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FAST FACTS
- Pontiac’s War lasted from 1763 to 1766.
- The war took place in the Great Lakes region of North America.
- The war was fought between the British Empire and warriors from Native American/American Indian tribes.
- The British troops were led by Jeffrey Amherst, Henry Bouquet, and Thomas Gage.
- The Native American tribes were led by Pontiac and Guyasuta.
Who was involved in Pontiac's Rebellion?
Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of American Indian tribes, primarily from the Great Lakes region, the Illinois Country, and Ohio Country who were dissatisfied with British policies in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–1763).
Who started the Pontiac's War?
Devil's Hole Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of American Indians dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–1763).
Who were the British commanders in Pontiac’s War?
Another British commander was Thomas Gage, a name familiar to those who study the American Revolutionary War as he commanded the British military in North America during the early stages of that war. Gage served as the main commander in the field during Pontiac’s War.
Why was Pontiac's military action against the British significant?
Whether a rebellion, an uprising, or a war, Pontiac's military action against the British was to have significant long-term repercussions. Pontiac's Rebellion refers to a war between a large alliance of Native American nations and the British colonial army in the Ohio Country and around the Great Lakes.

Who led Pontiac's war?
After the conclusion of the French and Indian War (1754-1763), Chief Pontiac (Ottawa) led a loosely united group of American Indian tribes against the British in a series of attacks, referred to as Pontiac's Rebellion (1763-1766) or Pontiac's War.
What was Pontiac's war fought over?
In a famous council on April 27, 1763, Pontiac urged listeners rise up against the British. Pontiac's Rebellion was a war launched in 1763 by North American Indians who were dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region after the British victory in the French and Indian War/ Seven Years' War (1754–1763).
Who won Pontiac's war?
In the spring of 1764, two British armies were sent out, one into Pennsylvania and Ohio under Colonel Bouquet, and the other to the Great Lakes under Colonel John Bradstreet. Bouquet's campaign met with success, and the Delawares and the Shawnees were forced to sue for peace, breaking Pontiac's alliance.
Why did Native Americans join Pontiac's?
Many Native American tribes joined Pontiac's Rebellion because of the way the British, under General Amherst, treated them as subjects rather than autonomous tribes.
Why did the Pontiac war happen?
The war began in May 1763 when Native Americans, alarmed by policies imposed by British General Jeffrey Amherst, attacked a number of British forts and settlements. Eight forts were destroyed, and hundreds of colonists were killed or captured, with many more fleeing the region.
Was Pontiac a hero or a villain?
Pontiac was a hero for Native Americans. His rebellion united different native american tribes to stand against the British who were moving onto their land and disrespecting their ways of life.
Why did Pontiac call for war?
Pontiac, an Ottawa war chief, drew on the teachings of the prophet Neolin to rally resistance to European powers. This passage includes Neolin's call that Native Americans abandon ways of life adapted after contact with Europeans.
What was the result of Pontiac's?
Pontiac's uprising demonstrated the viability of pantribal cooperation in the struggle against European-American territorial expansionism and contributed to the deterioration of relations between Great Britain and its North American colonies.
How was Pontiac defeated?
In July 1763, Pontiac defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Bloody Run, but he was unable to capture the fort....Pontiac (Ottawa leader)PontiacDiedApril 20, 1769 (aged 48–55) near Cahokia, Illinois CountryCause of deathAssassinationNationalityOttawaOccupationRegional speaker; Indian war chief3 more rows
What is Pontiac Tribe Called?
He was Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawa Indian tribe, who lived from 1720 to 1769. Chief Pontiac was rugged, yet charismatic; strong, but gentle; a warrior, as well as a diplomat.
What did Pontiac say the British wanted to do to the Indians?
Pontiac decided that the only way to protect his people was to unite all the Native American groups in Michigan and attack the British. Their goal would be to kick them off their lands and send them back from where they came. Pontiac held a great council on the Ecorse River.
What was the purpose of Pontiac's call for war in 1763?
Pontiac, an Ottawa war chief, drew on the teachings of the prophet Neolin to rally resistance to European powers. This passage includes Neolin's call that Native Americans abandon ways of life adapted after contact with Europeans.
Why did Pontiac's war occur quizlet?
Pontiac's war grew out of the migration of colonists because Lord Jeffery Amherst allowed settlers to settle on Native American land. Pontiac spoke out against them, and then led an attack on British troops at Fort Detroit.
What was Pontiac's war quizlet?
1763 - An Indian uprising after the French and Indian War, led by an Ottowa chief named Pontiac. They opposed British expansion into the western Ohio Valley and began destroying British forts in the area. The attacks ended when Pontiac was killed. You just studied 21 terms!
What was the goal of Pontiac's speech?
Pontiac gave his “Speech at Detroit” in 1763 to the Ottawa, Potawatomi, and the Huron Indians. He gave this speech to unite these tribes against the white men that have taken their land and killed their men.
