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for an American campaign.

Secondly, Pitt promised the colonies that Britain would reimburse them if they recruited troops. Obviously they did, and recruitment in America reached new heights.

Thirdly, he found the military men for the job and made sure that they had the front-line troops to do it properly.

The British began by taking Louisberg in July 1757. Thus they held the mouth of the St. Lawrence river. In August they captured Fort Frontenac at the other end of the St. Lawrence on Lake Ontario. Thus the French colony of Quebec was now caught between two British forces.

In September 1759 General Wolfe's force sailed up the St. Lawrence from Louisberg with 9,000 British troops and captured Quebec City. Both he and the French commander were killed in the battle. The French tried to retake the city, but by September 1760 their forces in America were finally defeated and forced to surrender.

The war dragged on in Europe until 1763 and ended in yet another messy compromise, but in America the British ruled supreme. France was reduced to little more than two small islands off the coast of modern Canada that they kept as fishing bases. For the colonists the French threat to further settlement was finally removed.

The British on both sides of the Atlantic rejoiced at this great victory. British control over North America seemed secure. With the French out of the way, what on Earth could threaten British North America?

Learn more about this author, Kenneth Bell.
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