Chapter 9

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS

1763

The Treaty of Paris

At the conclusion of "The French and Indian Wars" a final peace treaty was formalized in Europe and it was called, "The Treaty of Paris". This document addressed the cessation of hostilities in "The Seven Years's War" and "The French and Indian War" taking place in the New World. It was a serious setback for French designs in forming a "New France" on the American Continent but was not quite the endgame that was envisioned by the British forces and the American militias aligned as the opposing force to French domination.

The fall of Fort Niagara, the Citadel at Quebec and finally the capture of Montreal itself sent a message to the French forces that their days of dominance in the Ohio River Valley and down into the Mohawk River Valley with their Indian allies was fast coming to an end. The Indian Tribes were quick to realize that their position was vulnerable and most of the tribes sought peace with the English settlers to prevent extinction. Fringe elements of die-hard Indian warriors continued to harass the settlers in the Colonies but after The French and Indian Wars, Indian hostilities shut down in the American Colonies while the conflict moved further west into lands previously claimed by the French as part of their plans for "New France".

It is important to distinguish that "The Treaty of Paris of 1763" was entirely different than the later "Treaty of Paris of 1783" that dealt with the conclusion of the American Revolution against the King of England.

The 1763 "Treaty of Paris" was the formalized treaty between the French and British who were the opposing forces in the French and Indian Wars and it was concluded delivering a crushing defeat to the French on both continents.

France was soundly beaten in the New World and on the high seas in Europe. Now that the fighting was over, the British military forces and the American Militias could enjoy the benefits of a victory. There is no doubt the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1763 were hard on the losing party France.

The French had to give up all French Territory on the mainland of North America.

The British were given Quebec and most of Canada as well as the entire Ohio River Valley.

The port of New Orleans retained a French flavor in residents and settlers but the territories were transferred to the control of Spain as a reward for their support of the British and American cause.

With France finally gone from the scene and the vision of "New France" faded away, the American settlers in the English-speaking Colonies began to look at the British army regulars and the government bureaucrats from London with their taxes and rules and regulations as oppressors rather than saviors from the threat of French attacks. The American Colonists did not like taking orders from the British troops. On the other side, the British troops looked at the American militias as crude, disorganized and lacking in social graces. The British Army usually just took what they wanted from the settlers and gave them a worthless piece of paper in return that promised payment at some future date.

During the French and Indian Wars, the American militias showed that they could work together to defeat the French and their Indian allies. This sense of unity was the seeds from which the spirit of unity arose in the revolution against the control of the British crown.

It would be difficult to access the atmosphere of the negotiating rooms used for the construction and the signing of the "Treaty of Paris 1763". One glaring fact was that the interests of the American Indian Tribes were not represented even though they were primary combatants in the war in the New World. The French hosts were no doubt much more ashamed of their savage allies in the opulent drawing rooms of the aristocracy than the British were of their unruly children, the American Settlers. The final terms were a "bad deal" for the French and an even worse deal for the American Indian Tribes. The only reason it was signed was that the French monarchy was bored with the war and the fact it was draining their treasury at an alarming rate. The constant wars with England were becoming more than an annoyance to the French people who were stirring with a sense of wanting to be rid of the stifling restraints of the upper classes. In fact, most of the French and British negotiators of the Treaty were professional negotiators unfamiliar with the potential of the magnificent Ohio River Valley or the economic sleeping giant that was the Mohawk River Valley sweeping down from Niagara to New York City. It was seen by the negotiators as some sort of hellish environment that no decent European personage of distinction would ever want to visit much less actually live in. The American Indian Tribes were viewed as the necessary "Devils" to gain the upper hand over the pesky British military forces and as for the American Colonists who were mostly of English origin they considered them equally as savage and crude and totally lacking in social graces.

One of the unforeseen consequences of the "Treaty of Paris 1763" was that it was transferring "de facto" ownership of a huge section of the current day "lower 48" to the control of the British who in turn continued to use the American Colonists as their "share croppers" under strict control. For some unknown reason, the British crown choose to ignore the fact that they were riding a runaway horse in the form of the future "Patriots" of the American Revolution.

