Road to
Independence:
Pontiac’s Rebellion
& the Proclamation
of 1763
APUSH - Spiconardi
Pontiac’s Rebellion
•
After the Seven Years’ War,
Indian land was ceded to the
British by the French under
the terms of the Treaty of
Paris (1763).
•
Indians were resistant to the
British and their
encroachment on Indian land
•
SEE DOCUMENT
From Pontiac, Speeches (1762 & 1763)
Englishmen, although you have conquered the French you have not yet
conquered us! We are not your slaves. These lakes, these woods, and
mountains were left us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance; and we
will part with them to none. Your nation supposes that we, like the white
people, cannot live without bread and pork and beef! But you ought to
know that He, the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided food for
us in these spacious lakes, and on these woody mountains.
[The Master of Life has said to Neolin:]
I am the Maker of heaven and earth, the trees, lakes, rivers, and all else.
I am the Maker of all mankind; and because I love you, you must do my
will. The land on which you live I have made for you and not for others.
Why do you suffer the white man to dwell among you? My children, you
have forgotten the customs and traditions of your forefathers. Why do you
not clothe yourselves in skins, as they did, use bows and arrows and the
stone-pointed lances, which they used? You have bought guns, knives,
kettles and blankets from the white man until you can no longer do
without them; and what is worse, you have drunk the poison firewater,
which turns you into fools. Fling all these things away; live as your wise
forefathers did before you.
Pontiac’s Rebellion
•
In 1763, Indians of the Ohio River
Valley and Great Lakes launch an
uprising against British rule.
•
Indians attacked settlements and
British soldiers and settlers attacked
Indians
“Pontiac's War was unprecedented for
its awful violence, as both sides
seemed intoxicated
with genocidal fanaticism”
~Historian, David Richter
Pontiac’s Rebellion
Amherst: "Could it not be
contrived to send the small pox
among those disaffected tribes
of Indians? We must on this
occasion use every stratagem in
our power to reduce them.”
Bouquet: "I will try to
inoculate the Indians by means
of blankets that may fall in
their hands, taking care
however not to get the disease
myself."
Amherst: "You will do well to
try to inoculate the Indians by
means of blankets, as well as to
try every other method that can
serve to extirpate this execrable
race."
Gen. Jeffrey Amherst
Proclamation Line (1763)
•
Prior to Pontiac’s Rebellion, the
British were drafting a royal
proclamation
•
The British government had feared
constant conflicts between settlers
and Indians and Pontiac’s rebellion
confirmed those fears
•
The Proclamation Line of 1763
 Land beyond the line is reserved for
Indians
 No settlements beyond the line
 No private sale of land beyond the
line
 Settlers beyond the border much
vacate that land
 If you’re a colonist, how do you react
to the Proclamation Line? Why?
Salutary Neglect
•
Salutary Neglect  an unofficial
policy of avoiding imperial
enforcement of laws on the colonies
in the 17th and 18th centuries by the
British government
 Most colonists ignored the
proclamation and settled west in
even greater numbers
 After 1763, Great Britain would end
salutary neglect