Why Do We Call it the French Indian Wars?

[Col.Stone]

I always have to remind myself that the french indian war isn't about French Vs Native americans..

[Alfrik]

I think most every battle / war has 2 names, one from each side of IT that was in contention. The ACW is a good example as any.

[Galloping Major]

I always have to remind myself that the french indian war isn't about French Vs Native americans..

I kind of think that's why the French & Indian War made more sense, until the effort of using the word 'and' became too much for some 

[Dewbakuk]

I always have to remind myself that the french indian war isn't about French Vs Native americans..

I always thought it was! Not my theatre so I've never looked into it, I have learned something new.

[carlos marighela]

Actually French & Indian War is a handy term as strictly speaking it's commencement predates the outbreak of the Seven Years War. Of course there were other wars involving both French and Indians.  The war(s) fought against the French and their Indian allies in Brazil in the late 16th C being an equally savage, albeit less well known examples.

[Conrad Hawkwood]

The thing that struck me when I first heard the term was that it seemed almost deliberately designed to be just vague enough to confuse someone like me.

French? Indian? War?
thats the French and Indian  Elephants' Wars another thing altogether
Ah, you must mean this...

[JollyBob]

I think most every battle / war has 2 names, one from each side of IT that was in contention. The ACW is a good example as any.

This is true. I am reliably informed that the correct name for the American Civil War is The War of Northern Aggression. 

Joking aside though, yes, its a good example and makes for confusing reading at times. Probably one of the reasons I never really considered it as a period to collect.

[Silent Invader]

I think I first heard the term from Don Featherstone.....

Was leafing through my 1968 copy of Wargames today and there it is, in the 'Close Wars' appendix: "the French and Indian Wars of the late eighteenth century in America". Used in this context, it does make sense.

[former user]

if I may quote the WIKI explanation for the name:

"The conflict is known by several names. In British America, wars were often named after the sitting British monarch, such as King William's War or Queen Anne's War. Because there had already been a King George's War in the 1740s, British colonists named the second war in King George's reign after their opponents, and thus it became known as the French and Indian War.[6] This traditional name remains standard in the United States, although it obscures the fact that American Indians fought on both sides of the conflict.[7] American historians generally use the traditional name or the European title (the Seven Years' War). Other, less frequently used names for the war include the Fourth Intercolonial War and the Great War for the Empire.[6]

In Europe, the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War usually has no special name, and so the entire worldwide conflict is known as the Seven Years' War. The "Seven Years" refers to events in Europe, from the official declaration of war in 1756 to the signing of the peace treaty in 1763. These dates do not correspond with the actual fighting on mainland North America, where the fighting between the two colonial powers was largely concluded in six years, from the Jumonville Glen skirmish in 1754 to the capture of Montreal in 1760.[6]

In Canada, both French- and English-speaking Canadians refer to both the European and North American conflicts as the Seven Years' War (Guerre de Sept Ans).[8][9] French Canadians may use the term "War of the Conquest" (Guerre de la Conquête), since it is the war in which New France was conquered by the British and became part of the British Empire, but that usage is never employed by most English Canadians. This war is also one of America's "Forgotten Wars"."

[Captain Blood]

So now we know!

Seems logical. I shall continue referring to it as the French and Indian War without any guilty feelings 

[Darkoath]

I have always used the French and Indian War when refering to the conflict in North America and The Seven Years War when refering to the entire conflict.

Darkoath

[Galloping Major]

I have always used the French and Indian War when refering to the conflict in North America and The Seven Years War when refering to the entire conflict.

Darkoath

Me too 

[former user]

it's just a tag...

[Conrad Hawkwood]

Yes but in this post modernist world a tag  has  to have some reference to the great narrative,,why this tag?

[Wolf 359]

Me too 

  I do, as well. One of my favorite periods to game. And that guy's miniatures for this era are pretty sweet.