Learn From History
The French and Indian War started in southwestern Pennsylvania 250 years ago when France, Great Britain and Native Americans battled for control of one of the most important pieces of real estate in North America during the 18th century.
This section is devoted to the educator and the student. You will find suggested reading materials, curriculum resources, and activities – all geared around learning more about this important time in America’s history and George Washington’s role in it.
Recommended Readings
We asked several teachers what books they would recommend to their students and here’s a list of some of them. You should find them in your school library, your public library or local bookstore. Another good place to find books is at the historic sites. If you find a good book that isn’t listed here, contact us, and we’ll add it to the list. Happy reading!
- Averill, Esther. King Phillip: The Indian Chief. Shoe String LB, 1993. The story of the Wampanoag chief who befriended the Pilgrims and later waged war against the settlers.
Grades 5-8 - Bowen, Gary. Stranded at Plimoth Plantation. HarperCollins LB, 1994. Using a fictional diary as a framework, this well-researched account describes the arduous living conditions in the Pilgrims’ Massachusetts colony.
Grades 3-6 - Bruchac, Joseph. The Arrow Over the Door. Dial, 1998. Two boys, one a Quaker and the other an American Indian, share the narration of this story that takes place immediately before the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.
Grades 4-7 - ——— Children of the Longhouse. Dial, 1996. In a story set in the 1490s, a young Mohawk boy faces a moral dilemma and, in doing right, gains some enemies. Good for building background knowledge.
Grades 3-6 - ——— The Winter People. New York: Puffin Books, 2002. As the French and Indian war rages in October of 1759, Saxso, a fourteen-year-old Abenaki boy, pursues the English rangers who have attacked his village and taken his mother and sisters hostage.
Grades 5-7 - Carter, Alden R. and Bill Clipson. Colonial Wars: Clashes in the Wilderness. Scholastic Library Publishing, 1993. Chronicles the history of the Colonial Wars, also called the French and Indian Wars, which gave the British control of North America.
Ages 10-12 - Cwiklik, Robert. King Phillip and the War with the Colonists. Silver Burdett, 1989. A biography of the Wampanoag Indian chief who led his people in the most important Indian War in New England.
Grades 4-7 - Doherty, Craig A. and Katherine M. Doherty. The Iroquois. Illustrated Series: First Books, 05/03/31, 1989. Topics covered in this history of the Iroquois nation include history, religion, festivals, and customs.
Grades 4-6 - Dorris, Michael. Sees Behind Trees. Hyperion LB, 1996. Set in 16th-century America, this story tells about a young Indian boy who earned the name Sees Behind Trees.
Grades 3-6 - Duvall, Jill D. The Cayuaga. Illustrated Series: New True Books, 1991. This book supplies basic introductory material on the Cayuaga Indians in simple text and photos, some in color.
Grades 2-5 - ——— The Mohawk. Illustrated Series: New True Books, 1991. In short chapters and large print, the history, customs, and social life of the Mohawk Indians are introduced.
Grades 2-5 - ——— The Oneida. Illustrated Series: New True Books, 1991. In large typeface and many illustrations, the history and culture of the Oneida Indians are well presented.
Grades 2-5 - ——— The Onondaga. Illustrated Series: New True Books, 1991. This is a good basic introduction to the Onondaga Indians, their culture and place in history.
Grades 2-5 - ——— The Seneca. Illustrated Series: New True Books, 1991. The Seneca Indians are introduced in this simple book that covers history, social life, and present status.
Grades 2-5 - Edmonds, Walter. The Matchlock Gun. Putnam, 1941. Exciting true story of a courageous boy who protected his mother and sister from the Indians of the Hudson Valley. Newberry Medal Winner, 1942.
Grades 5-7 - Fradin, Dennis B. Hiawatha: Messenger of Peace. Macmillan, 1992. Distinguishing between fact and fiction about the Iroquois leader is the premise of this book.
Grades 4-7 - Gard, Carolyn. The French and Indian War: A Primary Source of the Fight for Territory in North America. Rosen Central, 2004.
Ages 8-12 - Gold, Susan D. Indian Treaties. Twenty-First Century, 1997. Tells of the many settlements and treaties that robbed the American Indians of their lands.
Grades 5-8 - Green, Carl R. The French and Indian War: A MyReportLinks.Com Book. Myreportslinks.com, 2002.
