it sent more than 20,000 soldiers to

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 America. It must also be noted that American colonists were unable to defend themselves against their

Canadian counterparts, who excelled in the art of the guerilla warfare. For New England, it was imperative

to obliterate New France and its Native allies, which were preventing the States from acquiring and

occupying new land (New England had a very large population and sought new land to occupy and farm.)

 Although New France did well in the war until 1757, the tide proceeded to turn - in favour of the British

troops, who won several victories right up until the battle on the Plains of Abrahamin 1759, when James

 Wolfe defeated the army of Montcalm. The following year, Vaudreuil was forced to capitulate in Montreal.

 Things were far from over, however, because the final result depended on whether France was victorious or

defeated. In the end, France was defeated on all fronts (West Indies, the subcontinent of India, Europe and

 America). In a bid to save the colonies which brought in the most money, France ceded New France in

a Treaty signed in 1763 in exchange for keeping the West Indies. This move angered the Native allies, who

 were the Canadians' allies. Some of them regrouped under the leadership of Pontiac and attempted to

continue the war.

In conclusion the New World was a hot bed of activity in the 18th century and as a result became thecatalyst for European conflict due to the sugar trade and wealth which was located there within its land and within its waters.