Dominance of the Ohio Valley Region Essay

This very interesting and well written book is a successful effort to recover an unanachronistic view of interactions between native peoples and Europeans in the American Great Lakes region between the mid-17th century and the end of the War of 1812. White deals extensively with events usually described in terms of European conquest of native peoples or French-British imperial rivalry but White's perspective is both novel and insightful. The Middle Ground that White describes in not a geographic locale but a metaphor for an interesting type of cultural interaction and accommodation. In the mid-17th century, the powerful Iroquois confederation had fragemented many other tribal groupings and driven their remnants westwards. Some of these groups

The subject of this chapter summary will be the eighteenth chapter of Alan Taylor’s American Colonies. The chapter is called “The Great Plains” and discusses the history of that geographical region from 1680-1800. Taylor begins by explaining how warfare both sustained and weakened New Mexico. It maintained unity, because without an external enemy to focus on, the Pueblo people would rise up in revolt against Mexico. However, the constant warfare discouraged any new settlers from putting down roots there. Spain's holdings in North America were weakened by the foreign policy of the motherland, which focused on the colonial core of the territory, not the exterior regions. For Mexico, New Mexico was just a buffer zone between itself and other

“.... a man of steel pounded between a British hammer and a French anvil.” A statement made once spoken by a man named Frank Waters. Waters was speaking of a man named Pontiac, who was the leader of the Native American uprising against the British. This war was known as many things including Pontiac’s Uprising, Pontiac’s Conspiracy, Pontiac’s War and Pontiac’s Rebellion. Pontiac is the man who revolutionized the way Native Americans and English settlers interacted with one another.

Before the Europeans came to Canada, Natives had their own culture, traditions and norms. These differences were obvious to the Europeans who sailed to Canada, their interactions with the Native peoples proved these vast differences. One major difference noted was that the Iroquois organized their societies on different lines than did the patrilineal western Europeans. Iroquois women “by virtue of her functions as wife and mother, exercised an influence but little short of despotic, not only in the wigwam but also around the council fire.” “She indeed possessed and exercised all civil and political power and authority. The country, the land, the fields with their harvests and fruits belonged to her … her plans and wishes modeled the policy and inspired the decisions of council.” The Europeans were astounded by this way of life.

There are many ways in which we can view the history of the American West. One view is the popular story of Cowboys and Indians. It is a grand story filled with adventure, excitement and gold. Another perspective is one of the Native Plains Indians and the rich histories that spanned thousands of years before white discovery and settlement. Elliot West’s book, Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers and the Rush to Colorado, offers a view into both of these worlds. West shows how the histories of both nations intertwine, relate and clash all while dealing with complex geological and environmental challenges. West argues that an understanding of the settling of the Great Plains must come from a deeper understanding, a more thorough

Pontiac’s War was the result of the dissatisfaction of North American Tribes from the Great Lakes region, Ohio Country, and the Illinois Country with British policies following the French and Indian War. Beginning with the siege of Fort Detroit, smaller forts along were overtaken, Fort Michilimackinac overwhelmed and conquered, and Fort Pitt besieged. This event was a continuation of conflict between Indians and Europeans since the establishment of the first European colonies on North America. European involvement in Indian warfare such as the conflict between the Algonquins and Iroquois contributed to the change in style of warfare fought by the Indians as guns were exposed to these native people used to a Neolithic way of life where like

During the late 1750’s the struggle for control over the lands in the Ohio Country erupted into war on the soils of North America. Following King George’s War, the French Empire attempted to regain a foothold in the region. Believing the Ohio Country was the ideal location. The British government, well aware of the value the area held, essentially snatched the land out from under the feet of the French. Unknowingly setting the groundwork for years of conflict between all involved.

The French and Indian War lasted from 1756 until 1763 and was a conflict between France (who was allied with many Native American groups; hence the title of the war) and Great Britain. While the French and Indian war began in 1774, the rivalry between France and Great Britain dates back to circa 1202. Between those two dates (approximately 572 years) the two countries were at war for a sum total of roughly 181 years, which means that the two superpowers were at war we each other for almost 1/3 of that time period. That having been said, when France 's expansion into the Ohio River region led to possible conflicts with British colonies, the British had no reservations when calling a declaration of war on France.

