Trouble on the Frontier Competing Empires mid 1700s France & Britain controls lot o? North America british needed farmland pushed Ohio River area (French area) The French and Indian War Begins 1753 French building forts in btwn Lake Erie & Ohio River alarmed Virginia colony (claimed) so sent 21 yr old surveyor George Washington French rejected warning George built fort Alleghony & Monongahela rivers @ Ohio River (Fort Necessity) French building own fort there (Fort Duquesne) Washington?s troops beat small French force French came back and destroyed Fort Necessity The Albany Congress British called meeting w/ colony leaders @ Albany, New York also invited Iroquois tribes 4 alliance ? but they refused (thought French would win)