Talk:Fort Duquesne
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Fort Duquesne is part of WikiProject Pittsburgh, which is building a comprehensive guide to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, its metropolitan area and related subjects on Wikipedia. To participate, you can edit the attached article, join, or discuss the project. Editors are currently needed to tag Pittsburgh-related articles with {{pghproj}}. |
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what was the main point of Fort Duquesne
Strategically the Forks of the Ohio (where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers meet to form the Ohio, site of present-day Pittsburgh) were hugely important in the 18th century. As everything west of the Appalacian mountains at the time was still wilderness, rivers served as superhighways of the era, facilitating the movement of goods and people over long distances where the nearest road could be many dozens, if not hundreds of miles away. Whomever controlled this important crossroads could control commerce for hundreds of miles around, and potentially make huge sums of money for themselves in the process.
France, whose colonies were based between the Atlantic and the Great Lakes in what is now eastern Canada, built a string of forts from Lake Erie down to the Forks, where Fort Duquesne was built. The forts were constructed partly to provide protection to French trade routes to the the Gulf of Mexico via the Allegheny, Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and partly to limit the westward expansion of English settlements over the Appalacians. At the same time, English colonists in Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania (both colonies claimed the region around the Forks as part of their territory) also had an interest in the area for its potential to generate huge profits from land speculation. Friction between French and English interests in the region controlled by Fort Duquesne sparked the French and Indian Wars in the 1750's.
Jmueller71 04:55, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
- Seems odd that a citation is needed about the forks of the Ohio being long seen as strategically important. There must be a ton of sources. I don't have time right now, but will find something later. Still.. seems like common historical knowledge, no? Pfly 15:44, 26 September 2006 (UTC)
