By the time Washington turned 21, two powerful nations, Britain and France, were about to go to war for control of North America.
Both countries had settlers there. The British colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America were growing much more rapidly than the French ones farther inland. Many British colonists were eager to move west across the Appalachian Mountains and into the Ohio Valley. The French were determined to keep them out. They claimed land all along the Ohio River and wanted to protect their territory. When at last France and Britain went to war over land in North America, George Washington’s military career began.
