Following the Civil War, the US government moved to confine the Indians of the west to reservations, buying up their land to cater for the expansion of the white population into the interior. In 1866, the Army started building forts along the Bozeman Trail, a gold-mining route which crossed unceded Indian land, provoking a conflict with Lakota Sioux led by Red Cloud. After numerous clashes, the government backed down, abandoning the Trail to avoid disrupting its work on the Pacific Railroad.
On 22 January 1866, French Emperor Napoleon III - facing increasing domestic and international pressure to end the French campaign in Mexico - declared his Mexican intervention a success and began preparations for troop withdrawal. In late May and early June, French units were recalled from across Mexico to reassemble in Mexico City and embark from Veracruz. By February 1867, most of the remaining French, Austrian, and Belgian forces had departed for Europe, leaving Emperor Maximilian of Mexico greatly weakened.in wikipedia
Throughout the mid-19th century, millions of Irish emigrated to the United States, where some began organizing in support of an independent Irish Republic back home. One of these groups was the Fenian Brotherhood, who led raids into Canada in 1866, winning victories at Ridgeway and Fort Erie before withdrawing.in wikipedia
During the 1860s, the Great Sioux Nation began seizing territory belonging to the Crow people, in violation of the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty. The Crow appealed to the United States, who were expanding their military presence along the nearby Bozeman Trail, leading to outright war.in wikipedia
Following the end of the Civil War, states that had seceded from the Union were placed under military occupation without the full rights of US States. Under this Reconstruction program, states were readmitted to the union once federal troops and monitors had sufficiently overseen the establishment of civil rights and prevented the risk of a further uprising.in wikipedia
The British colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were united to form the United Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, generally still called the Colony of British Columbia. Both colonies had been laboring under huge debts, largely accumulated by the completion of extensive infrastructure to service the huge population influx and exacerbated by the decline in gold revenues.in wikipedia
