USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The British wanted to keep the profits from the fur trade. Also if the colonies could not settle in the West the Crown could take control of the land west of the mountains. This land was potentially very valuable and England did not want to share with the colonies.

Detailed explanation-2: -The British also claimed the Upper Ohio River Valley. The British settlers wanted to farm the land, the British traders wanted to trade with the American Indians, and the British land speculators wanted to buy the land so they could make a profit selling it.

Detailed explanation-3: -Washington’s Virginia-based force fought a skirmish in which a French officer was killed before reaching the fort. A strong French response compelled Washington to withdraw. With the defeat of the French in 1763, the Ohio River Valley and the Great Lakes became part of British Canada.

Detailed explanation-4: -Both countries wanted control of the Ohio River Valley because of the profitable fur trade. The two countries could not agree on their boundaries. The British claimed land along the Atlantic Coast to the Appalachian Mountains.

Detailed explanation-5: -Because rivers were so important to transportation, the forks of the Ohio was a strategically important location, one that both nations wanted to control.