Chapter 548

When looking at Indian materials in previous lives, stone bear once paid attention to this Pontiac chief.

Chief Pontiac was born in 1720 and was assassinated in 1769. He lived only 49 years.

However, although his life was short, when he was chief of Ottawa people, he gained a very high reputation among Indians by virtue of relatively fair trade. Especially when he took the lead in fighting with the British, many Indian warriors from other tribes left their own tribes to join him, because he acted forthrightly and generously. He not only took the lead in fighting, but also was brave and resourceful. He was very good at using troops.

During the Pontiac uprising, chief Pontiac even became the supreme leader of the tribal alliance composed of Ottawa, chipewa, Miami and other tribes.

At the turn of spring and summer in 1763, chief Pontiac led the Ottawa people and contacted the Hurons, Miami, chipeways and other Indians to encircle Detroit. At the same time, he seized eight of the 13 fortresses in the Great Lakes region and killed hundreds of white colonists who invaded the Indian territory.

However, just when the Indian tribal alliance was preparing to attack Fort Detroit, their plan leaked. They lost a lot of people when they attacked Fort Detroit, which eventually led to the failure of the plan.

Although Pontiac failed, the uprising made a good start for the resistance of other Indian tribes. More Indians stood up and responded to Pontiac's call one after another. They either led their soldiers to vote or attacked small groups of British colonists alone.

In fact, at the beginning of the Pontiac uprising, the British reacted very slowly, thinking that it was a small and low-intensity conflict, and they did not pay attention to it. After all, the Pontiac uprising took place at the end of the seven-year war. At that time, most of the attention of the British was restrained by the French, and they did not pay much attention to the Indian Uprising.

But the result surprised the British, who were regarded as ignorant and backward aborigines, even won eight military fortresses in the Great Lakes region, and almost won the most important Detroit fortress.

In the second half of 1763, the British began to actively mobilize troops to suppress the Indian Uprising, and gradually suppressed the local Indian offensive.

Although the British have a great advantage in the Great Lakes area, they have a hard time. After all, the British had just survived the seven-year war, and their finances were about to collapse. Otherwise, they would not be idle to crush the Indians. Now that the war has broken out again, the Lord of Parliament in Britain can only find a way to collect taxes on the one hand. Because the battlefield is in North America, the colonists have to pay for the money.

This is also the direct reason why the British authorities continuously issued various regulations to squeeze the colonists after the seven-year war.

At the same time, the British were afraid that the war with the Indians would be delayed for too long, which would lead the French to fight again. Therefore, in order to stabilize Indians' resistance as soon as possible, even if the British army has begun to gain strategic advantages, the London government still had to negotiate with the Indians, then adjusted some policies strongly opposed by the Indians, released some prohibitions, and respected the traditions of the Indians.

Finally, in October 1763, the king of England issued a special proclamation, the declaration of 1763, which met most of the requirements of the Indians. For example, private purchase of Indian land was not allowed, and the British colonists were not allowed to settle around the Great Lakes and between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. The British who have been in these areas have also been ordered to give up their settlements on these lands and have to move elsewhere.

This declaration became the golden key to the settlement of the Indian problem and was able to quell the far-reaching war. However, the war did not end immediately because of the declaration of 1763. Although many Indian tribes signed peace treaties with Britain in turn after the declaration of the British, the Indian resistance did not end until 1766.

In July 1766, chief Pontiac, who had achieved good results, negotiated peace with Britain on behalf of the Indian tribal alliance. Britain once again reiterated its respect for the territory and rights of the Indians, and the Indian tribal alliance also promised not to launch any more attacks, so that the two sides could reach a peace agreement and end the war.

The history of this war is called "Pontiac uprising"!

So far, the Indian Uprising finally came to an end, and the Indians got what they wanted. However, the British peace policy was seen as a compromise by the colonists, which led to the strong opposition of the North American colonists and land speculators to the British government's policy. In addition, the British government constantly transferred the financial resources consumed in the seven-year war and the Pontiac uprising to the colonists, which made the colonists in North America hate the British authorities more and more deeply, and eventually led to the outbreak of the war of Independence

It can be said that the Pontiac uprising was the first large-scale attack on British colonists by North American Indians, and it also became one of the fuse of the war of independence.

Although chief Pontiac died as early as 1769, stone bear still has great respect for this legendary Ottawa chief.

There used to be a famous car in the United States, which seems to have something to do with this Pontiac chief, because the name of that car is "Pontiac".

Of course, this is not to say that Pontiac automobile was named in memory of the Pontiac chief.

The real reason is this. Because the United States has no history, so after the founding of the United States, it always wants to find some more ancient history for itself. As a result, some of the most famous Indian tribes or Indian chiefs in history became the object of worship of many Americans.

For example, the various types of helicopters used by American land airlines are basically named after Indian tribes or chiefs.

Chief Pontiac, as a famous figure in the history of North America, naturally has many admirers. Later generations in the United States have a lot of places are named after Pontiac.

For example, there is a small town in the northwest of Detroit called Pontiac. This small town is also an automobile industry center in Detroit, mainly producing tractors, car bodies, auto parts, etc. And the name of this place is to commemorate the brave and finally assassinated chief Pontiac.

In 1893, Edward Murphy founded a light carriage company here, which was named "Pontiac light carriage company" according to the place name at that time. Later, Edward Murphy produced a 4-cylinder engine car in 1908, which was powerful and competitive, so it developed rapidly. At the same time, it attracted the attention of William Durant, the founder of general motors. Through the talks, Pontiac light carriage company joined General Motors in 1909 and changed its name to Pontiac.

And between 1926 and 1956, Pontiac cars had been marked with native Indian heads. And in 1949, Pontiac launched a brand new car, named Pontiac chief.