King George's War

Causes

The War of Jenkins' Ear between Spain and Great Britain began in 1739 over an incident involving a British merchant captain, but was limited to the Caribbean and Georgia. The War of the Austrian Succession started in 1740 over the Austrian throne, though Britain and Spain were not initially involved militarily. Britain became Austria's ally in 1742, opposing France and Prussia, with open hostilities beginning in 1743. Formal war between Britain and France was declared in March 1744, and Massachusetts declared war on Canada and France on June 2.

Course of the war

News of war declarations reached Louisbourg on May 3, 1744, and French forces quickly raided the British fishing port of Canso on May 23. They then organized an attack on Annapolis Royal, but delays allowed British forces to prepare. Mi'kmaq and Maliseet allies, with Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre, attacked Fort Anne in early July but withdrew after a few days due to a lack of heavy weapons. A larger French force arrived in mid-August but could not mount an effective attack, as the fort had received reinforcements from Massachusetts.

In 1745, British colonial forces captured Fortress Louisbourg after a six-week siege. In retaliation, the Wabanaki Confederacy launched the Northeast Coast Campaign against British settlements in Maine. France sent a major expedition to recover Louisbourg in 1746, but it was beset by storms, disease, and the death of its commander, the Duc d'Anville, and returned without reaching its objective.

The war also involved frontier raiding between the northern British colonies and New France, with Native American allies on both sides. On November 28, 1745, French and Indian allies destroyed Saratoga, New York, killing or capturing over one hundred people. The British subsequently abandoned settlements north of Albany. In July 1746, an Iroquois and intercolonial force assembled in northern New York for a retaliatory attack.

Aftermath

The war caused heavy losses, particularly in the northern British colonies; Massachusetts alone lost an estimated 8% of its adult male population in 1745–46. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle returned Louisbourg to France in exchange for Madras in India, outraging New Englanders, especially Massachusetts colonists.

The British government later paid Massachusetts £180,000, which the province used to retire devalued paper currency. The treaty restored all colonial borders to pre-war status but did not resolve territorial disputes. Tensions continued, leading to Father Le Loutre's War (1749–1755) in Acadia and Nova Scotia, and the French and Indian War beginning in 1754.