Pontiac's War

Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was an uprising of Native American tribes against British rule in America. A few tribes, mainly from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country started it in 1763. The cause of the war was that these tribes did not like British politics in the region. Warriors from other tribes joined the uprising to help get rid of the British soldiers and settlers. The war is named after the Odawa leader Pontiac, the most prominent of many native leaders in the conflict.

The British were one of the winners of the French and Indian War, which lasted from 1754 to 1763. As a result, large amounts of land in the region that had been controlled by the French were now controlled by the British. French and British politics were very different.

The war began in May 1763 when Native Americans attacked many British forts and settlements. They attacked because they had been offended by the policies of Jeffrey Amherst, a British General. Eight forts were destroyed, and hundreds of colonists were killed or taken. Many people fled from the region. Hostilities came to an end after British Army expeditions in 1764 led to peace negotiations over the next two years. Native Americans were unable to drive away the British, but the uprising made the British government change the policies that started the conflict.

Warfare on the North American frontier was brutal. Prisoners were often killed, and civilians were often targeted. Other atrocities were widespread. Native Americans and British settlers had very little in common. In this conflict, this fact showed as ruthlessness and treachery. Contrary to popular belief, the British government did not issue the Royal Proclamation of 1763 in reaction to Pontiac's War. Because of the conflict, the Proclamation's Indian clauses were applied more often, though.^[1] This was unpopular with British colonists, and may have been one of the things that helped start the American Revolution.

1. ↑ Miller, Compact, Contract, Covenant, 67; Ray, I Have Lived Here, 127; Stagg, Anglo-Indian Relations, 334-37.