Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War. For seven years England and their colonists had battled against the French and their Native American allies. The war had originated in North America, but it quickly encompassed Europe, Africa, and India as well. Although the war had ended in 1760 in North America with England’s capture of Montreal, the conflict continued to rage in other parts of the world until 1763.
With the treaty’s signing, England received control of all French possessions in modern-day Canada as well as most of the territory east of the Mississippi River, including the Ohio Country. With England now in control, Native Americans in Ohio feared that colonists would move onto their lands, driving the natives further west as had occurred since the earliest English settlements in North America. To prevent this from taking place, Pontiac of the Ottawa Indians formed an alliance with several other tribes and attempted to drive the English from west of the Appalachian Mountains in 1763. This was known as Pontiac’s Rebellion. The English ended the uprising. But British authorities, already facing bankruptcy from the French and Indian War, sought to prevent further conflicts with the Native Americans because of the potential expense.
England issued the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade English colonists from living west of the Appalachian Mountains. It was hoped this would prevent further conflict, as the Proclamation would ease the Native Americans' fears. Unfortunately for the English government, many of its colonists became upset because the Proclamation prohibited them from moving to the Ohio Country. The colonists’ desire to move onto this land claimed by both England and France was a primary reason for the French and Indian War. England’s action convinced many colonists that England did not understand life in the New World and helped lead to the American Revolution.
Reproduction of an illustration depicting Pontiac, an Ottawa chief.
References and Suggested Reading
- Anderson, Fred. Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766. New York: Alfred A. Knopf: Random House, 2000. - Available from Amazon.com
- Barr, Daniel P., ed. The Boundaries Between Us: Natives and Newcomers Along the Frontiers of the Old Northwest Territory, 1750-1850. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2006. - Available from Amazon.com
- Bond, Beverley W., Jr. The Foundations of Ohio. Columbus, OH: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, 1941.
- Dixon, David. Never Come to Peace Again: Pontiac's Uprising and the Fate of the British Empire in North America. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2005. - Available from Amazon.com
- Dowd, Gregory Evans. War Under Heaven: Pontiac, the Indian Nations & the British Empire. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. - Available from Amazon.com
- Flavell, Julie, and Stephen Conway, eds. Britain and America go to War: The Impact of War and Warfare in Anglo-America, 1754-1815. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2004. - Available from Amazon.com
- Fowler, William M., Jr. Empires at War: The French and Indian War and the Struggle for North America, 1754-1763. New York: Walker & Company, 2005. - Available from Amazon.com
- Hurt, R. Douglas. The Ohio Frontier: Crucible of the Old Northwest, 1720-1830. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1996. - Available from Amazon.com
- Knepper, George. Ohio and Its People. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2003. - Available from Amazon.com
- Nester, William R. The Great Frontier War: Britain, France, and the Imperial Struggle for North America, 1607-1755. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2000. - Available from Amazon.com
- O'Donnell, James H., III. Ohio's First Peoples. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2004. - Available from Amazon.com
- Ricky, Donald B., ed. Encyclopedia of Ohio Indians. St. Clair Shores, MI: Somerset Publishers, Inc., 1998. - Available from Amazon.com
- Ward, Matthew C. Breaking the Backcountry: The Seven Years' War in Virginia and Pennsylvania, 1754-1765. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003. - Available from Amazon.com
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Citation
"Treaty of Paris (1763)", Ohio History Central, July 1, 2005, http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1857
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