When looking at the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it is important to consider the perspective of Native Americans in the regions that had been affected by the Seven Years War. For them, the dispute was characterized by popular holdings to a governmental alliance that would be most beneficial to their self-preservation. The families of Molly and Joseph Brant are just two examples of the effect of the flames of war on Native families in America. Joseph Brant was Mohawk military and a political leader. Growing up, Joseph Brant and his family grew their own food and rented out their land to German Immigrants to farm upon. This was not only the way they were able to eat- but their source of income. Joseph Bryant had felt so strongly about the white colonizers and his ability to have land and maintain it that he joined the loyalist cause- he had convinced the Mohawk tribe, as well as the Cayugas, Onondagas, and Senecas to join him. Brant’s tribes were considered the barbarians to many colonists who fled from their raids to the coastal towns during the war, but in Brant’s eyes the colonists were invading his native homeland and the ever-growing encroachment of colonial settlers had led to a number of tense moments prior to the war, that was often exacerbated via violence. The Native Americans had their land stolen from them. The colonists refused to trade with them and provide supplies that they may not have access to themselves. Their people were threatened and families were destroyed. The war gave the Native Americans a powerful ally who could stand alongside them and reinforce their grievances: the British.

The British represented a powerful force, who had honoured its agreements with the Native tribes, and the war represented the perfect proxy to find reproach for the colonist’s transgressions. However, they lost. The Indian Tribes were suddenly on English soil, staring down land-hungry colonists who wished to further encroach upon their lands. The Crown, however, realized the tenuous nature of this situation and issued the Royal  Proclamation Line of 1763. This theoretical line, however, did little to deter the colonists from trying to settle in territory that the line had forbidden them from entering. But the Crown had at least tried, and when the flames of war did erupt into the Revolution, the Native tribes would remember the British attempt, and choose to side with those who had at least attempted to prevent the Colonists encroachment: fighting often as loyalists due to the threat of colonists as well as the promise of land and protection.

Land is incredibly important to cultural preservation- and the Native Americans realized this. As many assimilated into American culture- some wanted to keep their culture and their ways of living. Native Americans have emotional and spiritual connections to their lands. Having land to Native Americans means continuity and stability- a way to pass down their stories to children and grandchildren, and a way to honor their ancestors as well.  As the white colonists encroached upon their lands, they not only felt their lives were at stake, but their culture as well.

The Treaty of Paris (1783) ended the war, however, Britain and the United States ignored the sovereignty of the Indians and the Six Nation Lands were claimed by the United States. The promise to protect their land and grant them land had been a huge factor in Native Americans becoming loyalists. Brant’s postwar years were spent attempting to reconciliate for their lands being handed over. In 1784, The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was agreed upon and served as a peace treaty between the Iraquois and the Americans.