The French Population and the British Garrison
Early French Settlement of Detroit
French explorers began arriving in the Detroit river region starting in the late 17th century. The region was chosen hunting grounds for local indigenous nations such as the Huron. 1 The French established Detroit in July of 1701 in an expedition led by Antoine de LaMothe Cadillac. The first 100 French soldiers who along with 100 of their Algonquin allies established the settlement in order to protected French interests in the fur trade in the Great Lakes from the English and Iroquois.2 Following the establishment of the settlement, Cadilac personally asked the Indigenous peoples of the region to settle there permanently offering trade and protection. This brought in groups such as the Miami, Huron, Ottawa, and Chippewa.3 The French were successful in opening the Great Lakes as a waterway in trade, connecting this region to the more populated urban centers such as Montreal or Quebec City. Cadillac was different from other French commanders of the period in that he went far to encourage long term French settlement at the fort by encouraging agricultural settlement. The French established so-called ribbon farms along the coasts of the Detroit river to promote individual family units as well as a permanent source of self-sufficient food.
French Relations with Indigenous Nations
Early into French ventures into the Great Lakes region, the French were dependant on the Anishinaabeg peoples of modern day Michigan for their hospitality.4 As early as the 1600, the Anishanaabeg understood that the French were desperate for furs and they were more than willing to oblige them in trade. On the other hand, the Iroquois in the 18th century were mostly considered reliable allies to the English and did not approve of French domination of the trade. The French policies towards trade with the Anishinaabeg were designed to be mutually beneficial. The French wished for connections in trade along the waterways of the Great Lakes rather than full scale conquering of Indigenous territory. Though, this did not mean the French settlers of Early Detroit did not benefit from imperialism. Indigenous enslavement was a feature of the early development of Detroit. The French preferred Indigenous enslaved laborers to enslaved Africans in this region, contrary to the British who imported enslaved laborers primarily of African origin.
British Relations with Indigenous Nations
As referenced in the James Sterling Letter Book, a collection of letters dated 1761-1765 from James Sterling a British military officer and fur trader in Fort Detroit, a major obstacle for British commercial interest in the region was establishing independent relationships with the indigenous peoples of the region following being used to dealing with the French.5' The British struggled at first to find the same success as the French in Fort Detroit in dealing with the indigenous nations which made up the region. While the French more willingly inter-mixed with the Indigenous Anishinaabeg people and encouraged settlement surrounding their town, the British had a different philosophy. Mixed Franco-Indigenous families were a common feature of Detroit in the 18th century but this was certainly not the case for the British. The British did not respect the sovereignty of the Indigenous groups who resided in the Great Lakes, they also stripped these groups of many of the benefits of trade they had enjoyed working with the French. Continued British hostility towards the Anishinaabeg ultimately culminated in Pontiac's Rebellion of 1763. Pontiac, an Odawa Chief of the Anishinaabeg nation detested the British as well as the ways of European settlers in general as he made clear in his 1763 call to war.6 In May of 1763, Pontiac and his Indigenous allies laid siege to Fort Detroit, this siege would last for five months but ultimately would end in defeat for Pontiac's forces. This violence in response to British policies in dealing with groups such as the Huron, Miami, Odawa, and Ojibwe only complicated the dynamics of such a diverse community such as Detroit.
French Residents and British Arrivals
As mentioned previously in this overview of early Detroit, even though the British had taken control of the town, Detroit remained primarily made up of French, mixed Euro-Indigenous, and Indigenous residents. Once the British took control of Detroit, French residents were permitted to indeed keep their property following an oath of allegiance to the British crown.7 This property included enslaved African and Indigenous individuals who remained in bondage following the British takeover of the town. The majority of French and mixed-race residents accepted British rule peacefully and instead focused on their own economic endeavours in the fur trade. These individuals were given a sort of privilege being protected by the defensive structures of the settlement constantly patrolled by British soldiers.
Fort Detroit During the American Revolution
In 1775 a British military officer named Henry Hamilton was appointed as Lieutenant Governor of Detroit, effectively the town's leader.8 In July of 1776, the thirteen colonies would declare independence from Great Britain formally. The news traveled to the frontier post of Detroit which remained a British holding. In 1778 Hamilton successfully established an alliance of Indigenous groups including the Potowatomi, Shawnee, and Wyandot. This alliance was formed in order to secure the Northwest frontier from the rebels as well as to raid along the frontier and disrupt the defenses of the Continental army. Detroit was quickly becoming a staging ground for indigenous frontier warfare. Captain Richard Lernoult of the British army would arrive in 1776 to Detroit from New York in order to construct new fortifications, a star-shaped fortress known as "fort Lernoult."9. In 1778 Henry Hamilton had departed Detroit with a force of British soldiers and Indigenous allies to modern-day Indiana where he would reinforce the garrison at Fort Sackville. The Continental army had decided to send George Rogers Clark at the head of a force of militia to help defend the frontier from Hamilton's consistent raids. Clark would be successful in capturing Fort Sackville in February of 1779 where Henry Hamilton, who was regarded as a ruthless frontier commander, would be captured by the Continental army. 10
1 French Detroit (1700-1760). Detroit Historical Society - Where the past is present. (n.d.-b). https://detroithistorical.org/learn/timeline-detroit/french-detroit-1700-1760
2 Ibid
3 Ibid
4 McDonnell, M. A. (2016). Masters of empire: Great lakes Indians and the Making of America. Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
5Sterling, J. (1761). James Sterling Letter Book, 1761-1765.
6“Pontiacs Call to War 1763.” Lumen. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-jcc-ushistory1os/chapter/primary-source-pontiac-calls-for-war-1763/.
7 Miles, Tiya, and Allyson Johnson. The dawn of detroit: A chronicle of slavery and freedom in the city of the Straits. Old Saybrook: Tantor Audio, 2017.
8 McLeod, Norman, 1777-1778, accessed September 25, 2024, https://wayne.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/wayne-open/id/17730/rec/17.
9Miles, Tiya, and Allyson Johnson. The dawn of detroit: A chronicle of slavery and freedom in the city of the Straits. Old Saybrook: Tantor Audio, 2017.
