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Never Come to Peace Again: Pontiac's Uprising and the Fate of the British Empire in North America
Prior to the American Revolution, the Ohio River Valley was a cauldron of competing interests: Indian, colonial, and imperial. The conflict known as Pontiac’s Uprising, which lasted from 1763 until 1766, erupted out of this volatile atmosphere. Never Come to Peace Again, the first complete account of Pontiac’s Uprising to appear in nearly fifty years, is a richly detailed account of the causes, conduct, and consequences of events that proved pivotal in American colonial history.
When the Seven Years’ War ended in 1760, French forts across the wilderness passed into British possession. Recognizing that they were just exchanging one master for another, Native tribes of the Ohio valley were angered by this development. Led by an Ottawa chief named Pontiac, a confederation of tribes, including the Delaware, Seneca, Chippewa, Miami, Potawatomie, and Huron, rose up against the British. Ultimately unsuccessful, the prolonged and widespread rebellion nevertheless took a heavy toll on British forces.
Even more devastating to the British was the rise in revolutionary sentiment among colonists in response to the rebellion. For Dixon, Pontiac’s Uprising was far more than a bloody interlude between Great Britain’s two wars of the eighteenth century. It was the bridge that linked the Seven Years’ War with the American Revolution.
When the Seven Years’ War ended in 1760, French forts across the wilderness passed into British possession. Recognizing that they were just exchanging one master for another, Native tribes of the Ohio valley were angered by this development. Led by an Ottawa chief named Pontiac, a confederation of tribes, including the Delaware, Seneca, Chippewa, Miami, Potawatomie, and Huron, rose up against the British. Ultimately unsuccessful, the prolonged and widespread rebellion nevertheless took a heavy toll on British forces.
Even more devastating to the British was the rise in revolutionary sentiment among colonists in response to the rebellion. For Dixon, Pontiac’s Uprising was far more than a bloody interlude between Great Britain’s two wars of the eighteenth century. It was the bridge that linked the Seven Years’ War with the American Revolution.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published April 30, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 15, 2017
A well-researched and readable history of Pontiac’s War.
The narrative is well-organized and lively, and the book as a whole serves nicely as an introduction to the topic. Dixon captures the drama of the period and also puts the war into the context of the American Revolution’s origins, arguing that American resentment towards London had much to do with the settlers’ hostility to the natives and to the home government’s lax response to the crisis. Dixon’s portrait of Amherst is great, and Bouquet comes off as particularly brutal. He also argues that the British use of germ warfare at Fort Pitt was actually a failure.
Dixon’s rendition of the battle of Bushy Run,however, is a bit confusing, and there is little on the motives of the Indians and French. He also links the war to the American Revolution, but this part seems like it could have been elaborated on more.
A well-written, interesting and engaging work.
The narrative is well-organized and lively, and the book as a whole serves nicely as an introduction to the topic. Dixon captures the drama of the period and also puts the war into the context of the American Revolution’s origins, arguing that American resentment towards London had much to do with the settlers’ hostility to the natives and to the home government’s lax response to the crisis. Dixon’s portrait of Amherst is great, and Bouquet comes off as particularly brutal. He also argues that the British use of germ warfare at Fort Pitt was actually a failure.
Dixon’s rendition of the battle of Bushy Run,however, is a bit confusing, and there is little on the motives of the Indians and French. He also links the war to the American Revolution, but this part seems like it could have been elaborated on more.
A well-written, interesting and engaging work.
December 8, 2013
I've had to read three books for my colonial American history class: At the "Edge of Empire", "Goodwives", and "Never Come to Peace Again". They were self-selected, but I pretty much just went with what was the shortest because I'm not good at writing fake reviews of books I haven't actually read. I enjoyed all three, but this one is definitely my favorite. It was so interesting to see what events led to Pontiac's uprising and then to see how brutal Pontiac actually was! I'm not really that knowledgeable about Native American culture, but I certainly felt like I got a nice introduction. The colonists definitely did the Native Americans wrong, but the Indians were pretty brutal in their retaliation. That's probably what made the book interesting though. Reading about how the British oppressed the Native American population would be pretty boring. When you read about Native Americans killing and scalping their victims and then at times feasting on them it makes it just a bit more scintillating. The battles and why they occurred were interesting to read about. I quickly figured out that Amherst was an idiot and Bouquet was the hero - at least as David Dixon portrayed them, of course the portrayal was based on historical notes. I also liked the part about the attempted biological warfare with the small pox blankets. That probably wasn't actually effective since the two Indians they were given to didn't actually catch the disease. Ironically, Bouquet ends up dying of Malaria in Florida after he is so successful in helping turn the tide in favor of the British. I really liked Bouquet. He seemed pretty savvy when some of his superiors appeared as utter morons...okay maybe just Amherst was the moron. It was a good study in learning how to deal with different cultures and not just trying to make everyone fit into your particular mold. Okay, now that I've had the chance to give the review I want to give, I'm going to try to work on a critical review of the book for the class I'm taking.
