The Anishinabe-English War

By the early 1750s, England was fixing to wage a war against the French to their north and the Spanish who controlled the region where Georgia and Florida are located. The goal of the English was to bring the French and Spanish colonies along North America's Atlantic coastline under English control. However, the actions of the English were known of by the powerful Three Fires Confederation (the Ojibwa, Ottawa and Potawatomi) who controlled a vast empire that was located from James Bay to westen South Carolina and Georgia. That Anishinabe Empire included most of Pennsylvania and when the English deliberately sent their soldiers into western Pennsylvania it sparked the French and Indian War.

The Northern Anishinabe Military Campaigns After the English deliberately invaded the empire of the powerful Three Fires Confederation in 1754, it eventually led to the Battle of the Monongahela, in which the English were badly defeated by the Anishinabek. After that battle the war was on for control of North America between the powerful Anishinabek, England, France and Spain. With the victory over Braddock's troops an inspiration, the Three Fires Confederation and their Indian allies sent thousands of their warriors to launch devastating raids on English settlers and towns located in New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At the Battle of Fort William Henry, the Anishinabek may have killed close to 1500 English soldiers and civilians after the English surrendered to them. Several more large military engagements were fought up north until 1759 when England finally conquered the French of Canada. Though the English had conquered the French of Canada, the Anishinabek continued the war. They singled out the old French forts located in their country to attempt to destroy them. They successfully destroyed all but two. That occurred during Pontiac's 1763 war.

The Southern Anishinabe Military Campaigns During the late 1750s, England was starting to actively involve themselves in a war with the southern Anishinabek who lived in Kentucky, northern Georgia, Tennessee, western Virginia, western North Carolina, and western South Carolina. It was similar to the northern Anishinabe military campaigns, especially in attempting to take English forts. The southern Anishinabe had their black allies and Indian allies. Their black allies were escaped black slaves who fled to the southern Anishinabe seeking refuge. The Anishinabe allowed the blacks to build and live in their own black towns. Those blacks were very willing to join with the Indians to fight the whites. They launched many devastating raids against the english settlers and towns from 1759 to 1761, and took some English forts under their control. In 1763, England had grown tired of the war and created the Proclamation of 1763, which forbid any English settlers from entering onto the lands of the northern and southern Anishinabek. That meant the English would not settle down on Anishinabe land west of the Appalachian Mountains. Through 10 years of war the blacks, Indians and whites endurred between 10,000 and 20,000 casualties. Most of the casualties were inflicted on the English settlers.