The British victory opened new territory for exploration and expansion, but it also brought the responsibility for overseeing three troublesome groups. The first were thousands of resentful former French subjects. French settlements remained in Canada and even today the French are a prominent minority in Quebec and Montreal. To keep the settlements under control, the British maintained a close watch and employed harsh tactics to quell rebellion. One tactic was mass deportation of former French colonists. One group, the Acadians, left New France and settled in Louisiana, particularly around New Orleans. Over time, the name Acadian was condensed to the now familiar “Cajun.”
France’s Native American allies were Britain’s second problem. With Britain’s victory in the French and Indian War, the Indian supporters of the French were now in a precarious position. The French were no longer able to back their Indian allies, which left tribes such as the Huron out of an increasingly British-dominated power and trade network. While the French tended to develop trade and mission connections with local tribes, the British colonial authorities were much more inclined to remove indigenous peoples altogether and clear the land for white settlement. Some tribes feared that the influx of British colonists would result in their eventual removal from their lands.
With the colonists marching forward onto his people’s land, Chief Pontiac of the Algonquian-speaking Ottawa tribe led a bloody rebellion that resulted in the death of thousands of soldiers and settlers. The Ottawa besieged all but three of the British forts west of the Appalachians.
The British countered by giving smallpox-infected blankets and handkerchiefs to the Indians. This disease swept through the Indian tribes and decimated their forces. The British regained the upper hand, but nonetheless realized the need to cohabitate peacefully with the Indians to prevent further turmoil.
The third troublesome group was, ironically, the British colonists, who were beginning to test the boundaries of Britain’s rule and were becoming increasingly aggressive toward the natives. In an attempt to maintain the situation until a peaceful resolution could be reached, London’s government issued the Proclamation of 1763, which called for a halt to westward expansion beyond the Appalachians. The desired effect of this proclamation was two-fold. First, the Britons hoped to keep the colonists tied more closely to English colonial authorities by confining them to the coast. Second, the Seven Years’ War had put England in dire financial straits, and keeping colonists east of the Appalachians would facilitate the collection of taxes and allow England to refill its coffers.
However, the Proclamation incensed the colonists, who felt they had earned the right to expansion by risking their lives in the new country. They openly defied British rule and rushed westward, creating new settlements, facing new challenges, and becoming more self-reliant.
The Proclamation of 1763 surfaced some resentments harbored by the colonists as a result of the French and Indian War. The colonists who fought alongside their British counterparts viewed the Brits as overly and unnecessarily formal. The colonists preferred Indian-style guerrilla tactics, while the British favored organized entry into battle. Colonists in New England also resented having to quarter British troops in their homes during the war. And Britain’s attempts to tax the colonists to pay for Britain’s wartime support angered the colonists.
In addition, Britain’s authoritarian rule over Canada brought deep concerns to the settlers. The loss of liberties in Canada, such as the right to trial by jury, raised fears among colonists that the Crown might impose a similar rule in New England. To the British, the end of the French and Indian War was a costly victory but one that opened the North American continent to their total control and development.
To the colonists the war was one of the first signs that they were not just transplanted Englishmen. They were a society with their own traditions, customs, and identity that was increasingly distinct from the mother country. They also had realized they had the resources to handle some of their own affairs without looking to Britain for support.
At one time, the British government was an important source of support and protection for the colonies. Increasingly, the British government was perceived as a nuisance whose demands for taxes became symbolic of an increasingly irrelevant colonial authority.