What was the plan of Pontiac?
By the spring of 1763 Pontiac was contemplating war. With the support of the neigbouring Potawatomis and Hurons, he hatched a plan to capture Fort Detroit. When a spy revealed the plan, Pontiac laid siege. Historians have called the conflict that followed a "conspiracy," "treason," or an "uprising.".
What was the war for the First Nations?
For the First Nations and notably for Pontiac it was a war of liberation. The war spread for a month throughout the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, with a series of victories that sent the British reeling. A war party of Ottawas surprised a rescue force at Point Pelee, capturing 46 English soldiers and two boats.
What was the most successful First Nations resistance to the European invasion in our history?
Pontiac's War was the most successful First Nations resistance to the European invasion in our history.
Who led the most successful Indian war against the Europeans?
The courageous Ottawa chief Pontiac lead the most successful Indian war against the Europeans in our history (Archives of the City of Detroit). Many chiefs played their parts in the ensuing conflict, but the greatest among them was the Ottawa chief Obwandiyag, whom the English called Pontiac.
Problems on the American Frontier
With the end of the French and Indian War, Great Britain claimed a vast new expanse of territory, at least on paper. Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, the French territory known as New France had ceased to exist.
Peace Settlement
Pontiac’s War lasted until 1766. Native American tribes attacked British forts and frontier settlements, killing as many as 400 soldiers and 2,000 settlers.
Aftermath of the War
Coinciding with the end of the Seven Year’s War, the effects of Pontiac’s War were substantial and widespread.
Why did Amherst put the Indians to death?
By putting them publicly to death, Amherst meant to demonstrate that the Indians had become colonial subjects answerable to British law. Earlier in the year, the French provincial authorities had surrendered their forts around the Great Lakes to the British under the Treaty of Paris that ended the Seven Years’ War.
What did the British do to the Great Lakes Indians?
The British rebuilt their forts but had to adopt a new, more generous policy, treating the Indians as allies rather than foes. In 1766 Pontiac assured Johnson that “if you expect to keep these Posts, we will expect to have proper returns from you.” Johnson and Gage covertly agreed to exempt the Great Lakes Indians from British law. During the next decade, an Indian who murdered a colonist could settle the matter by customary tribal procedure—by giving presents to the victim’s kin. And the British crown laid out comparable goods to cover the Indians whom the settlers had killed.
Why did the Crown mandate a new boundary line along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains?
To further mollify the Indians, the crown mandated a new boundary line along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains, in the hope that holding settlers to the east would avert conflict. The policy failed. It proved unenforceable because the British lacked the troops to patrol thousands of square miles of forest; it also angered the colonists, already less bound to the empire by the elimination of the French threat. While drawing the British and the Indians closer together, the resolution of Pontiac’s Rebellion deepened the clash between the Indians and the colonists. In 1775–76, when the colonists launched their own rebellion, most of the tribes defended the British forts that they had tried to destroy under Pontiac’s leadership a mere half-generation before.
What happened in 1763?
During the spring of 1763, the tribes surprised and captured most of the British forts around the Great Lakes and in the Ohio Valley. In June a band of Ojibwa playing lacrosse outside of Fort Michilimackinac pursued the ball into the surprised fort and slaughtered most of the garrison. Through the summer and fall, the rebels raided the Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia frontiers, killing or capturing about two thousand colonists, but failing to take the three strongest British forts: Detroit, Niagara, and Fort Pitt.
How did the British seek peace?
Embarrassed by the expensive war, the British sought peace by making concessions. Blaming Amherst for the crisis, the crown recalled him in disgrace. The new commander, Thomas Gage, followed the conciliatory advice of the crown’s northern superintendent for Indian affairs, Sir William Johnson, who understood that diplomacy was cheaper than war. By lavishing presents and deference upon the Indians, Johnson enticed them to sign several peace treaties between 1764 and 1766.
What changed the balance forever between Indian and colonists?
A Great Lakes Indian rebellion against the British changed the balance forever between Indian and colonist
Who ordered the Pani to be executed?
The outraged British commander in North America, Baron Jeffery Amherst, ordered them executed “with the utmost rigor and in the most publick manner.”.
What was the Proclamation Line?
Whatever the justification for the restrictions, they were a new exercise of royal power and limited the authority of both governors and colonial assemblies.
What was the impact of the Stamp Act?
imposition of Stamp Act. The devastating effect of Pontiac’s War (1763–64) on colonial frontier settlements added to the enormous new defense burdens resulting from Great Britain’s victory (1763) in the French and Indian War.
What is Dauphin County?
Dauphin county. …the Indian uprising known as Pontiac’s War. The county was created in 1785; its name was derived from the title of the eldest son of the king of France. Harrisburg, the county seat (1785) and state capital (1812), became a major transportation hub with the advent of canal and rail….
