New England’s Frontier Wars

New England’s Frontier Wars

Being a settler in New England wasn’t all that easy.  Events outside your control impacted settlers for generations.  Encroachment on the Native American population created resentment and occasional raids on settlements.  Global forces were at work against the settlers too, as France and England were constantly at war with each other in Europe, which naturally bled over to North America as each side fought for their turf.

There were several wars between the English and the French that deeply impacted the settlers in New England.  So many wars that you need a scorecard to keep track of them all:

1689-1697  King William’s War (War of the Grand Alliance/Nine Year’s War)
1702-1713  Queen Anne’s War (War of Spanish Succession)
1722–1725  Dummer’s War (Father Rale’s War/Wabanaki-New England War)
1744-1748   King George’s War (War of Austrian Succession
1754–1763  French & Indian War (Seven Year’s War)

Over the next several posts I’m going to try to tackle each of these at an overview level, and dive deeper into individual stories from each over time.  With 75 years of fighting between the settlers, the French and the Native American population, there’s plenty of content to work with, and only time as a restriction.