<P> At this time, North America east of the Mississippi River was largely claimed by either Great Britain or France . Large areas had no colonial settlements . The French population numbered about 75,000 and was heavily concentrated along the St. Lawrence River valley, with some also in Acadia (present - day New Brunswick and parts of Nova Scotia), including Île Royale (present - day Cape Breton Island). Fewer lived in New Orleans, Biloxi, Mississippi, Mobile, Alabama, and small settlements in the Illinois Country, hugging the east side of the Mississippi River and its tributaries . French fur traders and trappers traveled throughout the St. Lawrence and Mississippi watersheds, did business with local Indian tribes, and often married Indian women . Traders married daughters of chiefs, creating high - ranking unions . </P> <P> British settlers outnumbered the French 20 to 1 with a population of about 1.5 million ranged along the eastern coast of the continent from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in the north to Georgia in the south . Many of the older colonies had land claims that extended arbitrarily far to the west, as the extent of the continent was unknown at the time when their provincial charters were granted . Their population centers were along the coast, yet the settlements were growing into the interior . Nova Scotia had been captured from France in 1713, and it still had a significant French - speaking population . Britain also claimed Rupert's Land where the Hudson's Bay Company traded for furs with local Indian tribes . </P> <P> In between the French and British colonists, large areas were dominated by Indian tribes . To the north, the Mi'kmaqs and the Abenakis were engaged in Father Le Loutre's War and still held sway in parts of Nova Scotia, Acadia, and the eastern portions of the province of Canada, as well as much of Maine . The Iroquois Confederation dominated much of Upstate New York and the Ohio Country, although Ohio also included Algonquian - speaking populations of Delaware and Shawnee, as well as Iroquoian - speaking Mingos . These tribes were formally under Iroquois rule and were limited by them in their authority to make agreements . </P> <P> The Southeast interior was dominated by Siouan - speaking Catawbas, Muskogee - speaking Creeks and Choctaw, and the Iroquoian - speaking Cherokee tribes . When war broke out, the French colonists used their trading connections to recruit fighters from tribes in western portions of the Great Lakes region, which was not directly subject to the conflict between the French and British; these included the Hurons, Mississaugs, Ojibwas, Winnebagos, and Potawatomi . The British colonists were supported in the war by the Iroquois Six Nations and also by the Cherokees, until differences sparked the Anglo - Cherokee War in 1758 . In 1758, the Pennsylvania government successfully negotiated the Treaty of Easton in which a number of tribes in the Ohio Country promised neutrality in exchange for land concessions and other considerations . Most of the other northern tribes sided with the French, their primary trading partner and supplier of arms . The Creeks and Cherokees were subject to diplomatic efforts by both the French and British to gain either their support or neutrality in the conflict . </P>

Who became the leader of the british government during the french and indian war