November 8, 2019
Exciting, even-handed, and informative!
Mr. Dixon does an astounding job writing an action packed analysis of one of history's forgotten conflicts in a way that does justice to both sides' motivations and atrocities.
Unlike Parkman, who wrote from a racist white perspective, or modern writers veering towards the opposite extreme by whitewashing both the atrocities and defeats of the Natives (whose racist border control policies would frankly make even Mr. Trump blanche), Mr. Dixon provides a balanced and visceral portrait of this unhappy war. The author knows what most want in a good history: a narrative story of politics and the military tactics of war.
Readers will find both heroes and villains to root for and remember. Pontiac is no cipher, but a powerful orator and warmongering leader who bore valid grudges against Britain. General Amherst is a bumbling, racist fool who nearly lost America. William Penn and the Assembly both are well-meaning but selfish men who nearly lost their colony.
And above all else, Colonel Bouquet comes alive again as the intelligent, humane, savvy hero who came one decade too early to be remembered. There's something very poetic about how his triumphant march through Philadelphia in 1765, was completely overshadowed by George Washington's one decade later in 1776.
I'm pleasantly impressed by this unknown professor's ability to effectively personalize both characters & cultures. I hope to find more well-written, nuanced modern histories like this.
Mr. Dixon does an astounding job writing an action packed analysis of one of history's forgotten conflicts in a way that does justice to both sides' motivations and atrocities.
Unlike Parkman, who wrote from a racist white perspective, or modern writers veering towards the opposite extreme by whitewashing both the atrocities and defeats of the Natives (whose racist border control policies would frankly make even Mr. Trump blanche), Mr. Dixon provides a balanced and visceral portrait of this unhappy war. The author knows what most want in a good history: a narrative story of politics and the military tactics of war.
Readers will find both heroes and villains to root for and remember. Pontiac is no cipher, but a powerful orator and warmongering leader who bore valid grudges against Britain. General Amherst is a bumbling, racist fool who nearly lost America. William Penn and the Assembly both are well-meaning but selfish men who nearly lost their colony.
And above all else, Colonel Bouquet comes alive again as the intelligent, humane, savvy hero who came one decade too early to be remembered. There's something very poetic about how his triumphant march through Philadelphia in 1765, was completely overshadowed by George Washington's one decade later in 1776.
I'm pleasantly impressed by this unknown professor's ability to effectively personalize both characters & cultures. I hope to find more well-written, nuanced modern histories like this.
January 7, 2023
Konečne kniha, ktorá dopodrobna mapuje severoamerický konflikt indiánskych kmeňov oblasti Ohio, Illinois a Michiganu s britským imperializmom v r.1763-1765.
Pontiac (Ottawa) v spojení s Guyshuta (Seneca/Mingo), Keekyuscung (Lenape), Maumaltee (Lenape), Turtle Heart (Lenape), Captain Bull (Lenape), Wasson (Ojibwe), dokonca aj Cornstalk (Shawnee) a Big Wolf (Shawnee), či viacero ďalších náčelníkov Potawatomie a Wyandot, vytvorili voľnú alianciu kmeňov, ktorých možno až 1.000 bojovníkov dva roky udržiavalo Britov v úctivej vzdialenosti od svojich hraníc. I keď "povstanie" či presnejšie Pontiacova vojna len na veľmi krátko zarazila hlad kolonistov po pôde, jeho neúspechom sa zďaleka nič neskončilo. Práve naopak, na základoch Pontiacovej slávnej vojny, Indiáni v tejto oblasti naďalej vytvárali aliancie a kládli tvrdý odpor. Vojna teda pokračovala aj v nasledujúcom období (r.1774, r.1775-1783, r.1786 a r.1789-1794) a vrcholí veľkou vojnou Tecumseha (1811-1815)
Pontiac (Ottawa) v spojení s Guyshuta (Seneca/Mingo), Keekyuscung (Lenape), Maumaltee (Lenape), Turtle Heart (Lenape), Captain Bull (Lenape), Wasson (Ojibwe), dokonca aj Cornstalk (Shawnee) a Big Wolf (Shawnee), či viacero ďalších náčelníkov Potawatomie a Wyandot, vytvorili voľnú alianciu kmeňov, ktorých možno až 1.000 bojovníkov dva roky udržiavalo Britov v úctivej vzdialenosti od svojich hraníc. I keď "povstanie" či presnejšie Pontiacova vojna len na veľmi krátko zarazila hlad kolonistov po pôde, jeho neúspechom sa zďaleka nič neskončilo. Práve naopak, na základoch Pontiacovej slávnej vojny, Indiáni v tejto oblasti naďalej vytvárali aliancie a kládli tvrdý odpor. Vojna teda pokračovala aj v nasledujúcom období (r.1774, r.1775-1783, r.1786 a r.1789-1794) a vrcholí veľkou vojnou Tecumseha (1811-1815)
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