Proposal
At the forefront of a movement to conquer land during the 1750s, particularly in North America, were both Britain and France. Both began on the present-day east coast of the United States and spread their influence inland. Here they encountered resources, indigenous people, and most contentious of all, each other. This meeting and ensuing conflict led to the Seven Years War, a battle between Britain and France from 1754-60, as well as their indigenous allies, over who should control trade, resources, and the settling of territory in North America. While both sides fought hard and valiantly, it was ultimately the non-European participants of the war that helped to decide its outcome. More specifically, the indigenous people of the Ohio River Valley, who helped to share their knowledge of the land and its workings with both the British and French. The Europeans repaid this sharing of knowledge by sharing with Native Americans European diseases, particularly smallpox, which was fatal to all who encountered it, no matter which side of the war they fell on. The proposed paper will explore the role that smallpox played in alienating Native American groups and ultimately contributing to the British victory in the war. The role of smallpox in the war is worth researching because the war saw a sharp turn at its midway point, in 1757, from French domination to British victory. This turn was directly influenced by smallpox and its effect on the Native American people of the Ohio River Valley.
The proposed paper will approach the French and Indian War from the perspective that smallpox was the ultimate catalyst and ultimately decided the outcome of the war. Other scholars, such as John Booss, argue that smallpox was one of many factors, including the Native American abandonment of the French, that led to a British victory in the war. However, the proposed paper argues that smallpox was the sole reason for the British victory and that smallpox contributed to the Native Americans revoking their alliances with the French in favor of the British. The French and Indian War can be divided into two key time frames: 1754-1757 was a period marked by French domination mostly due to the aid France received from its Native American allies, while 1758-1760 was a stretch of almost entirely British success and victory which ultimately led to Britain’s triumph in the war. A key identifier for this shift was the effect that smallpox had on Cherokee nations who were allied for the first half of the war with the French. After bringing smallpox home and killing many of their families, the Native Americans turned on the French and agreed at the Treaty of Easton to support the British in removing European influence from the Ohio River Valley.
The proposed project will directly trace smallpox from the shift in the war through the end of fighting. Rather than examining the conflict itself or race relations between Europeans and Native Americans, the proposed paper will lay out how smallpox decided the outcome of the war. Historian John Booss provides an overview of smallpox throughout the war in “Fear and Betrayal: Smallpox and the Turning Point of the French and Indian War” (2022), describing how lethal smallpox was for all participants of the war without taking a stance on who it effected more. Similarly, Elizabeth Fenn and Mark Wheelis both provide examinations into how smallpox was used by the British as a bioweapon and how it was taken advantage of by all participants in the war. The proposed project will go a step further, by directly accusing smallpox of causing the British to win the war via its lethal nature and effect on Native Americans and the French. The proposed project will be aided by multiple accounts of life during the war, provided by Luke Gridley, a private in the British Army, as well as accounts from British General Jeffery Amherst and other members of the British army from 1757-60.
Much of the proposed project’s claim, that smallpox directly affected the outcome of the war, comes from the role smallpox played in influencing the Native Americans and who they provided aid to during the war. A possible challenge the proposed project could encounter comes from a lack of concrete numbers of Native Americans killed by smallpox. This challenge will be avoided by examining inquiries made by Paul Kelton and John Booss about how smallpox and other factors such as weather and alliance shaped the outcome of the war and narrowing in on smallpox as the key contributor to a British victory in 1760.
Annotated Bibliography
Primary Sources
Gridley, Luke. Luke Gridley’s diary while in service in the French and Indian war. Ed. for the Acorn club. Hartford, 1906 Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/07034166/.
This source is a diary written by Luke Gridley, a private in the British Army who served in North America during the French and Indian War. Gridley explains the day-to-day life of a soldier, interacting with Native Americans, cruel military superiors, and harsh conditions including disease. Throughout the journal, Gridley’s fear of smallpox is repeated in his accounts of run ins with the illness. Gridley’s journal fits into the narrative of the proposed paper as it gives insight into life in the Ohio River Valley during the war and shows the fear had by the soldiers for a disease like smallpox.
Knox, John, -1778, and Pre-1801 Imprint Collection. An historical journal of the campaigns in North-America, for the years, 1758, 1759, and 1760. London: Printed for the author, and sold by W. Johnston … and J. Dodsley, 1769. Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/02012669/.