Ages 9-12 - Harrah, Madge. My Brother, My Enemy. Simon & Schuster, 1997. Using Bacon’s rebellion in 1676 as a background, this novel involves a 14-year old whose family is killed during an Indian raid on their cabin.
Grades 4-7 - Hemphill, Kris. Ambush in the Wilderness. Silver Moon Press, 2003. In 1755, after the death of his father, fifteen-year-old Patrick Egan and his uncle accompany the military force of aide-de-camp George Washington and British General Braddock as it journeys to fight the French and their Indian allies at Fort Duquesne in the Ohio River Valley.
Grades 4-6 - Hillstron, Laurie Collier and Elaine Marie Biech. French & Indian War. UXL, 2003. In this valuable resource for research assignments in social studies and related disciplines, students will find historical overviews, biographical entries and primary sources on the period and famous people. Concise and detailed in one volume, features include illustrations, maps, graphs, charts, more than 60 black-and-white illustrations, fact boxes, sidebars, further research, report topics, cross-references, an index and more.
Ages 9-12 - Keehn, Sally M. I Am Regina. Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 2001. In 1755, as the French and Indian War begins, 10-year-old Regina is kidnapped by Indians in western Pennsylvania, and she must struggle to hold onto memories of her earlier life as she grows up under the name of Tskinnak and starts to become Indian herself.
- Marrin, Albert. Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars 1690-1760. Macmillan, 1987. History comes to life in this story of the events leading to the French and Indian wars and their contribution to independence for the colonists.
Grades 5-8 - Maynard, Charles W. Fort Ticonderoga. PowerKids Press, 2003.
Ages 8-11 - McClung, Robert M. Young George Washington and the French and Indian War, 1753-1758. Linnet Books, 2002.
Ages 9-12 - Ochoa, George. The Fall of Quebec and the French and Indian War. Illustrated Series: Turning Points in American History Silver Burdett, 1990. Illustrated account of the French and Indian Wars and the importance of the defeat of Montcalm and the taking of Quebec under Wolfe.
Grades 5-7 - Quasha, Jennifer and Jennifer Ouasha. Rogers’ Rangers and the French and Indian War. PowerPlus Books, 2002.
Ages 9-12 - Reeder, Red. French and Indian War. Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 1972.
- Santella, Andrew. The French and Indian War. Compass Point Books, 2004.
Ages 9-11 - Smolinski, Diane. Battles of the French and Indian War. Heinemann Library, 2002. Investigate wars from multiple angles: the battles, the people, and the society. Readers will learn about the major battles of important wars, their causes and effects, and their significance in the context of the larger war.
Ages 9-11 - ——— Soldiers of the French and Indian War. Heinemann Library, 2002.
Ages 9-11 - Thornton, Jeremy. French and Indian War. PowerKids Press, 2003.
Ages 8-12
- Averill, Esther. King Phillip: The Indian Chief. Shoe String LB, 1993. The story of the Wampanoag chief who befriended the Pilgrims and later waged war against the settlers.
Grades 5-8 - Bruchac, Joseph. The Arrow Over the Door. Dial, 1998. Two boys, one a Quaker and the other an American Indian, share the narration of this story that takes place immediately before the Battle of Saratoga in 1777.
Grades 4-7 - ——— The Winter People. New York: Puffin Books, 2002. As the French and Indian war rages in October of 1759, Saxso, a fourteen-year-old Abenaki boy, pursues the English rangers who have attacked his village and taken his mother and sisters hostage.
Grades 5-7 - Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. 1826.
Grades 8 and up - Cwiklik, Robert. King Phillip and the War with the Colonists. Silver Burdett, 1989. A biography of the Wampanoag Indian chief who led his people in the most important Indian War in New England.
Grades 4-7 - Edmonds, Walter. The Matchlock Gun. Putnam, 1941. Exciting true story of a courageous boy who protected his mother and sister from the Indians of the Hudson Valley. Newberry Medal Winner, 1942.
Grades 5-7 - Farley, Karin Clafford. Duel in the Wilderness. Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1995. Based on George Washington’s own journal, Duel in the Wilderness, tells the true story of his journey in 1753-1754 into the Ohio country.
Ages 12 and up - Fradin, Dennis B. Hiawatha: Messenger of Peace. Macmillan, 1992. Distinguishing between fact and fiction about the Iroquois leader is the premise of this book.
