The European Invasion of North America : Colonial Conflict Along the Hudson-Champlain Corridor, 1609-1760

This comprehensive resource follows the pivotal and often overlooked efforts of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Dutch, the French, and the English colonies to control the strategic waterways of the Hudson-Champlain corridor from their discovery to the fall of New France. From Champlain and Hudson's initial voyages some 400 years ago, to the surrender of Montreal in 1760, The European Invasion of North America: Colonial Conflict Along the Hudson - Champlain Corridor, 1609-1760 offers unprecedented coverage of the 150-year struggle between New World rivals along this natural invasion route-a struggle which would ultimately determine the destiny of North America. Unlike other volumes on this period, The European Invasion of North America includes extensive coverage from the French and Dutch as well as British perspectives, examining events in the context of larger colonial confrontations. Drawing on hundreds of firsthand accounts, it recaps political maneuvers and blunders, military successes and failures, and the remarkable people behind them all: cabinet ministers in Paris, Amsterdam, and London; colonial leaders such as Stuyvesant, Frontenac, and Montcalm; shrewd diplomats of the Iroquois Confederacy; and soldiers and families on all sides of the conflict. It also highlights the growing friction between Britain and her American colonies, which would soon lead to a different war. 39 chronologically organized chapters ranging from the founding of New France to the conclusion of the French and Indian War 150 years later 300 primary sources, including letters, journal entries, official diplomatic and military correspondence, and other firsthand accounts Biographical sketches of key figures, including Stuyvesant, Frontenac, Shirley, Vaudreuil, Loudoun, Montcalm, and Amherst 30 maps and illustrations showing the principal figures, and the changing boundaries and the progress of major armed conflicts in the Champlain-Hudson Valleys A comprehensive index