What motivation would Native American tribes have had for forging alliances with the British during the colonial war for independence?
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Most Native American tribes during the War of 1812 sided with the British because they wanted to safeguard their tribal lands, and hoped a British victory would relieve the unrelenting pressure they were experiencing from U.S. settlers who wanted to push further into Native American lands in southern Canada and in the lower Great Lakes and the south. Although some tribes remained neutral and some supported the United States, the majority allied with Britain. The Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his charismatic younger brother Tenskwatawa, a religious revivalist known as The Prophet, spearheaded a movement for Native American political and military unity to resist settler encroachment. When war began, Tecumseh persuaded activist warriors from tribes like the Fox, Chickamauga, Iroquois, Kickapoo, Mascouten, Mohawk, Ojibway, Piankeshaw, Potawatomi, Sauk and Shawnee to form an alliance to aid the British. This confederation supplied vital support to British forces on the western frontier and in Canada, notably in forcing surrenders of U.S. outposts on Mackinac Island and Detroit and aiding British victories at Queenston Heights and Beaver Dams in Ontario. After Tecumseh was killed in October 1813 at the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada, the alliance began to fall apart, considerably diminishing the power of Native Americans east of the Mississippi to retain their homelands. In western Georgia and eastern Mississippi Territory (now Alabama), General Andrew Jackson's forces defeated factions in the Creek Nation's ongoing civil war that opposed expansion of U.S. settlements in Creek territory, raising Jackson's national profile and forcing the Creeks to negotiate a peace treaty. The resulting Treaty of Fort Jackson compelled the Creeks to surrender about 23 million acres (most of southern Georgia and half of present-day Alabama) to the United States. Death of Tecumseh at the Battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813. Library of Congress Show Me More You Might Also LikeBackground American Indians faced numerous challenges to their survival as a people on their own lands in the eighteenth century. The French and British vied for control of the continent at mid-century while the American colonists continued to look to the interior for lands to expand their settlements. After the British victory in the Seven Years' War, Indigenous peoples found their diplomatic options more circumscribed. As North American colonists who were eager for land began to spill over the Appalachian Mountains in the 1750s, British concern and Native American anger over the expansion increased. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 attempted to restrict that expansion and alienated many American colonists. In the years after the French and Indian War, Britain's strategies to keep its Native American alliances sometimes backfired, as discussed in this article "The History of the Stamp Act Shows How Indians Led to the American Revolution." The outbreak of the American Revolution had great consequences for American Indians. Many saw the Revolution as a contest for Indigenous lands as well as for liberty. Some groups, such as the Cherokee warriors, defied their elders and attacked frontier settlements all along the southern frontier. The Cherokees took the offensive against the Americans early, only to be defeated by Patriot soldiers from the southern colonies. Many other tribal groups attempted to remain neutral. In the Ohio Valley, the Shawnees, led by Cornplanter, and the Delawares, led by White Eyes, worked hard to steer a course between the combatants. But hatred of Indigenous people among western colonists and hunters soon destroyed that peace. American militia killed White Eyes of the Delawares in 1778, and others slaughtered unarmed, converted, Moravian Indians at Gnadenhutten, Ohio, in 1782. The Ohio Valley tribes allied themselves with the British after these attacks. Many other Native Americans sided with the British in the hopes that a British victory would stem the flood of western expansion. The Iroquois Confederacy split. Joseph Brant, a well-educated Mohawk and a Free Mason, along with his sister Mary Brant, led his people away from a policy of neutrality and into an alliance with the British. The Stockbridge band of the Mohican tribe, however, joined their western Massachusetts neighbors, volunteering as minutemen even before fighting broke out. The Revolution resulted in the creation of the new republic but also a new reality for Indigenous Americans. When Great Britain handed over all of its territory east of the Mississippi and south of the Great Lakes to the United States at the Peace of Paris in 1783 without consulting their Indigenous allies, the Native Americans living in those lands found themselves under severe pressure from speculators and migrants interested in expanding the territory of their new nation either by treaty or by force. As a word of caution, teachers should make students aware of the issues involved in using primary sources of Native American speeches. These valuable but rare primary sources were usually transcribed by Europeans, and the documents often reflect European ideas of Native American speech. You might consider the following sources for further background on these events and best practices for teaching Indigenous perspectives.
