AV 
THE STRUGGLE FOR A CONTINENT: 
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR 
The prize [the Mississippi basin] contended for was a noble one: a territory in its central water- 
shed of more than a million square miles, and with its tributary areas of no less than two and a 
talf millions, Itis perhaps as fertile a space for its size as the globe shows and capable of sup- 
Yorting two hundred millions of Deople.— Justin Winsen 
78. The French Capture Fort Duquesne.— The presence of 
!he French forts on the Allegheny River thoroughly alarmed 
the people of Virginia, the colony that had the strongest claim 
9 the Ohio country. It was seen clearly enough that if the 
French should gain possession of the “Forks of the Ohio” —the 
Junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela—the Virginians 
Would be shut out of the Ohio valley completely, for these 
Forks were the natural gateway to the West, So in 1753 the 
SOvernor of Virginia, Dinwicddie, sent a message to the com- 
Mander of the fort at Lebeeuf informing him that the French 
Were trespassing upon English property and that they must 
abandon the newly built forts. The bearer of the message was 
George Washington. "This greatest of all Americans was born 
at Pope’s Creek, Northumberland County, Virginia, February 
°2, 1732. In 1743 Augustine Washington, the father of George, 
Suddenly died, leaving a widow and five children. The Wash- 
'ngton family owned plenty of land but had very little money, 
And it was desirable that George should begin as soon as pos- 
3ble to earn his own living. He was taken from school at the 
°8e Of sixteen, when his education consisted of reading, writ- 
ng, and arithmetic. He also possessed a little knowledge of 
SUrveying. The glimpses which we get of George’s school life 
Show him to have been a sober-minded, industrious youth. His 
“OPYy-books were models of neatness and accuracy. In one of 
his Note-books is a list of 1" " ruct. One of the rules is