King William's War: The First Contest for North America, 1689–1697

by Michael G. Laramie

Fought in New York, New England, and Canada, the conflict that began the long French and English struggle for the New World 

While much has been written on the French and Indian War of 1754–1763, the colonial conflicts that preceded it have received comparatively little attention. Yet in King William’s War, the first clash between England and France for control of North America, the patterns of conflict for the next seventy years were laid, as were the goals and objectives of both sides, as well as the realization that the colonies of the two nations could not coexist.
   King William’s War actually encompassed several proxy wars being fought by the English and the French through their native allies. The Beaver Wars was a long running feud between the Iroquois Confederacy, New France, and New France’s native allies over control of the lucrative fur trade. Fueled by English guns and money, the Iroquois attempted to divert the French fur trade towards their English trading partners in Albany, and in the process gain control over other Indian tribes. To the east the pro-French Wabanaki of Maine, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick had earlier fought a war with New England, but English expansion and French urgings, aided by foolish moves and political blunders on the part of New England, erupted into a second Wabanaki War on the eve of King William’s War. Thus, these two conflicts officially became one with the arrival of news of a declaration of war between France and England in 1689. The next nine years saw coordinated attacks, including French assaults on Schenectady, New York, and Massachusetts, and English attacks around Montreal and on Nova Scotia. The war ended diplomatically, but started again five years later in Queen Anne’s War.
   A riveting history full of memorable characters and events, and supported by extensive primary source material, King William’s War: The First Contest for North America, 1689–1697 by Michael G. Laramie is the first book-length treatment of a war that proved crucial to the future of North America. 

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Indigenous, Military History, American

344 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

A native of Vermont, Michael G. Laramie is an independent historian with a focus on the colonial conflicts of North America.

Reviews

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

King William's War examines the first major war between English Colonists and New France in North America (in what would later become the northeastern United States and Canada), that took place over the years 1689 to 1697. The key players included New England, New France, the Iroquois Confederacy, and the Wabanaki Confederacy of indigenous tribes.

Laramie starts in the pre-war period in early 17th century history, setting the context and discussing the fierce competition over trade in beaver pelts. He goes on to convey how this often-overlooked war shaped the future of North America. He outlines the complex web of alliances (and a few betrayals) between European powers, Native American tribes, and colonial settlers. His research draws extensively from primary sources. The narrative depicts the brutal nature of frontier warfare, where raids on settlements and retaliatory expeditions created cycles of violence.

The author proposes that this conflict contributed to the development of imperial rivalries and shaped colonial military traditions. I appreciated the inclusion of detailed maps and comprehensive appendices. I read this book to fill in a gap in my knowledge of early North American history, and it effectively served the purpose. I found the writing style a bit dry but also very informative. The ending, which was also the precursor to Queen Anne’s War, may surprise those who are unfamiliar with this period.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explains the war between France and Britain in the context of colonial history. In particular it deals with the warfare between Mohawks and other tribes known as The Beaver Wars (a subject that is hard to find much information on), the reasons for the British Mohawk alliance and warfare between New England and the Wabanaki Confederacy. The war was the first and only of the 4 wars fought between England and France in North America prior to the revolution that was won by France.

Battles are clearly described and placed in context with the larger overall picture. It moves back and forth between three main theaters of the war in North America. These are Quebec, New York and New England/Acadia (mostly Maine). There are also interesting forays into two lesser known theater - Hudson Bay and Newfoundland.

I have read a fair amount of American colonial history. This is by far the best book I have read on the overall conduct of the war known as King William's War. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in colonial North American and Canadian history, or the history of the Iroquois and Abenaki people.

[Laurence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beyond the Last of the Mohicans film (not read the book) and the computer game of civilization's sequel colonisation, how the European powers fought over the Americas is a largely blank swathe for me.
Last year I fixed a hole there by reading Kim MacQuarrie's The Last Days of the Incas which is well worth a read.
This book fits neatly into filling in how the Dutch and then the French and English fought over the fur trade in north eastern north America. How the small isolated colonies fought it out while also fighting and utilising the local tribes. I was just waiting for the scene where the inhabitants of the newly defeated English fort are massacred as they march into the wilderness, maybe it was just good storytelling in The Last of the Mohicans. Maybe it's in the next book.
Laramie does a good job of keeping this book engaging with a focus on the leadership keeping the cast of names limited to a few key players.

Need to read the sequel.

[Gregory · Rating 3 out of 5]

King William's War, 1689-1697, was the first direct fighting between Great Britain and France in New England, New York, and Canada, in what would become a series of wars that ended only with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, when France lost Canada. Basically there were three separate conflicts that were wrapped up in King William's War: First, the British allied Iroquois tribes fought against the French and their native allies; second, the Wabanaki in Maine waged war against English settlements on the frontier of; and, thirdly, French vs. English. The Iroquois took a real beating and responded with a Grand Settlement in 1701 that completely repositioned them as neutrals. The English strategy was a uncordinated mess. The British were fixated on capturing the Quebec, but it was always beyond their reach. Laramie argues that the French won King William's War because it detached the powerful Iroquois from English, the French made substantial gains in Hudson Bay, the Wabanaki kept the English out of Arcadia, and finally, some of the five nations moved west and fell in with the French.

[Jeff Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

My understanding of the history of North America from the mid 1600's up to the French-and-Indian war was pretty slim. This book has started to fill that void. This is the first of three in the series and I hope to read them all almost back-to-back. Reading this volume reinforced in me the fleeting and fragile existence that was the daily lives of everyone on the frontier. Indians would slaughter and enslave other Indians and the French or English. French would slaughter and imprison the Indians and the English. The English would slaughter and imprison the French and their Indian allies. In this book this sort of thing was the normal existence. I cannot imagine the chaotic life everyone lead.

[Michael Lague · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very well-researched book, though because of that, it gets a bit tedious to read in places (e.g., details of battles). For anyone who is already interested in King William's War, this makes for a great reference book. If you are not already interested in that war (or the early history of colonial North America), this book is probably not for you. The author (or editor?) does not seem to feel it necessary to set off prepositional phrases with a comma, which means the reader has to put a little extra effort into interpreting some sentences now and then.

[William Edmund Wilkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only book I have ever seen on this conflict. Very valuable for the story of early New York colonial history. A perfect remedy to the "Indians were always victims" narrative. Shows the Iroquois as key actors in the eastern and Great Lakes region. A satisfying read. Well-sourced.

[Christopher Lutz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Good work from an analytical perspective on this first clash between the French and English new world colonies. Didn’t really grab my interest as much as other books on colonial America tend to do. More of a personal critique.

[Julian Ticehurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was gonna give 4/5 stars but had to add one star for the audiobook narrators comically cartoonish Indian accent whenever speaking from a Native American POV

[Michael Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative, well-written history of this period. Worth reading if interested in this era.

[Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10