Post by Harley Scarow on Jan 19, 2009 18:04:44 GMT -5
I. Overview. In the 17th and 18th centuries, England established thirteen colonies along the
eastern seaboard in North America (as well as colonies in the Caribbean and elsewhere).
This brought the English into contact with a wide array of Native American peoples, and
entailed a wide array of interactions. The Five Nations (later Six Nations) of the Iroquois
League (the Haudenosaunee) forged an economic and diplomatic alliance with the colonists
while maintaining their independence from English political control until the American
Revolution. (The Iroquois League will be discussed in Outline #6.) Sometimes Indian
nations and individuals came under the newcomers' political and cultural sway, while some
colonists were absorbed into Native American communities. Other times, Indian nations
like the Pequots found themselves decimated in wars fought against the English and/or
tribes allied with the English.
Often, Indian-English conflicts revolved over land. Many of the English colonies were
primarily agricultural, and a large number of Europeans settled in the English colonies.
Unlike the French and Spanish, the English colonists tended to be, at least over the long run,
much more interested in Indian lands than Indian labor, although there were those who
advocated the assimilation of Native Americans into English colonial society.
II. Document Exercise. Please break up into small groups of three-to-five people. Each
group member will receive at least one document on Indian-French relations. Most of the
documents are primary sources--that is, they were produced by those who witnessed the
historical event(s) being described. Each group member will read her/his document and
discuss it in order to answer as many of the questions below as possible. Eventually, we
will discuss the documents as a class.
III. Documents/Background/Questions.
A. Pequot Indians
1. Document: "Pequot Indians and the Pequot War, 1636-1638."
2. Background. The Pequot War pitted Puritan colonists from England and
their Indian allies against the Pequot Indians, a Native nation that lived in
southern New England (in parts of what are today Rhode Island,
Connecticut, and Long Island). The Pequots enjoyed power and
influence partly because of their control of wampum, belts made from
seashells that Iroquoian and Algonquian Indians prized. The Pequot War
nearly wiped out the Pequots.
3. Questions. What happened to the Pequot Indians' major village during
the Pequot War (1636-38)? What caused the war? Why do you think
that the English used such violent and destructive tactics? (Note that among both Europeans and New England Indians there were traditions
which sought to limit the destructiveness of warfare by stipulating that
non-combatants (especially women and children) were not to be
attacked.)
B. Narragansett Indians
1. Document: “Narragansett Chief Miantonomi Tries to Form an Alliance
Against Settlers in New England and Long Island, 1640s” (1642)
2. Document: "Narragansett Indians: Act of Submission" (1644)
3. Background. In the 1630s, the Narragansetts allied themselves with the
Puritan colonists militarily and economically. However, Narragansett leader
Miantonomi and others were increasingly unhappy with their English
neighbors by the 1640s and tried unsuccessfully to form an inter-tribal
alliance to fight against the Europeans. Two years later, in 1644, the
Narragansetts officially placed themselves under the political jurisdiction of
England. The tribe eventually came to fight against the colonists in King
Philip's War of 1675-1676, a conflict that devastated the Narragansetts and
other tribes in the region. Traditional Narragansett lands included what
became Rhode Island.
4. Questions. Why did Miantonomi want to drive out the English settlers?
Why did the Narragansetts place themselves under the political authority of
the English, given Miantonomi’s objections? What might be the advantages
and disadvantages of such an arrangement? Why do you think the
Narragansett document refers to submitting to the authority of England,
rather than one or more of the English colonies in North America?
C. Abenaki Indians
1. Document/Background. "The Casco Bay Treaty." This was a treaty
negotiated in 1727 between several Abenaki bands and the English in what is
today Maine. This document was an Abenaki participant's account of the
negotiations that led to the treaty.
2. Document/Background. "The Abenakis Defy the English." Abenaki
leader Atiwaneto addressed representatives of the English colonies in 1752.
