The French and Indian War had many causes that led up to the war. The English and the French were rival empires in North America. French claimed the Ohio River Valley, Mississippi River, Great Lakes region, and Louisiana (from the Ohio River Valley to the Rocky Mountains). The English and the French competed to supply furs to the Europeans. The fur trade created economic and military alliances with the French and their Native American trading partners. The French feared that they would lose their lands including the Canadian and Louisiana settlements to the English The French felt threatened so they sent troops to expel the British traders and to build forts to protect the region. The governor of Virginia sent 21 year
