Chapter 6
●
89
these paths and trails byhorse. Theywould
pack horses with trade items such as cloth,
guns, and iron pots. Traders tied several
horses together to form a packhorse train.
Soon, the traders couldnot carry enough
trade items. So the trading companies built
tradingposts
in thewilderness.Here they
could store metal knives, hatchets, cloth,
and other trade items. Now, the Native
Americans could trade their pelts whenever
theywere ready.
Learning About
Cause and Effect in
theWilderness
T
he European empires of France and
England were setting up colonies
over most of the world. In North
America, the French colonieswere located in
Canada. The French were building forts
south toward the
Ohio River Valley
. The
English colonies were located along the
Atlantic coastline. TheEnglishwerebuilding
trading posts west toward the Ohio River
Valley. These posts were later changed to
forts. Again, geography becomes important.
In the 1750s, therewere no forts or towns at
this location where three rivers meet. This
region was about to become the area of a
majorwar. Doyou knowwhat city is located
at this place today?
It is time to learn about
cause
and
effect
. When one thing happens, called a
cause, there is usually something else that
happens, as a result of the cause, called an
effect. Because both empires wanted the
same land (the cause), a long, costly war
broke out (the effect). As a modern day
example, a car hits an electric pole (cause).
The electric line falls leaving an area
without electricity (effect). You cannot
watch TV because the electricity is out
(another effect).
The French and English believed their
explorers were the first to claim the area
where the three rivers meet. Both sides were
ready to fight each other! Both wanted to
keep the fur tradewith theNativeAmericans.
TheWar Begins
M
any religious groups of Penn-
sylvaniadidnot believe in fighting
or war. Because of this, the leaders
of the Pennsylvania colony asked for help
from the leaders of the Virginia colony.
Virginia was a colony under England’s rule.
In 1753, theVirginiaGovernor sent a young
man to order the French to leave the area.
The man to carry this written order was
George Washington
. Remember, at this
YoungGeorgeWashington
