In Assassin's Creed III, which historical event does the opening sequence depict in 1754?

In Assassin's Creed III, the opening sequence depicts the French and Indian War in 1754.

The game begins with Haytham Kenway in London before sending him to the American colonies. His early missions involve a search for an ancient site and conflict connected to the colonial struggle between Britain and France. The French and Indian War was the North American theater of the wider Seven Years' War, and the game's date places the opening near the conflict's beginning.

The story later shifts to Ratonhnhaké:ton, also known as Connor, who becomes the central Assassin protagonist. Connor's life unfolds during the American Revolution, so much of the game is associated with events beginning in 1754 and continuing through the 1770s. That later revolutionary setting can make the opening war easy to overlook.

Assassin's Creed III was released in 2012. The French and Indian War lasted from 1754 to 1763 and involved Britain, France, and Indigenous nations in North America. It should not be confused with the War of 1812, which occurred decades later.