Pontiac's War, Proclamation Line, and Revolution

How westward expansion contributed to Independence movement.

1. Indians’ Revolution

2. French Presence vs. British Threat French Relations: The French primarily engaged in fur trade, with limited permanent settlement. French settlers in Vincennes lived alongside Native Americans without claiming large tracts of private land.

3. Transfers all French claims in North America to the British .

4. French Presence vs. British Threat Shift Under British Governance: Native Americans now relied on an enemy (the British) for essential goods like weapons and ammunition. The British were reluctant to supply Native Americans with the resources (lead and powder) needed for hunting and defense.

5. "Long Knives": Virginians and Their Land Hunger Virginia Land Speculators organized land companies and pushed for expansion even before the French and Indian War ended.

6. What changes after French and Indian War?

7. Native American Resistance “Virginians” desired Native American lands but lacked the strength to seize them directly. Native American Perspective: Refusal to give up sovereignty over lands north of the Ohio River. Saw (rightly) Virginian land companies and militias as a direct threat to their territories.

8. Native American Response (Pontiac’s Rebellion) Miamis and other tribes in Indiana were outraged. Saw the treaty as illegitimate since the French never truly owned or conquered their lands. Feared the British takeover would lead to aggressive land grabs by Anglo-American settlers

9. Political Unity Among Native Americans: Loosely united around shared enemies: the Iroquois (armed by the British) and the British themselves. Native American religious revivals emerged to counter British threats. Neolin , a prophet, called for a return to traditional practices and inspired military resistance.

10. Aimed to expel British forces from former French forts.

11. British Strategy: General Amherst resorted to biological warfare, giving smallpox-infected blankets to Shawnees and Delawares .

12. Pontiac’s War Ends in Stalemate British retained forts but did not gain control over Native lands north of the Ohio River. Native Americans weakened by smallpox and shortages of gunpowder, agreed to an armed truce. Native Americans refused to surrender lands; Shawnees remained defiant -- “crabby”

13. What’s wrong with these maps?

14. The Proclamation of 1763 Issued to prevent further Native American uprisings. Aimed at balancing colonial ambitions and Native rights. Restricted colonial expansion and nullified American claims to the Ohio River valley. Angered Virginia land speculators eager to exploit western lands.

15. Virginia Speculators try to overturn Proclamation: Wealthy individuals who acquire and resell large tracts of land. Goal: Buy Native land, divide it, and sell to settlers for profit. Speculators saw Native lands as valuable assets to be exploited. Hopes of westward expansion frustrated by the Proclamation of 1763 and ongoing Native American resistance. Proclamation of 1763 legally froze land speculation, protecting Native lands temporarily. British enforcement was limited. Native nations successfully delayed large-scale settlement, but pressure continued.

16. Quebec Act (1774) The Quebec Act extended the boundaries of Quebec southward, incorporating lands north of the Ohio River. Ohio River, once seen as a path to wealth, now became a firm boundary against Virginia’s ambitions. Closed these lands off to American colonists and speculators.

17. The Lasting Impact Native resistance, combined with British policies (Proclamation Line of 1763 and Quebec Act 1774), slowed but did not stop colonial expansion. The struggle for control over lands in present-day Indiana and Kentucky was a key factor leading up to the American Revolution.

18. Revolutionary conflict creates opportunity for Indians Native American nations saw British support as vital, even if inconsistent to hold back squatters. Large council meetings in the Ohio Valley helped solidify alliances with British generals (scalp-buyers).

19. Indiana during American Revolution The region, primarily inhabited by various Native American tribes and a few French settlers, was a contested area between American revolutionaries, British forces, and Native American allies.

20. George Rogers Clark’s Campaign (1778-1779): Clark, an American military leader, aimed to secure the Northwest Territory by capturing British forts in the region. He first captured Kaskaskia (in present-day Illinois) and then surprised Vincennes.

21. Clark’s campaign laid the groundwork for future American territorial claims. Treaty of Paris (1783), which granted the United States control of the Northwest Territory without considering Native American rights.