Chapter 1: Colonial Wars

Beginning with colonizing the Americas, the monarchs of Europe fought to expand their colonial empires. The empires of France, Great Britain, and Spain sought dominance in the Americas by engaging in active war. Between 1688 and 1763, the European powers waged wars on the European mainland, but it often spilled into the Americas. These Wars of Empire tried to shift the power balance in the colonies through rapid expansionism and tested Indigenous alliances. Conflict had existed in the Americas between Indigenous nations for centuries prior to conquest, but the European powers harnessed it to their advantage and worked to create even more conflict between those groups. Although there were other wars fought, the primary and most consequential were King William’s War (1689–1697), Queen Anne’s War (1702–1713), King George’s War (1744–1748), and the Seven Years’ War (1754–1763).