This primary source is a collection of journal entries from British soldiers in the second half of the French and Indian War. Firsthand accounts from members of the British army talking about daily life, fighting, and dealing with the French and Native Americans. Understanding how life was in the Ohio River Valley during the war is critical to the proposed paper as it helps to reveal how the path of the war could be disrupted. This disruption was caused by smallpox and began the escalation towards the end of the war.
Secondary Sources
Anderson, Fred. Crucible of War: The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766. 1st ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000.
Harvard educated historian of early North American history, Fred Anderson, recaps the French and Indian War from first shots to the Treaty of Paris with a specific focus on the diplomacy and tactical decisions made throughout the conflict. Anderson focuses on decisions made by the Native Americans that allowed Europeans to populate their land as well as the decisions pertaining to who to support during wartime. Fred Anderson argues that Native Americans were the deciding factor in the war and their support was what most contributed to the British victory. This source supports the proposed project as it recounts the Native American role in the war. The proposed paper will utilize this source in the argument that smallpox caused the French to lose their Native American alliance and thus lose the war.
Booss, John. “Fear and Betrayal: Smallpox and the Turning Point of the French and Indian War.” New York History 103, no. 2 (2022): 246–69. https://doi.org/10.1353/nyh.2022.0038.
In this article, John Booss, the National Director of Neurology for the Department of Veteran Affairs, argues that the emergence of smallpox especially amongst Native American tribes marked a turning point in the war from French domination to English victory. Booss splits the war into two parts, 1754 to 1757 and 1758 to 1760, separated by a major outbreak of smallpox in August of 1757. Following fighting in the Great Lakes region, Native Americans returned to their home tribes where they unknowingly spread the disease, causing devastating death tolls. In response, Native Americans refused to fight with the French, taking away much of their advantage over the British. Throughout the diary of Luke Gridley smallpox is mentioned along with its deadly effects. This source will contribute to the paper by detailing the effect of smallpox on the war. Specifically, the shift in the war following the 1757 outbreak shows how much effect smallpox had on swaying the war’s outcome.
Fenn, Elizabeth A. “Biological Warfare in Eighteenth-Century North America: Beyond Jeffery Amherst.” Journal of American History 86, no. 4 (2000): 1552–80. https://doi.org/10.2307/2567577.
Elizabeth Fenn, chair of the Western American History department at the University of Colorado, argues that biological warfare, specifically the use of smallpox, was a tactic practiced by all parties in the French and Indian War, French, British, and Native Americans. The most well-known example is British General Jeffrey Amherst who may or may not have given out smallpox infected blankets to Native American tribes. Fenn however argues that it was not just the British participating in these practices, but the French and Native Americans as well. Fenn goes on to describe why smallpox was chosen, for its lethal and infectious nature. Fenn’s argument fits well into the proposed paper as she outlines the lethality of smallpox and multiple examples of its deadly nature during the time of the French and Indian War.
Fenn, Elizabeth A. Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82. 1st ed. New York: Hill and Wang, 2001.
Elizabeth Fenn traces the role of smallpox through the American revolution. Fenn argues that smallpox shifted the revolution by influencing Native American relations in colonial America. Fenn argues that the fear of disease, specifically after the French and Indian war and the extended interaction it brought with Europeans, drove Native Americans towards conflict with the British. This resulted from Native Americans wanting their own independence. This contributes to the proposed paper as it gives a glimpse into the mindset around smallpox after the French and Indian War. Additionally, the upheaval caused by smallpox during the American Revolution must reflect the upheaval it caused during the Seven Year’s War.
Paul Kelton. “The British and Indian War: Cherokee Power and the Fate of the Empire in North America.” William and Mary Quarterly 69, no. 4 (2012): 763–92. https://doi.org/10.5309/willmaryquar.69.4.0763.
Paul Kelton, chair in American History at Stony Brook University, argues that the abandonment of the French in North America by Native Americans was directly responsible for the collapse of France’s empire. He attributes the abandonment largely to the emergence of smallpox as well as distaste for the French bringing such conflict into their homeland. Not only did the Ohioan indigenous groups step away from helping the French, but they also allowed British troops to easily access French forts on their land. This eventually culminated with the Treaty of Easton, in October 1758, which aligned the Ohioan Native Americans with British troops. This was the first sign of hope for victory in the war for the British. This source will contribute to the paper by promoting the concept of smallpox influencing the outcome, in this case through the way it shaped native American involvement. The role of Native Americans in the Ohio River Valley, specifically the Cherokees, provides a strong example of how the choices of indigenous groups and who they ally with plays a huge part in the outcome in many factions of the French and Indian War. Smallpox was directly responsible for Native Americans abandoning the French and ultimately helping the British to victory.