According to World HyperHistory website, the term middle ground came following the arrival of the great empires from Europe as well as the rise seen in the United States. These changes led to a further complication of the political and social relations in this era. There was establishment of British settlers and traders as well as French in Illinois. This settlement formed part of a complex cultural mixture that came to be referred to as Middle Ground by the historians.
Many world history timelines website on the other hand claims that it is in this context that the Native American and European cultures mingled. The Native Americans and the Europeans came to understand each other during this time. This understanding stemmed from the fundamental misconceptions that made it possible for good trade and relations. In the cause of this intercultural relationship, many French traders and trappers married Indian women and begun a pattern characterized by cross-cultural creolization and kinship ties.
It is further argued by the Many world history timelines website that the relations seen in the Middle Ground, though they were unstable, were generally prosperous and peaceful. These relations characterized the kind of life that was seen in Illinois until the Indian and French war that broke out in mid-eighteenth century. In the course of this conflict the tribes of the Native Americans made a decision of aligning themselves with French. Because of this decision, they came to suffer defeat from the British Empire.
Despite the fact that the British were opposing the Native Americans and the French, British came to be a temporary friend to the Native Americans in the early nineteenth century and late eighteenth century. The cities in the northwestern region, which include Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio were cleared by the British to be meant for only the English settlers.
Works Cited
‘World HyperHistory’ Retrieved on January 17, 2012
‘Many world history timelines’ Retrieved on January 17, 2012
