Father Rale's War - Aftermath

Aftermath

On 31 July 1725, Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Dummer announced a cessation of arms. Negotiations began in Boston on 11 November, and peace treaties were signed in Maine on 15 December 1725 and on 15 June 1726 in Nova Scotia.

As a result of the war, western Maine came more strongly under British control with the defeat of Father Rale at Norridgewock and the subsequent retreat of the native population from the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers. In present-day New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the treaty that ended the war marked a significant shift in European relations with the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet. For the first time a European power formally acknowledged that its dominion over Nova Scotia would have to be negotiated with the region's indigenous inhabitants.

The Mi'kmaq and Maliseet of Nova Scotia refused to declare themselves British subjects. The war was as much a native victory in Nova Scotia as it was a New England victory in Maine, but the New Englanders were forced to acknowledge that the natives had a right to possess their land.

The goal of the colonies was less the defeat of the aboriginal populations than influencing the Wabanaki to become allies of the British king and enemies of the French.

Although the French lost their footholds in Maine, present-day New Brunswick would remain under French control for a number of years. The peace in Nova Scotia would last for eighteen years. At the end of Father Le Loutre's War, with the defeat of Le Loutre at Fort Beausejour, the British took control of present-day New Brunswick.