Grades 4-7 - Gangi, Rayna M. Mary Jemison: White Woman of the Seneca. Clear Light Publishers, 1997. Based on Mary Jemison’s own account of her life and a thorough study of the history of the time, Rayna Gangi tells the true story of the captive white girl who became the wife of a Seneca warrior chief during the French and Indian wars. Captured at fifteen during a raid, this daughter of Scotch-Irish parents was rapidly assimilated into full tribal membership.
- Gold, Susan D. Indian Treaties. Twenty-First Century, 1997. Tells of the many settlements and treaties that robbed the American Indians of their lands.
Grades 5-8 - Harrah, Madge. My Brother, My Enemy. Simon & Schuster, 1997. Using Bacon’s rebellion in 1676 as a background, this novel involves a 14-year old whose family is killed during an Indian raid on their cabin.
Grades 4-7 - Keehn, Sally M. I Am Regina. Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 2001. In 1755, as the French and Indian War begins, 10-year-old Regina is kidnapped by Indians in western Pennsylvania, and she must struggle to hold onto memories of her earlier life as she grows up under the name of Tskinnak and starts to become Indian herself.
- Kozar, Richard. Fort DuQuesne and Fort Pitt. Mason Crest Publishers, 2004. Explains the importance of Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt in American history and includes details of life while they were in use.
- Marrin, Albert. Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars 1690-1760. Macmillan, 1987. History comes to life in this story of the events leading to the French and Indian wars and their contribution to independence for the colonists.
Grades 5-8 - McKissack, Patricia. Look to the Hills: The Diary of Lozette Moreau, a French Slave Girl (Dear America Series). Scholastic, Inc, 2004. Ages 12 and up. Brought up in France as the African slave companion of a nobleman’s daughter, thirteen-year-old Zettie records the events of 1763, when she and her mistress escape to the New World where they are inadvertently drawn into the hostilities of the ongoing French and Indian War.
- Ochoa, George. The Fall of Quebec and the French and Indian War. Illustrated Series: Turning Points in American History Silver Burdett, 1990. Illustrated account of the French and Indian Wars and the importance of the defeat of Montcalm and the taking of Quebec under Wolfe.
Grades 5-7 - Speare, Elizabeth George. Calico Captive. Sagebrush Education Resources, 2001. Based on an actual narrative diary, written by a New Hampshire girl captured in an Indian raid during the French and Indian war and taken to live in Montreal.
- Strum, Richard M. Fort Ticonderoga. Mason Crest Publishers, 2004. Explains the importance of Fort Ticonderoga in American history and includes details of life while it was in use.
- Anderson, Fred. The War That Made America. New York: Viking, 2005.
- Cave, Alfred A. The French and Indian War. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2004.
- Collier, Christopher and James Lincoln Collier. The French and Indian War 1660-1763. New York: Benchmark Books, 1997.
- Cooper, James Fenimore. The Last of the Mohicans. 1826. Grades 8 and up
- Kozar, Richard. Fort DuQuesne and Fort Pitt. Mason Crest Publishers, 2004. Explains the importance of Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt in American history and includes details of life while they were in use.
- Maestro, Betsy and Giulio Maestro. Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars 1689-1763. HarperCollins Publisher, 2000. As early as 1630, Spain, France, England, and the Netherlands had settlements or colonies in North America. Always looking for ways to expand their territory, these European nations were constantly at war with one another over trade, borders, and religious differences. Beginning in 1689, their conflicts spread across the Atlantic to America. Over the next seventy years, competing European powers would battle for control of the New World. The winner would take the prize – all of North America. Struggle for a Continent tells the riveting story of the French and Indian Wars – 74 years of fighting that determined the destiny of the future United States.
- Minks, Benton and Louise Minks. The French and Indian War. San Diego, California: Lucent Books, 1995.
- Schwartz, Seymour I. The French and Indian War 1754-1763. Book Sales, 2000
- Stephenson, Scott. Clash of Empires: The British, French, and Indian War, 1754-1763. Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania, 2005.
- Washington, George, Fred Anderson. George Washington Remembers: Reflections on the French and Indian War. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2004.
Activities for Students
Check out the French and Indian War activities pages. With Word Search, Match the Facts and Hidden Pictures, you'll learn more about the French and Indian War and life on the frontier in the 18th century. If you don't know an answer, try to find the information on the website. But don't peek unless you have to! Have fun!
Hidden Pictures
In this scene, typical trade items are hidden in some not-so-typical places. There are 20 items; see if you can find them all.