Some of the intelligent and progressive thinking Americans were keenly aware of the possibilities but knew deep in their hearts that 1763 was far too soon for a division with their mentor the British crown. Men like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and many others saw the opportunity but wisely kept it to themselves in the hopes that the Parliament would come to its senses and give up some control to the American Colonies in a logical partnership for economic gain.

Another feature of the treaty terms was that the land on the west side of the Mississippi River system was turned over to the French with the knowledge that the American Indian Tribes were actually in control. This huge area later became the focus of the "Louisiana Purchase" when the newly formed United States of American purchased the huge tract of land from France with little consideration given to the rights of the American Indian Tribes who were the original and true owners. This was part of the concept of "Manifest Destiny" that spurred western expansion in the nineteenth century.

In that smaller timeframe during the period after the French and Indian Wars and the first shots of the American Revolution, the American Colonies stretched their collective muscles and began to think in terms of "Sectional Development" rather than in terms of separate "Colony" rights and processes. Even though there was a place for unique colony-related issues, the sense of "Sectional" development became more a focus than needs of a specific colony by itself. A good example of the new thinking was in the Ohio River Valley where there was a vast void created by the withdrawal of the French traders and settlers from the region in accordance with the terms of the treaty.

The French designs on the Ohio River Valley Basin were the key to their desire to establish a "New France" in the New World. Now that they were forced to vacate the region, the English settlers moved into the area in droves looking to establish new farms and settlements to create commerce on a grander scale than in the restricted colonies.

The establishment of new communities with a well-knit organization of the common good resulted in a "Sectional" awareness that fostered a "turning away" from National Unity and Colony specific wants and needs. A good example of this was the following century conflict of "The Civil War" that pitted the industrial north against the agrarian south. In fact, the original breakdown of the thirteen colonies described a "New England" section, a "Mid-Atlantic" section and a "Southern" section.

As the country expanded and moved west, the sectional identification was more prevalent and vast swaths of land became "sections" of national importance. The sheer bulk of the North American Continent established the certainty of geographic sections separate in their physical status that would inspire the development of unique societies with their own special economic and social life of their own. The elected representatives of these sections act then as ambassadors of constituents in terms of their sectional interests or sometimes State interests at the national level when the need arises.

The inclusion of the vast regions ceded by France at the conclusion of the French and Indian Wars made the British pleased at their victory but in actuality they had only won for the ultimate true winner, the American Settlers of the New World.

The following is a fictional account of the upheaval of lives in the midst of the chaotic fighting of the French and Indian wars and it is presented hopefully without bias for either side.

1760

The Uplander

In the dark shadows under the spreading hardwood tree, a solitary figure melted into the contours of the bushes and silently viewed the scene of havoc in front of him. His Pennsylvania rifle was cradled in his arms like a baby resting in the grip of love.

His name was Jonas but most who knew him called him Hawkeye because of his ability to hit the mark with the first shot every time. Usually he would have his companion Soaring Eagle at his side to watch his back in the danger zones but the trusted Indian tracker was back at the Fort with a broken leg sustained when they had to jump into the rushing waters of the Niagara just above the Fort to escape the wily Algonquins collecting English scalps for the Frenchies up in Quebec.

He had been sent on this mission by the British Army Colonel who needed intelligence reports of the French movements into the Ohio River Valley after their defeat at Fort Niagara. He had made the trek using mostly the rivers and the canoes for transport staying clear of the French traders and their Indian Allies since his mission was merely to report back the level of enemy troop strength and their main locations. The last two times he discovered the slippery rascals was up at the head of the basin and in an area that was almost totally devoid of English Settlements. The primary reason for the lack of English farmers and traders was the terrible pogroms against the English –speaking settlers taking scalps for the French masters back in Montreal. The same massacres committed in the Mohawk River Valley by the French colonists attacking down from Canada with their Indian Allies was repeated in the Ohio River Valley with even more ruthlessness and lack of mercy.