Calico Captive & the French-Indian War

October 7, 1763 - King George III issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which outlines the newly conquered territory. It continues to guide relations today between the government of Canada and the First Nations.

The French and Indian War (1754–1763) pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France, each side supported by by Native American allies. At the start of the war, the French colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 settlers, compared with 2 million in the British colonies.  The outnumbered French particularly depended on the natives.  Fighting took place primarily along the frontiers between New France and the British colonies, from Virginia to Newfoundland. 

The European nations declared a wider war upon one another overseas in 1756, two years into the French and Indian War, and some view the French and Indian War as being merely the American theater of the worldwide Seven Years' War of 1756–63.

Between 1758 and 1760, the British military launched a campaign to capture French Canada.  Ultimately, the French ceded Canada in accordance with the Treaty of Paris (1763).  Shortly afterward, orders for the deportation were given by Commander-in-Chief William Shirley, without direction from Great Britain. The French-Acadians were expelled, both those captured in arms and those who had sworn the loyalty oath to the King. Natives likewise were driven off the land to make way for settlers from New England.

France also ceded its territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain, as well as French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to its ally Spain in compensation for Spain's loss to Britain of Spanish Florida. (Spain had ceded Florida to Britain in exchange for the return of Havana, Cuba.) France's colonial presence north of the Caribbean was reduced to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, confirming Great Britain's position as the dominant colonial power in northern North America.

Our spine read for this unit is:

• Calico Captive
• In the year 1754, the stillness of Charlestown, New Hampshire, is shattered by the terrifying cries of an Indian raid. Young Miriam Willard, on a day that had promised new happiness, finds herself instead a captive on a forest trail, caught up in the ebb and flow of the French and Indian War. It is a harrowing march north. Miriam can only force herself to the next stopping place, the next small portion of food, the next icy stream to be crossed. At the end of the trail waits a life of hard work and, perhaps, even a life of slavery. Mingled with her thoughts of Phineas Whitney, her sweetheart on his way to Harvard, is the crying of her sister’s baby, Captive, born on the trail. Miriam and her companions finally reach Montreal, a city of shifting loyalties filled with the intrigue of war, and here, by a sudden twist of fortune, Miriam meets the prominent Du Quesne family, who introduce her to a life she has never imagined.

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• You will also find a short list of reading books, including a featured novel that the unit builds upon.
• There are vocabulary words, places, and people to identify.
• Reading comprehension, critical thinking questions, and writing assignments are included.
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Table of Contents

• The King’s Fifth
• Red Falcons of Tremoine
• Golden Hawks of Genghis Khan
• Red Hugh of Ireland
• Calico Captive
• The Story of Eli Whitney
• Island of the Blue Dolphins
• The Lost Kingdom
• The Secret Garden
• Heidi
• Girl of the Limberlost
• The Winged Watchman
• When the Dikes Broke
• Using the Good & the Beautiful in High School

Product Sample:  Red Hugh of Ireland & the English Civil Wars 

The books selected for these unit studies can be found in the upper grades areas of The Good and the Beautiful Book List.  However, Homeschool On the Range and Sparks Academy are not employed by or affiliated with, nor do they receive any compensation from, The Good and the Beautiful.  It has simply been their curriculum of choice for many years.  These unit studies are not endorsed by The Good and the Beautiful or Jenny Phillips.