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Great Lakes, Great Stories

On October 10th, Hands-on History gave a talk at the Macomb Cultural Center as part of their Great Lakes Great Stories program. If you haven’t visited the MCC, please do. They’ve got it all set up with exhibits on Great Lakes history, and every weekend they have a speaker or two coming in to share what they know about their particular era. Hands-on History, of course, presented on the life of a British Soldier in Colonial Detroit.

Doing the presentation for a group of mixed ages was an interesting experience. Usually our audience is made up of elementary school students, usually all fifth graders, all fourth graders, or a mix of the two. This audience had a few elementary-age kids and adults from their twenties into probably their seventies (just a guess) and from many different backgrounds. The main difference between talking to fifth graders and this group was that we’ve never had fifth graders ask questions with a political slant to them.

We had one audience member ask rather pointedly about the British breaking treaties with the Native Americans in Michigan. This question sparked a digression on Pontiac’s Rebellion, a native uprising in the Great Lakes that occurred between the French and Indian War and the American War for Independence.

Basically (and this is a gross oversimplification) after the F&I war, the British treated the natives as though they were a conquered people. But the natives didn’t really see it that way. The French had been conquered and driven away, but the native tribes were still here, and were still a force to be reckoned with. Certain British officers realized that they should be doing as the French had done in giving gifts to the native chiefs, but the government back in England didn’t want to spend the money and resources giving stuff away to a bunch of “savages” that they’d just “beaten” in a war.

Well, after a while of the British treating the natives with contempt, this fellow Pontiac decided that it was time to oust the British. He coordinated a revolt across the Great Lakes. Every British fort on the lakes was attacked by their native neighbors on or about the same day. This is in an age without long-distance communication, remember, and in an area that stretches from Chicago to the Straits of Mackinac to the mouth of the Niagara River. Get a map and you’ll see how impressive this was. Every British fort on the lakes fell to the natives, with the notable exceptions of Ft. Niagara, and Detroit.

After a long time besieging Detroit, eventually Pontiac’s men decided to go home and tend to their crops and their families, and the siege was lifted. But Pontiac’s effort did make the British government realize that the Native Americans were a force to be reckoned with, and funds for gifts to the native chiefs were soon approved. By the time the Revolutionary war rolled around, most of the Native population, especially those to the west of the Appalachian Mountains, sided with Great Britian.



Archives: April 2009 February 2009 April 2008 December 2007 November 2007 September 2007 June 2007 May 2007 Search:	Welcome! Welcome to Hands-on History, where the field trip comes to you. Hands-on History is available for historic presentations to students, Scouts, Historical Societies, or any group with an interest in Colonial era history. News Great Lakes, Great Stories On October 10th, Hands-on History gave a talk at the Macomb Cultural Center as part of their Great Lakes Great Stories program. If you haven’t visited the MCC, please do. They’ve got it all set up with exhibits on Great Lakes history, and every weekend they have a speaker or two coming in to share what they know about their particular era. Hands-on History, of course, presented on the life of a British Soldier in Colonial Detroit. Doing the presentation for a group of mixed ages was an interesting experience. Usually our audience is made up of elementary school students, usually all fifth graders, all fourth graders, or a mix of the two. This audience had a few elementary-age kids and adults from their twenties into probably their seventies (just a guess) and from many different backgrounds. The main difference between talking to fifth graders and this group was that we’ve never had fifth graders ask questions with a political slant to them. We had one audience member ask rather pointedly about the British breaking treaties with the Native Americans in Michigan. This question sparked a digression on Pontiac’s Rebellion, a native uprising in the Great Lakes that occurred between the French and Indian War and the American War for Independence. Basically (and this is a gross oversimplification) after the F&I war, the British treated the natives as though they were a conquered people. But the natives didn’t really see it that way. The French had been conquered and driven away, but the native tribes were still here, and were still a force to be reckoned with. Certain British officers realized that they should be doing as the French had done in giving gifts to the native chiefs, but the government back in England didn’t want to spend the money and resources giving stuff away to a bunch of “savages” that they’d just “beaten” in a war. Well, after a while of the British treating the natives with contempt, this fellow Pontiac decided that it was time to oust the British. He coordinated a revolt across the Great Lakes. Every British fort on the lakes was attacked by their native neighbors on or about the same day. This is in an age without long-distance communication, remember, and in an area that stretches from Chicago to the Straits of Mackinac to the mouth of the Niagara River. Get a map and you’ll see how impressive this was. Every British fort on the lakes fell to the natives, with the notable exceptions of Ft. Niagara, and Detroit. After a long time besieging Detroit, eventually Pontiac’s men decided to go home and tend to their crops and their families, and the siege was lifted. But Pontiac’s effort did make the British government realize that the Native Americans were a force to be reckoned with, and funds for gifts to the native chiefs were soon approved. By the time the Revolutionary war rolled around, most of the Native population, especially those to the west of the Appalachian Mountains, sided with Great Britian.