Content Standards NCSS.D1.1.9-12. Explain how a question reflects an enduring issue in the field. NCSS.D1.4.9-12. Explain how supporting questions contribute to an inquiry and how, through engaging source work, new compelling and supporting questions emerge. NCSS.D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts. NCSS.D2.His.2.9-12. Analyze change and continuity in historical eras. NCSS.D2.His.3.9-12. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context. NCSS.D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras. NCSS.D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives. NCSS.D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past. NCSS.D2.His.15.9-12. Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument. NCSS.D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past. Preparation If students have not studied the Seven Years' War prior to this lesson, it will be helpful to review the role of Native Americans in that conflict. It will also be helpful if students have an understanding of the way European control of the land changed after that war. The British received all the French lands in Canada (except two small offshore islands) and all the French lands east of the Mississippi River. Spain took over Louisiana. Consider these resources for background as well as some primary voices that can be used in a more extensive review lesson of the Seven Years War:
Students will also benefit from a geographical awareness when considering interactions among different groups of colonists and indigenous peoples. You might consider using this Map of Native American Tribes in 1783 from Mapping History. The page also provides other resources you might find helpful. Lesson Activities Activity 1.Begin with the Journals of the Continental Congress, Speech to the Six Nations, July 13, 1775. This document is a request made by the Americans to the Iroquois, asking for their neutrality. It is interesting that in this document, while the Americans are officially asking the Native Americans to stay out of the conflict, they dedicate a great deal of the speech to making their case for independence. The symbolism of the "family quarrel" is repeated throughout many of the documents. The language, including the idea of a "covenant chain" and addressing the Iroquois as "brothers," is significant. You may choose to introduce a section of the text without date or context to prompt inquiry. Consider the following passage:
While reading or during discussion, students might consider the following questions:
Working in small groups or as a whole class, read and analyze the full text. This can provide a model for analysis as well as help in framing some of the questions different indigenous groups might have entertained. Ask students to speculate on the following:
Activity 2.Invite students to analyze several sources that document decisions made by Indigenous people to side with the British, ally with the Americans, or remain neutral. Students might complete this activity working in small groups, with each group investigating one or two documents, then come together as a whole class to compare findings. To support your students in this work, consider using Document Analysis Worksheets from the National Archives Educator Resources. The following documents offer a range of Native perspectives. Remind students that these primary sources were usually transcribed by Europeans, and the documents often reflect European ideas of Native American speech.
As a whole group or in smaller groups, review with the students their annotations and develop a Venn Diagram of key arguments for choosing sides.
As part of the discussion of these documents, help students to analyze and evaluate. The following questions might be used to guide this aspect of the discussion:
Assessment To demonstrate their understanding of the context surrounding the alliance decisions made by Indigenous peoples during the Revolutionary War, invite students to use the primary documents and their Venn diagrams to address the following questions:
Students should also be encouraged to consider what questions these documents do not answer. What information or perspectives are missing that would present a fuller understanding of these events? Lesson Extensions What happened to these Native American allies after the American Revolution? Students could explore the post-revolutionary experiences of the different Native American tribes in the United States and Canada. How did their experiences differ from what the treaties signed with the new United States had promised? What factors (i.e. location/geography, tribal leadership, their Revolutionary allegiances, relationships between the various Native American tribes) played a role in the post-Revolutionary experience of the different Native Americans? Students could take their research one-step further: where are those Native American groups today? See the U.S. Census Bureau's American Indians and Alaska Natives Map. The Continental Congress was quite involved in Native American affairs during the War. The Library of Congress offers classroom materials on the Home Front during the Revolutionary War with several documents and discussion. Why did the Native American tribes side with the British in the Revolutionary War?Choosing Sides
Many nations had come to see the British Crown as a protector and ally on whom they could rely. Most importantly, these nations knew that an American victory would expose their territories to encroachment by soldiers and settlers.
What was the main reason that caused conflicts between British colonists and Native American tribes?They hoped to transform the tribes people into civilized Christians through their daily contacts. The Native Americans resented and resisted the colonists' attempts to change them. Their refusal to conform to European culture angered the colonists and hostilities soon broke out between the two groups.
Did the Native Americans that allied with the British during the War of 1812 benefit from the war?For Native Americans who had allied with the British, the outcome of the war was devastating to their land and political autonomy.
What was the relationship between Great Britain and its Native American allies?While Native Americans and English settlers in the New England territories first attempted a mutual relationship based on trade and a shared dedication to spirituality, soon disease and other conflicts led to a deteriorated relationship and, eventually, the First Indian War.
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