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French westward expansion in the 1670s and 1680s cut off the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy from new sources of beaver and threatened New York's fur trade.

In 1662 Placentia had a garrison of 25 French soldiers. Its growing importance as the centre of the French fishing fleet meant an increase of its garrison to about 150 by 1704. It was fear of this garrison town that provoked the first British garrison at St John's in 1696.

Fort Beauséjour, on the west bank of the Missaguash River near present-day Sackville, New Brunswick was built 1751-55 by the French as a counter to nearby British Fort Lawrence (near Amherst, NS).

Fort Haldimand, located on the west promontory of Carleton Island at the east end of Lake Ontario, about 16 km offshore from Kingston, Ontario, was built by the British in 1778 during the American Revolution.

Frontenac reoccupied the site, rebuilding the fort in 1695, and the post became known as Fort Frontenac. Reinforced by troops under François-Charles de Bourlamaque and later the Marquis de MONTCALM, it nevertheless fell to the British under John Bradstreet in August 1758.

Crown Point is a large peninsula strategically commanding the narrow passage of the southwestern portion of Lake CHAMPLAIN in upper New York State. It was initially the site of Fort Saint-Frédéric, built by the French in 1731 to defend French territory from English colonial invasion.

Fort Duquesne, located at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers at the site of present-day Pittsburgh, Penn, guarded the most important strategic location in the west at the time of the Seven Years' War.

Fort Henry, KINGSTON, Ont, was originally built during the WAR OF 1812 on Point Henry, beside Lake Ontario, to guard the outlet to the St Lawrence River and the Kingston Navy Yards.

The Aroostook War was a confrontation between British and Maine authorities in disputed territory known as Madawaska. During the Napoleonic Wars, Britain was in dire need of wood and the region’s pine forests became an important commodity. Claimed by both Maine and New Brunswick, Madawaska became fertile ground for confrontations between the two. The war peaked in 1838‒39 when the governor of Maine, John Fairfield, sent a group, led by Rufus McIntyre, to stop “provincials” from entering territory that Fairfield believed was Maine’s. McIntyre was captured and accused of invading the colony. The conflict ended in 1842 with the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, which divided the territory along the Saint John River.

The general introduction of rifled artillery (with greater range and accuracy than earlier guns) shortly after completion of the Citadel rendered the costly installation obsolescent. It was partially rearmed in the 1860s and 1870s, and continued in use as a barracks into the 20th century.

The War of the Spanish Succession, 1701–1714 (also known as Queen Anne's War), was a general European war that spread around the globe to include the colonies of the major powers — including French and English colonies in North America.

A key site for controlling the western theatre of the War of 1812, Fort Amherstburg (now Fort Malden) owed its existence to the shifting boundaries on Lake Superior in the wake of British and American diplomatic and military disputes.

A band of Americans and pro-American Canadians living in Upper Canada, the Canadian Volunteers were a company-sized regiment that fought on the American side during the WAR OF 1812.

After the fall of Québec in 1759, an urgent appeal was sent to France for 4000 troops and food supplies. Not until Apr 19 did 5 merchant ships and a frigate leave Bordeaux with 400 troops and some supplies.

The 16 squat, flat-roofed towers built in British North America from 1796 to 1848 were distributed as follows: Halifax (5), Saint John (1), Québec City (4) and Kingston (6). The towers were built during times of tension with the United States.

The War of 1812 was fought between Britain and the United States between 1812 and 1814. The war ended in a stalemate but had many lasting effects in Canada. It guaranteed Canada’s independence from the United States. It also gave Canadians their first experience working together as a community and helped develop a sense of nationhood.

(This article is a plain-language summary of the War of 1812. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry War of 1812.)

The War of 1812 (which lasted from 1812 to 1814) was a military conflict between the United States and Great Britain. As a colony of Great Britain, Canada was swept up in the War of 1812 and was invaded several times by the Americans. The war was fought in Upper Canada, Lower Canada, on the Great Lakes and the Atlantic, and in the United States. The peace treaty of Ghent (1814), which ended the war, largely returned the status quo. However, in Canada, the war contributed to a growing sense of national identity, including the idea that civilian soldiers were largely responsible for repelling the American invaders. In contrast, the First Nations allies of the British and Canadian cause suffered much because of the war; not only had they lost many warriors (including the great Tecumseh), they also lost any hope of halting American expansion in the west, and their contributions were quickly forgotten by their British and Canadian allies (see First Nations and Métis Peoples in the War of 1812).

The War of 1812 as it was fought on the high seas included a variety of activities related to sea power, including clashes between ships, naval blockades, coastal raids, joint operations with the army and a commerce war involving privateers and letters of marque.

The North American heartland, linked by rivers running from the north, west, and south and flowing eastwards via the St Lawrence River, saw intense fighting during the War of 1812.