Clash of Empires: The War That Made Canada 1754-1763
May 31, 2006 to November 12, 2006
Clash of Empires is the first major
Canadian-American joint exhibition on the first global war. It
tells the story of the Seven Years' War - a conflict that begins with Britain
and France fighting for imperial predominance in North America and later
spreads to Europe, the West Indies, Africa, and Asia. This war changes the
world map, sets the stage for the American Revolution and is a decisive factor
in the evolution of both Canada and United States.
The war begins in 1754 and ends nine years later in 1763, but is called the
Seven Years' War because France and Britain did not actually declare war
until 1756.
For Canadians, the best-known events of the Seven Years' War are the expulsion
of the Acadians and the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. For Americans, they
are George Washington's defence of Fort Necessity and Braddock's defeat at the
Battle of the Monongahela. Clash of Empires unites these perspectives as
American and Canadian museums, the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional
History Center in partnership with the Canadian War Museum, work together to
produce an exhibition that tells the story of this conflict.
This is the first time an exhibition of this size and scope on the Seven Years'
War has been presented in Canada. About 200 artifacts from 55 collections,
including from the Canadian War Museum and Canadian Museum of Civilization,
highlight the clothing, weapons, art, maps, and documents of French, British,
and First Peoples participants. These artifacts include:
- A document signed by George Washington confessing to the assassination
("l'assassinat") of a French envoy;
- A silver wine cup that belonged to Louis-Joseph de Montcalm;
- A selection of Dominic Serres works;
- Benjamin West’s The Death of General Wolfe — the most recognized
image
associated with the Seven Years’ War — on-loan from the National Gallery of
Canada featured exclusively at the CWM venue.
The exhibition follows the course of the war in from its beginnings in the Ohio
valley in 1754 when a force, led by George Washington, kills a French envoy. It
continues through First Peoples and French attacks that roll back the British
frontier, and the British victories, including the Battle of the Plains of
Abraham, that bring the war to a close. A final section examines the
consequences of the war for North America.
An exhibition organized by the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional
History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in partnership with
the Canadian War Museum.
