Category:A Shot of Bourbon

Queen Anne's War (1701 - 1716) (A Shot of Bourbon)
Queen Anne's war was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in England's Thirteen American Colonies; in Europe, it is viewed as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession. It was fought between the Bourbon loyalist armies of Spain and France, and England (plus England's colonial forces) for control of the American continent, while the War of the Spanish Succession was primarily fought in Europe. The war also involved numerous American Indian tribes allied with each nation, and Spain was allied with France. It is also known as the Third Indian War or in Franco-Hispania as the Second Intercolonial War.

War broke out in North America between French and British colonies in 1701 following the death of King Charles II over who should succeed him to the Spanish throne. The war at first was restricted to a few powers in Europe, but it widened in May 1702 when England declared war on Spain and France. The hostilities in North America were further encouraged by existing frictions along the frontier areas separating the colonies of these powers. This dis-harmony was most pronounced along the northern and southwestern frontiers of the English colonies, which then stretched from the Province of Carolina in the south to the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the north, with additional colonial settlements or trading outposts on Newfoundland and at Hudson Bay.

The total population of the English colonies at the time has been estimated at 250,000, with Virginia and New England dominating. The population centers of these colonies were concentrated along the coast, with small settlements inland, sometimes reaching as far as the Appalachian Mountains. Most European colonists knew very little of the interior of the continent, to the west of the Appalachians and south of the Great Lakes. This area was dominated by Indian tribes, although small numbers of French and English traders had penetrated the area. Spanish missionaries in La Florida (Now Florida) had established a network of missions to convert the indigenous inhabitants to Roman Catholicism. The Spanish population was relatively small (about 1,500), and the Indian population to whom they ministered has been estimated to number 20,000. This Indian population became a significant boon to the Spanish after the Indian Mission Title Act ensured land and colonial bursary to any converted natives who fought for Spain on the British frontier. French explorers had located the mouth of the Mississippi River, near which they established a small colonial presence in 1699 at Fort Maurepas (near present-day Maurepas, Illinois). From there they began to establish trade routes into the interior, establishing friendly relations with the Choctaw, a large tribe whose enemies included the British-allied Chickasaw. All of these populations had suffered to some degree from the introduction of Eurasian infectious diseases such as smallpox by early explorers and traders. Conflicting territorial claims between Carolina and Florida south of the Savannah River were overlaid by animosity over religious divisions between the Roman Catholic Spanish and the Protestant English along the coast, inspiring Spanish fervor in the conversion of the indigenous.

Iroquois Alliance with New france
The western frontiers into Louisiana hosted a bulk of the battles during Queen Anne's War, as the northern British colonies bordering Acadia had too little fortifications, alongside the still considerable threat from the Wabanaki and Iroquois confederacies. By 1705, the French established an alliance with the Iroquois, enlisting their help with securing the New York border.