An Iroquois stands before a map of the North American continent published by Thomas Jefferys in 1755. North America was a land torn between the colonial designs of two superpowers, England and France, and the native inhabitants who were fighting for their land and their way of life. The French and Indian War erupted in 1754 and forced the native inhabitants, including the Six Nations of the Iroquois, to balance shifting loyalties between neighboring tribes, the English, and the French.