Abenaki territory is now part of modern-day Quebec and Maine (where at
least some Abenakis continue to live on reservation lands).
3. What was the purpose of the Casco Bay Treaty? What did the English
negotiators want to accomplish? What did the Abenaki want to accomplish?
What criticisms of the treaty did the Abenaki offer? What might be some of
the other reasons that Native American tribes and English colonies negotiated and signed treaties (such as at Casco Bay)? What does the
existence of such treaties suggest about how the English viewed Native
Americans and how Indians viewed the English?
D. Wampanoag Indians
1. Document/Background. "An Indian Woman Bequeaths Her Property."
Naomai Omaush was a Wampanoag Indian. This document was her 1749
will.
2. Background. ”AQUINNAH WAMPANOAG: History and Culture.”
This is a very brief summary of the pre-contact history and culture of the
Wampanoags from their tribal website.
3. Where did the Wampanoags live in pre-contact times? How long have
they been there? What were some of their main economic activities? What
do the documents suggest about how the English presence may have
changed the material and non-material culture of at least some
Wampanoags? (Remember that material culture refers to physical objects;
non-material culture refers to beliefs, values, ideas, etc.).
E. “White Indians”
1. Document/Background. Mary Jemison, "A Narrative of Her Life." Mary
Jemison was a fifteen-year-old English colonist captured by Indians in 1758
during the Seven Years' War (1754-1763). She was adopted into and
became a member of the Seneca Indian Nation of New York. Her co-written
autobiography was published in 1824.
2. Questions. Why did a Seneca family adopt Mary Jemison? What
function did the adoption of captives serve? And what did the practice of
adopting captives suggest was necessary to be a member of the Seneca
Nation? What might have happened to Jemison if she had not been adopted?
What did Jemison say about the Senecas? What roles did Jemison play as a
Seneca woman? Did she support efforts to "civilize" (assimilate) the
Senecas? Why?
IV. Sources. All the documents, unless otherwise noted, are taken from Colin G. Calloway
(ed.), The World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America (Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 1994).
eastern seaboard in North America (as well as colonies in the Caribbean and elsewhere).
This brought the English into contact with a wide array of Native American peoples, and
entailed a wide array of interactions. The Five Nations (later Six Nations) of the Iroquois
League (the Haudenosaunee) forged an economic and diplomatic alliance with the colonists
while maintaining their independence from English political control until the American
Revolution. (The Iroquois League will be discussed in Outline #6.) Sometimes Indian
nations and individuals came under the newcomers' political and cultural sway, while some
colonists were absorbed into Native American communities. Other times, Indian nations
like the Pequots found themselves decimated in wars fought against the English and/or
tribes allied with the English.
Often, Indian-English conflicts revolved over land. Many of the English colonies were
primarily agricultural, and a large number of Europeans settled in the English colonies.
Unlike the French and Spanish, the English colonists tended to be, at least over the long run,
much more interested in Indian lands than Indian labor, although there were those who
advocated the assimilation of Native Americans into English colonial society.
II. Document Exercise. Please break up into small groups of three-to-five people. Each
group member will receive at least one document on Indian-French relations. Most of the
documents are primary sources--that is, they were produced by those who witnessed the
historical event(s) being described. Each group member will read her/his document and
discuss it in order to answer as many of the questions below as possible. Eventually, we
will discuss the documents as a class.
III. Documents/Background/Questions.
A. Pequot Indians
1. Document: "Pequot Indians and the Pequot War, 1636-1638."
2. Background. The Pequot War pitted Puritan colonists from England and
their Indian allies against the Pequot Indians, a Native nation that lived in
southern New England (in parts of what are today Rhode Island,
Connecticut, and Long Island). The Pequots enjoyed power and
influence partly because of their control of wampum, belts made from
seashells that Iroquoian and Algonquian Indians prized. The Pequot War
nearly wiped out the Pequots.
