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The French and Indian War, fought between 1754 and 1763, was a pivotal conflict in which the British and the French battled over territorial claims in North America. This war was part of a larger global conflict known as the Seven Years' War, but in the context of North America, it primarily involved various Native American alliances alongside the French and British colonizers.

The competition centered on control of the fur trade, territorial expansion, and resources in regions such as the Ohio River Valley and Canada. The war concluded with British victory, resulting in significant territorial gains for Great Britain. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ceded vast areas of land to the British, marking a decisive shift in colonial power dynamics. This set the stage for future conflicts, including tensions that ultimately led to the American Revolution, but the direct competition for territories is most accurately characterized by the French and Indian War.

The other conflicts mentioned—such as the American Revolution, which involved the colonies fighting for independence from British rule, and the War of 1812, which included issues of trade and maritime rights between the U.S. and Britain—do not focus on the French-British territorial competition in North America. The Civil War, on the other hand