By 1763 the British had about a million and a half colonists on the North American continent. William Johnson, British superintendent of Indian affairs for the northern colonies, said that there were about 50,000 Indians with 10,000 warriors, though scholars consider his estimate low. General Amherst commanded about 8,000 soldiers, but only about 2,000 of them were in the western forts. On April 27, 1763, an Ottawa chief named Pontiac held a meeting with a number of Indian leaders from different tribes near Ft. Detroit. He urged the chiefs to wage war against the British. According to a French chronicler, he said, “It is important for us, my brothers, that we exterminate from our lands this nation [Great Britain] which seeks only to destroy us. You see as well as I that we can no longer supply our needs, as we have done from our brothers, the French….Therefore, my brothers, we must all swear their destruction and wait no longer. Nothing prevents us; they are few in numbers, and w...
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