Lake Champlain

At the dawn of the 18th century, French colonies extended from the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes. British colonies extended west from the Atlantic seaboard, and both sought to expand into the territory between. After the Treaty of Paris ended French imperial claims in North America, the British Empire found its authority challenged by rebellious American colonists.

Waterways were then the transportation arteries, and nowhere else in North America are there more 18th-century forts and battlefields than in the Upper Hudson River and Lake Champlain valleys. This corridor, from Albany through Lake Champlain to Canada, witnessed key battles in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. At Fort Ticonderoga, France achieved its greatest victory, repulsing a much larger British army in the bloodiest battle on North American soil until the Civil War. To end rebellion in the American colonies, British General John Burgoyne considered the Lake Champlain-Hudson River Valley "precisely the route an army ought to take" to invade New York. He expected to isolate New England and then focus on crushing that seat of discontent. However, the Americans forced Burgoyne's army to surrender at the Battle of Saratoga, a crucial victory that renewed Patriots' hopes, secured essential foreign recognition, and forever changed the face of the world.

Historian Frank Ackerman will guide you through the crucible of North American wars for an exciting, in-depth look at independence from an empire.