-
The Seven Years War was a global conflict which ran from 1756 until 1763 and pitted a coalition of Great Britain and its allies against a coalition of France and its allies.
-
- The Royal Proclamation was issued by King George III on 7 October 1763.
- It established the basis for governing the North American territories surrendered by France to Britain in the Treaty of Paris, 1763, following the Seven Years’ War.
- It also provided guidelines for European settlement of Indigenous lands, rights, and protections.
- It was made that only the crown could buy First Nations territories.
-
- In July and August 1764, Sir William Johnson and approximately 2,000 people, representing approximately 24 First Nations, met at Niagara to discuss an “alliance with the English.”
- The discussion led to the acceptance of the Royal Proclamation of 1763.
- It also included one of the first land cessions under the Royal Proclamation’s protocols, a return of prisoners, and an accepted British presence in the Great Lakes area.
- The resulting treaty was recorded in wampum.
-
The War of 1812 was a conflict fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America.
-
- An Act to Encourage the Gradual Civilization of the Indian Tribes in the Province was passed by the fifth Parliament of the Province of Canada.
- It was the first to introduce the act of enfranchisement - the right to vote.
- Indigenous people would lose their status and became “British subjects”
- It encouraged Indigenous peoples to lose their status and become “full citizens”
- This act was a big failure because only ONE person was enfranchised.
-
- First to introduce self-governance for Indigenous peoples on reserves.
- They could elect chiefs and band councils for general administrations on reserves.
- However, First Nations participation was very minimal and the Superintendent-general determined when Indigenous elections took place.
- Thus, this act increased government control on Indigenous reserve political system.
-
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy. The central cause of the war was the status of slavery, especially the expansion of slavery into territories acquired as a result of the Louisiana Purchase and the Mexican–American War.
-
- The Indian Department is responsible for the development of policies related to Indigenous communities.
- This involved negotiating treaties with Indigenous peoples in the Prairies for access to their territories for settlement and development purposes.
- Multiple scholars have pointed out that this contradicts the role of its predecessor’s — to settle the West.
- This tension allowed large-scale surrenders of reserve lands.