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Michigan Chapter Eight Border Wars of the Colonists
The peace of Utrecht in 1712 put an end to hostilities and gave another breathing spell. This restored the regions previously captured by one party or the other, except that England was to retain Nova Scotia. But the truce was short lived. The state of feeling was such that it was becoming more and more evident that such a thing as permanent peace and harmony between the rival nations in America was a practical impossibility. The French were continually exerting themselves to extend their dominions. In 1721 they made large grants of land on Lake Champlain and also built a fort at Crown Point. They also took measures to establish their claims to the country southward of the great lakes and west of the Ohio. La Salle had traversed this region fifty years before and so gave them a semblance of right by discovery. They establish Fort Duquesne in the Vicinity of the present city of Pittsburg, for the purpose of defending their claims to the Ohio and Mississippi as the natural channel of communication for them between Louisiana and Canada. The belligerent measures of the French led the English colonies to engage in counter movements.
It was becoming certain that the clash of arms in
which the two nations had so long indulged must be transferred for its final finish to the continent of America. France despatched a large fleet to recapture Nova Scotia as well as to ravage the whole New England coast. It was dispersed and wrecked by storms. Clearly the time had come for the English colonists to organize energetic measures. In accordance with instructions from the English Lords of Trade, commissioners from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland met at Albany in June 1754 and resolved unanimously that a union of the colonies was absolutely necessary for their preservation. A plan of colonial union was framed by Benjamin Franklin and submitted to the British government.
Michigan
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