Tilda Sutter

Notecards

Natives Americans in The Revolutionary War

Source:

“The Native American’s Role in the Revolution: Choosing Sides.” EDSITEment , edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/native-americans-role-american-revolution-choosing-sides. Accessed 1 Nov. 2016.

Quote:

“‘We desire you will hear and receive what we have now told you, and that you will open a good ear and listen to what we are now going to say. This is a family quarrel between us and Old England. You Indians are not concerned in it. We don’t wish you to take up the hatchet against the king’s troops. We desire you to remain at home, and not join on either side, but keep the hatchet buried deep.’  —The Second Continental Congress,  Speech to the Six Nations, July 13, 1775 “

Paraphrase:

– The Congress spoke to Natives about the war

– They didn’t want the Natives to be involved in the war

– They thought the Natives weren’t part of the war

– They wanted the Natives to stay neutral

My Ideas:

America tried to convince the Natives to not fight in the war. That was a very smart move, because if they sided with the English the Patriots would have had a major disadvantage. The Native-Americans had been fighting with the Americans for hundreds of years, so they knew their battle tactics and how to defeat them. And unlike the English, the Natives knew their way around America, which would mean they could run sneak attacks. The Natives might have been the most powerful group the English needed to win the war. 

Throughout the rest of the article, the author mentions that some Natives actually did take sides. England did it’s best to recruit as many Natives as they could, and I can infer that is why the Congress made that speech. I think Natives sided with the English because they didn’t want America to take all of their lands like they were doing at the time. They were also always fighting with the Americans, so siding with them would be a lot harder. I also think that some might of sided with America because England originally was the ones to start of taking their land. Maybe they thought with a new country, they could have a new start and get the land back. 

I wonder how they people in power persuaded Native-Americans to join their team? I can infer like how they were doing with the slaves, America promised them something. They probably promised them land. But I can also infer they spent more of their time trying to convince them not to fight, because if they sided with English they would have an advantage. I think England must have used the common hate for Americans the Natives and they shared to convince them to fight with them. 

I wonder how the Natives that fought in the war interacted with the slaves and white colonists? I think that slaves and Native-Americans never really encountered each other because the slaves were mostly kept to the work on where they lived. Because America was always fighting with the Natives, I can infer fights might of broke out between the two groups.

I think the Natives at the time were kind of like the Swing States in our current election. If the colonists and England were both running to see who could run America, they needed the Natives to win. But instead of votes the runners needed, they needed fighters. While England was trying to convince all of the natives to fight or vote, America was trying to convince all of the natives to not fight or vote. Like in this current election, the Natives or swing states were crucial for one of the two sides to win. The Natives knew how to fight because they had been doing it in America for hundreds of years which made them so important. 

All of the above must have been a way the Natives protested. From my research, I am aware that most Native tribes never really resisted against what the leader said. By choosing sides, they areihj protesting against the Americans telling them not too. If they chose loyalist, they are protesting against the people that live on their and. If they chose patriot, they are protesting against not only England, but other parts of America that are telling them not to fight. 

History:

Created: 11/01/2016 10:23 AM