Editing Queen Anne's War (section)

==Background==
{{details|topic=causes of the war in Europe|War of the Spanish Succession}}
[[File:Recognition of the Duke of Anjou as King of Spain.png|thumb|left|[[Philip V of Spain|Philip of Anjou]] proclaimed as the King of Spain in November 1700. A dispute over his succession led to war between the [[Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)|Grand Alliance]] and the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] alliance.]]

When [[War of the Spanish Succession|war broke out]] in Europe in 1701 following the death of the last Hapsburg monarch, [[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]], European powers disputed the succession. The zone of conflict was initially restricted to a few powers in Europe, but it widened in May 1702 when England declared war on Spain and France.<ref>Thomas, pp. 405–07</ref> Both the English and French wanted to keep their American colonies neutral, but they did not reach an agreement.<ref>Evarts Boutell Greene, ''Provincial America, 1690–1740'' (1905) pp. 140–141.</ref> The American colonists had their own tensions which had been growing along the borders separating the French and English colonies. They were concerned about boundaries and governing authority in the northern and southwestern frontiers of the [[British colonization of the Americas|English colonies]], which stretched from the [[Province of Carolina]] in the south to the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]] in the north, with additional colonial settlements or trading outposts on [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] and at [[Hudson Bay]].<ref>Stone, pp. 161, 165</ref>

The total population of the English colonies was about 250,000, with [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] and [[New England]] dominating.<ref>Craven, p. 288</ref> The colonists were concentrated along the coast, with small settlements inland, sometimes reaching as far as the [[Appalachian Mountains]].<ref>See Winsor, p. 341, showing a 1687 map of the southeastern colonies</ref> Colonists knew little of the interior of the continent to the west of the Appalachians and south of the [[Great Lakes]]. This area was dominated by numerous historic Indigenous communities, although French and English traders had penetrated it. Spanish missionaries in ''[[Spanish Florida|La Florida]]'' had established a [[Spanish missions in Florida|network of missions]] in an effort to convert the Indigenous to Roman Catholicism and focus their labor.<ref>Weber, pp. 100–107</ref> The Spanish population was relatively small (about 1,500), and the Indigenous population to whom they ministered has been estimated at 20,000.<ref>Cooper and Terrill, p. 22</ref>

French explorers had located the mouth of the [[Mississippi River]], and they established a small colonial presence at [[Fort Maurepas]] near [[Biloxi, Mississippi]], in 1699.<ref>Weber, p. 158</ref> From there, they began to build trade routes into the interior, establishing friendly relations with the [[Choctaw]], a large community whose enemies included the English-allied [[Chickasaw]].<ref>Crane, p. 385</ref> All of these populations had suffered to some degree from the introduction of infectious diseases such as [[smallpox]], endemic among early explorers and traders. The Native Americans had no immunity and suffered high mortality.<ref>Waselkov and Hatley, p. 104</ref>

The arrival of French colonists in the south threatened existing trade links that Carolina colonists had established into the interior, creating tension among all three powers. France and Spain, allies in this conflict, had been on opposite sides of the recently ended [[Nine Years' War]].<ref>Weber, pp. 158–159</ref> Conflicting territorial claims between Carolina and Florida south of the [[Savannah River]] were overlaid by animosity over religious divisions between the Roman Catholic colonists of New Spain and the Protestant English colonists along the coast.<ref name=Arnade32>Arnade, p. 32</ref>

To the north, the conflict held a strong economic component in addition to territorial disputes. Newfoundland was the site of a British colony at [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's]] and a French colony at [[Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador|Plaisance]], with both sides also holding a number of smaller permanent settlements. The island also had many seasonal settlements used by fishermen from Europe.<ref>Drake, p. 115</ref> These colonists numbered fewer than 2,000 English and 1,000 French permanent settlers (and many more seasonal visitors), who competed with one another for the fisheries of the [[Grand Banks of Newfoundland|Grand Banks]], which were also harvested by fishermen from Acadia (then encompassing all of [[Nova Scotia]] and [[New Brunswick]]) and Massachusetts.<ref>Pope, pp. 202–203<!--population figures--></ref><ref>Drake, pp. 115, 203</ref>

The borders and boundaries remained uncertain between [[Acadia]] and New England despite battles along the border throughout [[King William's War]]. [[New France]] defined the border of Acadia as the [[Kennebec River]] in southern [[Maine]].<ref name="William Williamson 1832. p. 27"/> There were Catholic missions at [[Norridgewock]] and [[Penobscot Indian Island Reservation|Penobscot]] and a French settlement in [[Penobscot Bay]] near [[Castine, Maine]], which had all been bases for attacks on New England settlers migrating toward Acadia during King William's War.<ref>Drake, p. 36</ref> The frontier areas between the [[Saint Lawrence River]] and the primarily coastal settlements of Massachusetts and [[Province of New York|New York]] were still dominated by Indigenous peoples, primarily [[Abenaki]] in the east and [[Iroquois]] west of the Hudson River. The [[Hudson River]]–[[Lake Champlain]] corridor had also been used for raiding expeditions in both directions in earlier conflicts. The threat of Indigenous peoples had receded somewhat because of reductions in the population as a result of disease and the last war, but they still posed a potent threat to outlying settlements.<ref>Drake, p. 150</ref>

The Hudson Bay territories (also known as [[Prince Rupert's Land]]) were not significantly fought over in this war. They had been a scene of much dispute by competing French and English companies starting in the 1680s, but the 1697 [[Treaty of Ryswick]] left France in control of all but one outpost on the bay. The only incident of note was a [[Battle of Fort Albany (1709)|French attack]] on the outpost of [[Fort Albany (Ontario)|Fort Albany]] in 1709.<ref>Newman, pp. 87<!--name of rupert's land-->, 109–124</ref><ref>Bryce, p. 58</ref> The [[Hudson's Bay Company]] was unhappy that Ryswick had not returned its territories, and it successfully lobbied for their return in the negotiations that ended this war.<ref>Newman, pp. 127–128</ref>