3. Questions. What happened to the Pequot Indians' major village during
the Pequot War (1636-38)? What caused the war? Why do you think
that the English used such violent and destructive tactics? (Note that among both Europeans and New England Indians there were traditions
which sought to limit the destructiveness of warfare by stipulating that
non-combatants (especially women and children) were not to be
attacked.)
B. Narragansett Indians
1. Document: “Narragansett Chief Miantonomi Tries to Form an Alliance
Against Settlers in New England and Long Island, 1640s” (1642)
2. Document: "Narragansett Indians: Act of Submission" (1644)
3. Background. In the 1630s, the Narragansetts allied themselves with the
Puritan colonists militarily and economically. However, Narragansett leader
Miantonomi and others were increasingly unhappy with their English
neighbors by the 1640s and tried unsuccessfully to form an inter-tribal
alliance to fight against the Europeans. Two years later, in 1644, the
Narragansetts officially placed themselves under the political jurisdiction of
England. The tribe eventually came to fight against the colonists in King
Philip's War of 1675-1676, a conflict that devastated the Narragansetts and
other tribes in the region. Traditional Narragansett lands included what
became Rhode Island.
4. Questions. Why did Miantonomi want to drive out the English settlers?
Why did the Narragansetts place themselves under the political authority of
the English, given Miantonomi’s objections? What might be the advantages
and disadvantages of such an arrangement? Why do you think the
Narragansett document refers to submitting to the authority of England,
rather than one or more of the English colonies in North America?
C. Abenaki Indians
1. Document/Background. "The Casco Bay Treaty." This was a treaty
negotiated in 1727 between several Abenaki bands and the English in what is
today Maine. This document was an Abenaki participant's account of the
negotiations that led to the treaty.
2. Document/Background. "The Abenakis Defy the English." Abenaki
leader Atiwaneto addressed representatives of the English colonies in 1752.
Abenaki territory is now part of modern-day Quebec and Maine (where at
least some Abenakis continue to live on reservation lands).
3. What was the purpose of the Casco Bay Treaty? What did the English
negotiators want to accomplish? What did the Abenaki want to accomplish?
What criticisms of the treaty did the Abenaki offer? What might be some of
the other reasons that Native American tribes and English colonies negotiated and signed treaties (such as at Casco Bay)? What does the
existence of such treaties suggest about how the English viewed Native
Americans and how Indians viewed the English?
D. Wampanoag Indians
1. Document/Background. "An Indian Woman Bequeaths Her Property."
Naomai Omaush was a Wampanoag Indian. This document was her 1749
will.
2. Background. ”AQUINNAH WAMPANOAG: History and Culture.”
This is a very brief summary of the pre-contact history and culture of the
Wampanoags from their tribal website.
3. Where did the Wampanoags live in pre-contact times? How long have
they been there? What were some of their main economic activities? What
do the documents suggest about how the English presence may have
changed the material and non-material culture of at least some
Wampanoags? (Remember that material culture refers to physical objects;
non-material culture refers to beliefs, values, ideas, etc.).
E. “White Indians”
1. Document/Background. Mary Jemison, "A Narrative of Her Life." Mary
Jemison was a fifteen-year-old English colonist captured by Indians in 1758
during the Seven Years' War (1754-1763). She was adopted into and
became a member of the Seneca Indian Nation of New York. Her co-written
autobiography was published in 1824.
2. Questions. Why did a Seneca family adopt Mary Jemison? What
function did the adoption of captives serve? And what did the practice of
adopting captives suggest was necessary to be a member of the Seneca
Nation? What might have happened to Jemison if she had not been adopted?
What did Jemison say about the Senecas? What roles did Jemison play as a
Seneca woman? Did she support efforts to "civilize" (assimilate) the
Senecas? Why?
IV. Sources. All the documents, unless otherwise noted, are taken from Colin G. Calloway
(ed.), The World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America (Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 1994).