Empire and Liberty

In April 1754, a French expedition from Canada seized a partially built fortress near the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania, igniting a global conflict between Great Britain and France that culminated nine years later with a treaty granting Britain control of all North America. However, the birth of the first British Empire was accompanied by American discontent, as the colonists, steeped in a political philosophy emphasizing liberty and a distrust of power, began to challenge British authority