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COMPANY, COLONY, AND CROWN: THE OHIO COMPANY OF VIRGINIA, EMPIRE BUILDING, AND THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR, 1747-1763

Kasecamp, Emily Hager, PhD
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7237-5088
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574777293217054

Abstract Details

2019, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of History.
The Ohio Company of Virginia is not unknown in colonial American historiography, but it has never received the attention or analysis needed fully to demonstrate its role in British empire building. This dissertation explores papers of the Ohio Company, the journals of its agents, and the records of the Board of Trade and Virginia government to show how the Company negotiated with the Colony of Virginia and the British Crown to shape the process of British empire-building. The Ohio Company of Virginia's actions on both sides of the Atlantic and both sides of the Appalachians built an empire in the Ohio Valley. The actions of the Ohio Company's agents created conflict with the French, Iroquois, and various bands of Ohio Indians, which eventually culminated in the Seven Years' War. To show how the Ohio Company spearheaded British empire-building in the Ohio Valley and sparked a world war, this dissertation follows the Ohio Company's history. The first chapter investigates the political movements Company's members and agents took in Virginia and London to obtain permission and support from the Crown and demonstrates how the Company's petitions influenced the expansionary policies of the Board of Trade, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Chapter Two explores the mapping expeditions of the Company's agents in the Ohio Valley and shows how the Company activities sparked French interest in the region and informed British cartographers and imperial administrators about the political and physical geography of the Ohio Valley. The third chapter, "Building the Empire," details how the Ohio Company constructed both infrastructure and Native American Alliances, which resulted in the Logstown Conference and subsequent land acquisitions, as well as the understudied Massacre of the Miami at Pickawillany. Chapter Four explores the influence of the Ohio Company in the events typically thought of as the origins of the Seven Years' War. "Negotiating for the Ohio Valley," reveals how the Ohio Company's intelligence informed Governor Dinwiddie's letter-writing campaigns and pushed Virginia politicians to send George Washington and Ohio Company agent Christopher Gist to Fort LeBeouf to evict the French. The final chapter argues that through fortifying the forks of the Ohio River, providing the infrastructure and intelligence for George Washington's 1754 Campaign, and lobbying and guiding General Edward Braddock's route in 1755, the Ohio Company dictated the early years of the Seven Years' War. The Conclusion highlights the collaborative nature of British Empire Building in the 1740s and 1750s but indicates that when the war ended, so did the cooperation between the two halves of the British Empire. Exploring the Ohio Company's politicking, mapping, building, negotiating, and fortifying, illuminates how the Company's actions built the British Empire and led to the Seven Years' War.
Kim Gruenwald, PhD (Advisor)
Kevin Adams, PhD (Committee Member)
Kevin Kern, PhD (Committee Member)
Richard Feinberg, PhD (Committee Member)
301 p.
Economic History; European History; History; Native American Studies; Regional Studies
Ohio Company of Virginia, Ohio Valley, Colonial Administration, Westward Expansion, Robert Dinwiddie, Thomas Cresap, Christopher Gist, Virginia, George Washington, Board of Trade, British Empire, Empire Building, French and Indian War, Seven Years War

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Kasecamp, PhD, E. H. (2019). COMPANY, COLONY, AND CROWN: THE OHIO COMPANY OF VIRGINIA, EMPIRE BUILDING, AND THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR, 1747-1763 [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574777293217054

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Kasecamp, PhD, Emily. COMPANY, COLONY, AND CROWN: THE OHIO COMPANY OF VIRGINIA, EMPIRE BUILDING, AND THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR, 1747-1763. 2019. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574777293217054.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Kasecamp, PhD, Emily. "COMPANY, COLONY, AND CROWN: THE OHIO COMPANY OF VIRGINIA, EMPIRE BUILDING, AND THE SEVEN YEARS’ WAR, 1747-1763." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574777293217054

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.