Throughout the course of history there have been numerous accounts regarding Native American and European interaction. From first contact to Indian removal, the interaction was somewhat of a roller coaster ride, leading from times of peace to mini wars and rebellions staged by the Native American tribes. The first part of this essay will briefly discuss the pre-Columbian Indian civilizations in North America and provide simple awareness of their cultures, while the second part of this essay will explore all major Native American contact leading up to, and through, the American Revolution while emphasizing the impact of Spanish, French, and English explorers and colonies on Native American culture and vice versa. The third, and final, part of this essay will explore Native American interaction after the American Revolution with emphasis on westward expansion and the Jacksonian Era leading into Indian removal. Furthermore, this essay will attempt to provide insight into aspects of Native American/European interaction that are often ignored such as: gender relations between European men and Native American women, slavery and captivity of native peoples, trade between Native Americans and European colonists, and the effects of religion on Native American tribes.

When war was declared in seventeen hundred fifty six, a bonus was offered by the governor of Pennsylvania for Indian scalps. Not much came of it at that time but when the Pontiac War began in seventeen hundred sixty three, a letter written by John Elder, a Presbyterian minister “found that his neighborhood had no appetite for fighting Indians”. (163) The scalp bounty was increased and it brought a flood of

The French and Indian wars is the general name for a series of wars and conflicts between Great Britain and France during a period of 75 years. The fought over the possession of North America for territorial expansion in general, and for the rich fur trade around the Hudson Bay region specifically.

The relationship between the English and the Native Americans in 1600 to 1700 is one of the most fluctuating and the most profound relationships in American history. On the one side of the picture, the harmony between Wampanoag and Puritans even inspires them to celebrate “first Thanksgiving”; while, by contrast, the conflicts between the Pequots and the English urge them to antagonize each other, and even wage a war. In addition, the mystery of why the European settlers, including English, become the dominant power in American world, instead of the indigenous people, or Indians, can be solved from the examination of the relationship. In a variety of ways, the relationship drastically alters how people think about and relate to the aborigines. Politically, the relationship changes to establish the supremacy of the English; the English intends to obtain the land and rules over it. Socially, the relationship changes to present the majority of the English settlers; the dominating population is mostly the English settlers. Economically, the relationship changes to obtain the benefit of the English settlers; they gain profit from the massive resource in America. Therefore, the relationship does, in fact, change to foreshadow the discordance of the two groups of people.

In July 1758, the British won their first major victory at Louisbourg, near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. Within a month, they took Fort Frontenac at the western end of the river. Then they arrived at Quebec, where General James Wolfe won another important victory in the Plains of Abraham in September 1759. However, both he and the French commander, the Marquis de Montcalm, died soon after the battle. When the British captured Montreal in September 1760, the French lost their last foothold in Canada. Soon, Spain decided to help France fight against England, and throughout the rest of the war Britain focused on capturing French and Spanish territories in other places throughout the world. The cost of funding the war was so massive that the ensuing debt nearly destroyed the British government. This debt caused most of the grievances between the British and the colonists, eventually leading to the Revolutionary War.

In the excerpt taken from Pontiac, Speeches the author makes it known that the Indians were not backing down from the Englishmen because they were before the Englishmen and their ancestors had passed down the land to them. . (Foner, 2011) The

Chapter 7 of Alan Taylor’s American Revolutions begins by describing the tense state of affairs between American Patriots and Native Indians in 1775. Both sides feared the other and were determined not to let their enemy defeat them. The Patriots were angry with the British for seeking alliance with the Indians, compromising their “racial solidarity”, in order to gain a military advantage. The Natives believed that American independence would be the catalyst for their downfall into slavery and landlessness. The author moves on to say that this was not the case with all tribes. For example, weak bands of Indians in the Carolinas allied with Patriots and fought in their army in hopes for protection after the war. However, the reality was that