In 1492, Columbus discovered the New World, and for more than a hundred years, European adventurers flocked to divide the land in North America.
In 1607, the English established the town of James in Virginia; a year later, the French established their first permanent colony in Canada.
Although it is said to be front and back feet, the styles on both sides are different.
The French mainly wanted to preach, wanted the Indians to convert to Christianity; the British wanted to do business.
As a result, French immigrants took over merchant hunters, and British immigrants became peasant citizens.
As a result, by 1748, there were about 80,000 French people in Canada, while the population of the British colonies exceeded one million.
Over time, It was natural for Britain and France to clash.
In 1748, the Canadian governor of France sent an expeditionary force to the present-day Ohio territory of the United States, in the name of King Louis XV of France, to annex the place.
Not to be left behind, the British governor Robert Dinwiddie, the governor of Virginia, used his brain.
In 1753, he sent a local youth to build a fortress: this young family came from the north-east of England, he was born in Virginia, and he was a North American of British descent, and he was a native of Virginia, which was very good.
This YMCA speaks English and Latin and also knows a little practical math. He was ordered by Dinwiddie to submit an ultimatum to the French and became a local celebrity: it seemed quite reliable.
The young man was sent out to build a fortress, did a good job, and was named a lieutenant colonel at the age of 21. So a year later, in 1754, Dinwiddie sent him with four hundred soldiers and some Indians.
The result was a great battle in which the French commander Giumenvila was killed by the Indians, but the situation was not good, and the Virginian had to surrender.
The French asked him to sign a French document, and poor Virginian, who knew English and some Latin, but did not know French, signed it in a confused way, and admitted that he had "assassinated the French commander Giumont Vera."
With this as a fuse, Britain and France began the North American War.
By 1762, the war was over and everyone signed the Treaty of Paris.
Spain ceded Florida, France ceded Louisiana, east of the Mississippi River, and Britain took control of the eastern half of North America.
John Catlitt, president of the British Privy Council, who was already dying at the time, was greatly satisfied after listening to the Treaty of Paris and lamented:
"This is the most glorious war and the most glorious peace ever seen in England."
The Virginian youth probably couldn't have imagined that his surrender and arrest would bring such a big historical turn to Britain, right?
He himself took part in the war, and with good luck, he was shot four times in his coat in a battle, but unscathed.
Three years before the end of the war, he got bored, resigned, married, and became a gentry.
At this point, it can also be regarded as an ordinary person, who participated in the turning point of history, OK, and also came to an end. After that, I will go back to my hometown, and my wife and children will be hot.
"After this battle, I will go back to my hometown..." This is easy to say, how many people can really go back?
Is it over? Not yet.
Since England has won the so-called most glorious war and the most glorious peace in history, it has since made a blessing in North America, but the French remember this stubble.
With no French competing, the British began to go on a rampage, frantically raising taxes in North America.
So ten years later, there was the "Boston Tea Pouring Incident" that we all learn in our history textbooks. The people of North America began to fight against the British colonists and seek their rights.
The young Virginia gentleman who had returned to hiding had no choice but to go out of the mountains:
This time, he was not on the side of the British, but on the side of the North American locals.
This is called the American Revolutionary War.
The most interesting thing is that France, which had lost territory after fighting with the British, had always hated Britain and wanted to take revenge when it came to an opportunity.
When the Americans won the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777, the Americans wanted to hurry up and tell the French the good news—the French hated the British the most! Kick the British in the foot!
On 1 November, a ship left Boston with the news, arrived in France on 1 December, and three days later, Benjamin Franklin, who was in France at the time, made the news known to the French nobility, on 6 December King Louis XVI agreed to the Franco-American alliance, and eleven days later France declared its support for the American War of Independence; in March of the following year, Britain and France entered a state of war, lafayette, later the surname of the lord, was used in France to name a famous trading building. That is, the Galeries Lafayette mall in Paris, which is now accustomed to Chinese, officially joined forces with the Virginia boy we had called before, and we all dealt with the British together.
The British have always prided themselves on being the most outstanding maritime empire in the world, holding sea power, and the Americans suffered losses at the beginning, that is, the navy was almost the same.
However, during the North American War of Independence, France solved the problem of partial sea power for the United States.
In the final famous Battle of Yorktown, the French and Americans killed 75 people and wounded 199 people, 2/3 of them were French - the French also tried their best.
Finally, in 1783, the Treaty of Versailles was signed and the United States became independent.
The British colonists were unlucky, and the French were overjoyed: Hey, you won't let me eat North America, and now you can't eat it, you deserve it!
At the time of American independence, the 23-year-old Saint-Simon, a 23-year-old French aristocrat who fought in the War of Independence, later a prominent utopian socialist, believed that the existing social order in Europe would change dramatically from the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.
Sure enough, six years later, France, which helped the United States to become independent, broke out on its own, and the Bastille was captured, and King Louis XVI of France was destroyed.
More than one historian believes that the French riots at that time were influenced by the American Declaration of Independence's concept of natural human rights and freedom for all.
So Mr. Fuller said this in the Military History of the Western World:
"When Louis XVI approved the Franco-American alliance, he was tantamount to signing his own death sentence."
So here's the story:
A young man of North American origin of British descent was captured by the French
Britain and France fought
The British won North America, "the most glorious victory and peace"
After the praying mantis catcher yellow finches, the French helped the Americans to make independence and kicked the British
After the mantis catcher, American independence in turn allowed Louis XVI to fall on his own.
The British colonists and the King of France fought each other, and finally they were unlucky together.
You must have noticed that the origin of everything was the Virginian youth who did not know French, was caught by the French, and accidentally toppled the first domino in history — of course, he later made another outstanding achievement.
It is said that the fate of man depends on personal struggle and historical process, in fact, you can also think like this:
His unfortunate encounter inadvertently pushed the course of history, but then he also threw himself into the tide of history.
The tide of history cannot be reversed, but even if you accidentally experience a not-so-good start, you can still do something else.
This Virginia youth was the first president of the United States, George Washington.