When looking at Seven Years’ War, Pontiac’s Rebellion, the War of 1812 I saw them as revolutions but not in the same light as I saw other historical revolutions. The three events above were examples of Indigenous people fighting for what was theirs but their strength was either cut from not having the technological resources or pestilence. Other revolutions were successful in granting a people’s sovereignty and recognition but the revolution attempts from Indigenous peoples were not successful or if they were successful did not last. Indigenous people were not one people when Europeans started coming to the Americas and that is one of the reasons that they were not successful in keeping Europeans off their land. I also believe that Indigenous revolutions were difficult due to the different countries that they were fighting against. There were many different powerful European countries that were fighting for Indigenous land. Indigenous people did not have the resources to fend for their freedom whereas in the French Revolution there was one country that was at odds with the same resources.
My last and most important difference between Indigenous revolutionary movements and others mentioned was the disease that wiped out the communities. In Chapter Seven of Encounters at the Heart of the World the Mandan people and others were ravaged by disease and once prospering people that could have fought Europeans were wiped away by disease. The disease was spread by tribe wars, people on horseback, and even blankets. The Europeans could be nowhere near the site of infection but they wiped out a multitude of people. Indigenous people were in danger from multiple angles and those dangers made revolutionary movements difficult and not as strong as they could have been. In Chapter Eight of Encounters at the Heart of the World the author makes it known that Indigenous people were fighting disease, other tribes, and Europeans. Not all Indigenous people wanted revolution due to the fact that they had good trading relationships with some European traders. The fact that not all Indigenous people were under one nation was another very large reason the revolutionary movements differed from revolutionary movements like the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and Haitian Revolution.