The French and Indian War was actually a war between Great Britain and France.  Native Americans primarily fought alongside the French, the major exception being the Iroquois Confederacy who fought alongside Great Britain.  Before the American Revolution, British colonists lived mostly by the Atlantic Coastline, while many French colonists lived in the Ohio River Valley and in Canada.  The French were primarily fur trappers and they traded furs with the Native Americans.  As the American colonies grew, the French became worried and built a series of forts in the wilderness.  In 1752, the Marquis Duquesne of France attempts to clear any British influence from the Ohio River Valley.  At the same time, Virginia Governor Dinwiddie is granting land in that area to his colonists.  War quickly follows.

This is a gigantic topic, just gigantic.  Quite simply, this war shaped the United States.  Without this war or the same conclusion to this war, there may be: no British taxes or American colonies.  The money spent on this war by Great Britain was a major reason for the Townshend Acts and the Stamp Act.  As another note of interest, General George Washington got major wartime leadership experience from the French and Indian War.  So the whole time he was fighting for Great Britain, he was getting trained for when he would fight against them.  I will go into some more of this war later on during the Tea Party topic.