King William's War

King William’s War, also known as the Second Indian War, was fought in North America as part of the Nine Years’ War, an international conflict that lasted from 1688 to 1697 between France and the Grand Alliance (a coalition which included the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, England, Spain, and Savoy). King William’s War was fought between New France and New England and their respective Native American allies in what are today Maine and Quebec, Canada, and the Hudson Valley of New York.

Background

The larger context of King William’s War was the Nine Year’s War, which took place in Europe and Europe’s colonies from 1688 to 1697. The Nine Year’s War was instigated by Louis XIV of France as a result of his desire to expand French territory both on the continent and abroad, while the powers of England, the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, and Spain sought to oppose this aim.

By the middle of the seventieth century, English and French territories in North America were largely defined by their respective colonial holdings. The English had established a number of settlements along the eastern seaboard of what is now the United States, including Virginia, Massachusetts, and Maryland, while the French had established colonies in what is now Canada, including Quebec and Acadia, parts of which form the modern Canadian Maritime Provinces.

The English colonies had a strong emphasis on agriculture and the establishment of permanent settlements. The colonists relied heavily on the labor of indentured servants and, later, enslaved Africans, to work the land and produce crops. The English colonists also had a strong religious and cultural identity, with many of them identifying as Protestant and seeking to establish religious communities.

The French colonies, on the other hand, were more focused on the fur trade and establishing trading relationships with the Indigenous peoples. The French colonists relied on the expertise of Indigenous North Americans to navigate the often difficult terrain of the region, and established close relationships with many peoples.

Because of their different approaches to colonization, the relationship between English and French colonists in North America was often marked by tension. The English colonists were often suspicious of the French, whom they saw as a threat to their economic and territorial ambitions, while the French colonists viewed the English as interlopers who were encroaching on their territory and seeking to disrupt their trade relationships. The relationship between the two groups was also shaped by wider political and economic forces in Europe. France and England were long-standing rivals, and their conflicts in North America were a reflection of their wider political and economic disputes. The two powers often sought to gain advantage over one another by establishing alliances with Indigenous peoples and securing control over key trading routes and resources. On May 17, 1689, England officially declared war on France.

Overview

There were several precipitating causes of King William’s War but one of the main causes was competition between France and England for control of the fur trade in North America. Since 1680, the Iroquois had dominated the economically important Great Lakes fur trade and had been in conflict with New France. When New England and the Iroquois Confederacy partnered to fight New France, the five Indigenous tribes in the region of Acadia formed the Wabanaki Confederacy. They entered into a political and military alliance with New France to stop the New England expansion.

After several back-and-forth raids on each other’s trading posts and settlements, the first major battle of King William’s War was the Battle of Port Royal, which began on May 9, 1690. Port Royal was the capital of Acadia. When the British, let by Sir William Phips, attacked it with 736 men in seven ships, Port Royal’s governor quickly surrendered. Over the next few years, additional British troops would occupy and attack Port Royal to keep it powerless.

In October 1690, a fleet of English and Dutch ships arrived at Quebec City, which was then under French control. The fleet was again commanded by Phips. Even though the French forces in Quebec, led by Governor Louis de Buade de Frontenac, were outnumbered and outgunned, they were able to successfully defend the city against the English and Dutch attackers. The battle was fought primarily on the Plains of Abraham, a large plateau outside the city walls. The French forces were able to use the terrain to their advantage, and were able to repel the English and Dutch attacks. The battle was a major defeat for the English, and marked a turning point in the conflict.

The French and their Native allies under the Count de Frontenac carried out successful attacks on Schenectady, New York, Salmon Falls, New Hampshire, and Casco Bay, Maine, but failed against their main target of Boston. On July 18, 1694, French troops along with about 250 Abenaki Native Americans raided the English settlement of Durham, New Hampshire, killing or capturing about 100 people and burning houses in what later came to be known as the Oyster River Massacre. The final battle of King William’s War took place on September 9, 1697, at Damariscotta, Maine.

The Nine Year’s War came to an end in October 1697 with the signing of the Treaty of Ryswick, which established a temporary peace between France and England. However, King William’s War did not officially end until January 7, 1699, when a peace treaty was signed between the Abenaki and the colony of Massachusetts Bay. The Treaty of Ryswick reaffirmed the territorial boundaries between the two European powers in North America and granted England certain commercial and territorial rights in the region. Some of these claims were left unsettled and disputes between the countries about them led to the start of Queen Anne’s War in 1702.

Bibliography

Anderson, Fred. The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War. Penguin, 2006.

Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. History of Massachusetts Blog, 23 June 2019, historyofmassachusetts.org/king-williams-war/. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.

Esposito, Gabriele. Armies of the War of the Grand Alliance 1688–97. Osprey Publishing, 2021.

Grenier, John. “King William’s War: New England’s Mournful Decade.” History Net, 18 Nov. 2015, www.historynet.com/king-williams-war-new-englands-mournful-decade/. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.

“King William’s War.” Totally History, 2020, totallyhistory.com/king-williams-war/. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.

“King William’s War 1689–1697.” The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, www.colonialsociety.org/node/1869. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.