What was the name of the conflict that became known as Pontiac's War?
…conflict that became known as Pontiac’s War (1763–64), the native coalition captured several English forts near the Great Lakes. These and other demonstrations of military skill and numerical strength prompted King George III’s ministers to issue the Proclamation of 1763, one of the most important documents in Native American legal…
What did Amherst do to the Native Americans?
As the situation became more dire for the British colonists and troops at the garrisons, Amherst finally began to understand the threat posed to his command and the people he was entrusted to protect. He ordered fierce reprisals against Native people, including the immediate murder of any captives that were taken. It was then that Amherst directed Bouquet to use smallpox as a weapon, and Bouquet readily agreed. That Bouquet shared Amherst’s contempt for Native people is evidenced by his communication, “I will try to inocculate the Indians by means of Blankets that may fall in their hands, taking care however not to get the disease myself. As it is pity to oppose good men against them, I wish we could make use of the Spaniard’s Method, and hunt them with English Dogs. Supported by Rangers, and some Light Horse, who would I think effectively extirpate or remove that Vermine.” (Note the use of “vermine” to describe Native Americans!) Amherst encouraged Bouquet to, “Extirpate this Execrable Race” clearly showing the racism involved in British thinking.
What was the significance of the siege of Fort Detroit?
A notable event of the siege of Fort Detroit was the ploy by Pontiac of entering the fort with 300 of his warriors under the pretense of engaging in peace negotiations. The warriors were carrying hidden weapons, but the British had a warning about the ploy and were well armed and ready, causing Pontiac to abort the plan and quickly leave the fort. The siege of Fort Detroit was a pivotal point in the war, with the Native people terrorizing British colonists not inside the fort, massacring civilians and even eating a captured British soldier! Attempts to reinforce and resupply the fort were met with Indian attacks, though eventually some reinforcements and supplies got through. Native warriors grew impatient and by October 31, 1763, Pontiac gave up the siege, realizing the French would not be sending assistance to the Native people.
How many people were killed in Pontiac's war?
Exact numbers of participants in Pontiac’s war and casualties suffered by both sides are hard to come by. Estimates that 400 British soldiers were killed and another 50 or so taken captive and in turn killed, after being tortured, are combined with 2000 colonists killed, or perhaps killed and captured. (Captured White civilians could be enslaved, tortured and killed, or released.) Another 4000 White settlers were forced to flee the contested area to go back East. Numbers of killed Native people, both warriors and civilians, are not available.
Who was the British commander in the American Revolutionary War?
Whether or not such action was intentional or unintentional, the introduction of European diseases that Native Americans had no immunity for certainly wiped out more of them than all the wars combined. (The legacy of Amherst has been challenged in recent years because of his genocidal tendencies and willingness to engage in germ warfare, resulting in the removal of his name from some street and place names.) Another British commander was Thomas Gage, a name familiar to those who study the American Revolutionary War as he commanded the British military in North America during the early stages of that war. Gage served as the main commander in the field during Pontiac’s War. Another British military commander was Swiss mercenary Henry Louis Bouquet, a field commander that had more than the usual success during the war. (Bouquet died in Florida in 1765, probably of Yellow Fever.)
How many pages are there in Pontiac's War?
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Pontiac’s War across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Pontiac’s War worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Pontiac’s War, also known as Pontiac’s Rebellion or Pontiac’s Conspiracy, which was a war launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of American Indians who were dissatisfied with the British rule in the Great Lakes region and the Ohio Country following the French and Indian War.
Why did the Indians abandon the siege of Fort Pitt?
On August 1, 1763, most of the Indians abandoned the siege at Fort Pitt so they could intercept a body of 500 British troops on their way to the fort under the leadership of Colonel Henry Bouquet.
How long did Pontiac's war last?
Pontiac’s War lasted from 1763 to 1766.
What was the name of the war between the British and the Indians?
Pontiac’s War, also known as Pontiac’s Rebellion or Pont iac’s Conspiracy , was a war launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of American Indians who were dissatisfied with the British rule in the Great Lakes region and the Ohio Country following the French and Indian War.
What are the tribes of the Pays d'En Haut?
The tribes of the pays d’en haut consisted of three basic groups: tribes of the Great Lakes region, tribes from eastern Illinois Country, and tribes of the Ohio Country.
How many men attempted to attack Pontiac's encampment?
On July 31, 1763, about 250 men attempted to make a surprise attack on Pontiac’s encampment.
When did Pontiac enter Fort Detroit?
After convincing the tribes of Ottawas, Ojibwas, Potawatomis, and Hurons to join in the revolt, Pontiac entered Fort Detroit on May 7, 1763, with approximately 300 men in a supposedly ambush operation.
Problems on The American Frontier
Pontiac’s War
Peace Settlement
Aftermath of The War