Before the American Revolution, various events occurred that would cause troubles for the then british owned colonies, some of which sparking ideas for the Revolution. One of the most important events that happened was The French and Indian War, which would cause British control to increase and damage the colonies for many years to come. The book in question, Virginia And The French And Indian War, discusses Virginia’s effect in the War, and other things regarding the war. In the beginning of the book, the author explains why the war occured in the first place. In the first page, it is stated that “The immediate cause of the struggle between England and France lay in their economic policies”. Before actually discussing the interactions with the Indians, this assumption does make sense due to the presence of Native Americans in the colonies.
It also shows a distinct difference between the two sides. Due to this, both sides had gained supremacy in different parts, and due to this sides were formed to attempt to gain monopoly. This would eventually turn to acts of war, as “The destruction of Pickawillany was the first resort to violence by an official French force”. To have something like property damage occur shows the status of the French during the pre war days. It also presented a reason for the British to retaliate against their rivals. As we all know this would lead to the war, and Virginia would soon be in the crossfire. While the French and British were duking it out for dominance, Virginia more or less did not care what would happen. This is because the amount gained from trading with Indians was pretty low, as “Deerskins and furs,the articles received from the Indians,amounted to 20,000”.
With income so tiny, it is not shocking that they generally didnt care for what the French and British were quarrelling over. Another thing to consider was the outright lack of aggression, as “The Virginians,inexperienced in warfare with the French, evidently considered themselves safe from attack, as was shown by their inaction”.Without gaining much from the conflict, coming to an assumption like this makes perfect sense. It also did not help there army was incredibly lacking, which would cause troubles if a war would occur. To counter this, some had attempted to create their own militias, but this would prove futile due to adjustment issues. Overall things before the war did not start well, and this would cause some troubles when the war actually began.
The War proved bad for Virginia, with many things troubling them. One of the first issues was in the mainland, as “Virginia’s frontier was long, considerably exposed, and in time of hostility needed a large number of men in constant readiness to repel invasion”. Fortunately this issue was somewhat resolved fast, due to a lot of outside assistance. However this would be for naught, as some failures on the part of the British gave French the boost it needed and they set their sites on Virginia. In fact, it was discovered that “Faced with the question of defense after Braddock’s defeat, Dinwiddie took immediate measures to protect Virginia”. This heavily damaged Virginia, but somehow the War was won in favor of the British, probably due to other colonies helping during the war as well. Afterwards, both the French and the Indians who sided with them were severely punished, and British power was stronger than ever. Overall the war was an incredibly taxing affair for all, and especially for Virginia, who would feel it’s effects for many years after.
With the summary out of the way, it is now time to answer various questions regarding the book.One of the bigger ones is what the thesis or main points of the book are. Honestly the thesis in the book is quite simple, and is “What happened to Virginia during the French and Indian War”. As for some main points, those would be along the lines of what Virginia did before,during, and after the war. It also focused on some of the weaknesses they faced in there unpreparedness, and subsequent improving as The French And Indian War progressed. As for how well the entire thing is, I can happily say it’s presented quite well. Baker-Crothers clearly took there time in presenting the topic, and as such thoroughly went into subjects very specific to Virginia. There were good parallels as well, such as the first and second chapters having a completely different tone in how the situation of the Indians was handled. Another thing to point out is what sources were used.
This is because an immense amount were incredibly direct, with some being actual records of events that happened during the war. Overall I have nothing negative to say in regards to things used for the book. For the next pairs of questions, the actual writing will be taken into review, starting with the audience for the book. Due to the title of the book, it can be said that this the book is best for those that are interested in American History. To be more specific, those interested in the American Revolution would be the best audience for the book. Another audience that would be interested is those who care for French History considering how important the war was to them. The next thing to look at is how exactly the book was written,and this is interesting as well. It is very clear in the first chapter that there are many moving parts to be discussed, and as such the topics are constantly being shifted to give everything room to be talked about.
This leads to various things being talked about out of order, which can lead to confusion as events are changed at inconsistent times. This does however give the book much more to talk about, and at times it is very specific, such as an entire chapter being focused on a governor of Virginia. With that being said I will now move on to my general thoughts on the book. In general I really enjoyed the book, but like everything it suffered from some issues. As I’ve mentioned before the focus can be changed rapidly at times, not really getting much information out of it.However, due to the sources used more accurate information is presented, which somewhat mitigates the issue. An issue that can’t be forgiven is how unfocused the book can be at times. This is due to the events sometimes being told out of chronological order, which just makes everything more confusing to read. It also does not help when some events are glossed over, such as the actions of the other colonies and British.
Other than that however I loved reading through it because of how much detail was in the book. The work was obviously shown and how much stuff Virginia had to go through is explained in great detail. To go off on a little discussion, I personally didn’t find much to disagree with the author on, as they had a pretty neutral opinion on everything. Because of this, I would say this book heavily increased my understanding of the events that happened during the French and Indian War, and why it led to events like the American Revolution to occur many years later. So overall I would definitely recommend the book even if the focus is sometimes lost, as the War is such an interesting thing and the age of the book can give it the edge over its more modern contemporaries A fascinating read overall, Virginia And The French And Indian War was an interesting look into one of the more heated topics of the New World. While missing the mark in some areas, the sheer amount of detail is nothing to scoff at and it should be respected for years to come.
