Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Treaty of Aix-la-chapelle,

A treaty between Great Britain, France, Holland, Germany, Spain, and Greece; signed by the representatives of these respective powers on Oct. 18 (N. S.), 1748. By it the treaties of Westphalia (1648), of Nimeguen (1678-79), of Ryswick (1697), of Utrecht (1713), of Baden (1714), of the Triple Alliance (1717), of the Quadruple Alliance (1718), and of Vienna (1738), were renewed and confirmed. It was fondly hoped this treaty would insure a permanent peace for Europe. It was, however, only a truce between France and England, contending for dominion in America. The English regarded as encroachments the erection by the French of about twenty forts, besides block-houses and tradingposts, within claimed English domain. So while Acadia (q. v.) furnished one field for hostilities between the two nations, the country along the lakes and in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys furnished another.