American Biography - Tecumseh (1768? – 1813)
Tecumseh was born in the Shawnee village of Piqua
near present-day Springfield, Ohio. As a young man it
is believed that he took part in attacks on settlers who
were moving into Shawnee territory. He certainly
moved around the country on various hunting trips.
Throughout the second half of the 1790s, the
Americans increased their control over Amerindian
lands on the western frontier. After the Amerindian
defeat at the battle of Fallen Timbers (1794), twelve
tribes surrendered large amounts of land to the
Americans in the Treaty of Grenville. This treaty also
set a definite boundary between the lands available to
settlers and lands that belonged to the Amerindians.
At the same time, in Europe, the Americans and the
British signed Jay’s Treaty in which the British agreed
to withdraw from their forts in the North West
Territories. This meant that the British had given
control of more Amerindian territories to the
Americans.
Despite the restrictions of the Treaty of
Grenville, the Americans began to make treaties with
other tribes in order to gain control over more of the
West. Many Amerindians, including Tecumseh,
became very alarmed by these developments. Tecumseh’s attitude was reflected in his
response to an American officer who asked him to sell his people’s lands. “The way, the only
way, to stop this evil (giving up land) is for all the red men to unite in claiming a common
and equal right in the land, as it was first, and should be now – for it never was divided but
belonged to all. No tribe has a right to sell, even to each other, much less to strangers, who
demand all, and will take no less…Sell a country! Why not sell the air, the clouds, and the
great sea, as well as the earth? Did not the Great Spirit make them all for the use of his
children?”
In 1809, W.H. Harrison, Governor of the Indiana Territory, made a treaty with
several tribes who lived in the Wabash Valley. They agreed to surrender nearly one and a
half million hectares of land. The other tribes realized that something had to be done or they
would lose all their territory east of the Mississippi.
Tecumseh and his brother, Tenskwatawa, who was called “The Prophet”, traveled
across the frontier lands east of the Mississippi. Tecumseh appealed to the Amerindian sense
of unity and provided political leadership while his brother, a holyman, spoke to their
religious beliefs. Together, they created a confederation of the tribes with agreement not to
surrender any more land, no matter what bribes were offered. In councils with Governor
Harrison, Tecumseh promised that all the tribes would remain at peace if the recently
acquired lands were given back and if no further land purchases were made without the
consent of all the tribes. Harrison refused these terms.
By 1811, settlers on the frontier were frightened; they were fearful of Tecumseh’s
confederation. In the summer Tecumseh traveled to the south to persuade the Creeks to join
the confederation. He warned his brother not to attack the Americans in his absence. In
response to the settlers’ fears, Harrison took an army of 1000 to Prophet Town on the
banks of the Wabash near the mouth of Tippecanoe Creek. He provoked “The Prophet” to
fight; the Amerindians would not. He pushed them back and destroyed Prophet Town. The
battle at Tippecanoe marked the beginning of a long and savage war between the
Americans and Amerindians of the region. It also destroyed Tecumseh’s confederation, and
advanced Harrison’s political career.
The Americans believed that
The Battle of Tippecanoe.
the British were helping the
Amerindians in their fight against
American control. Part of President
Madison’s “War Message to Congress”,
in which he asked Congress to declare
war on Britain, stated this belief: “In
reviewing the conduct of Great Britain
toward the United States our attention
is necessarily drawn to the warfare
just renewed by the savages on one of
our extensive frontiers – a warfare
which is known to spare neither age
nor sex and to be distinguished by
features peculiarly shocking to
humanity. It is difficult to account for
the activity and combinations which
have for some time been developing themselves among tribes in constant intercourse with
British traders and garrisons without connecting their hostility with influence…”
Underlying Madison’s words was the assumption that the tribes would not have
undertaken “the activity and combinations” (the confederation) on their own. This
assumption reflected the widespread racial bigotry toward the Amerindians. Despite
Madison’s statement, Tecumseh and his brother had accomplished the confederation of
Amerindian tribes without British assistance. Nor did they need the British to tell them that
they were being forced out of their homeland. Nor did Madison mention that the
Amerindians, regardless of age or sex, were also losing lives.
When the war of 1812 broke out, Tecumseh remained neutral. However, after the
British took the island of Michilimackinac, Tecumseh decided to join forces with them. He
was commissioned a brigadier general in the British army. Certainly his presence and that of
his Amerindian followers helped General Isaac Brock to persuade the Americans to surrender
at Detroit.
After an American naval victory the following year, the British troops retreated from
Detroit. The Americans pursued them and in a battle on the shores of the Thames River
(near present day London, Ontario), the British and the Amerindian allies were defeated.
Tecumseh was killed. With Tecumseh’s death, died the dream of an Amerindian
confederation. Tecumseh had been an eloquent and brilliant political leader. His life
represented the efforts of all native peoples to maintain their traditional way of life in their
traditional lands.
Questions for thought:
1) How close did Tecumseh come to turning his vision into a reality?
2) Describe Tecumseh’s influence on relations between Native Americans and the
American government.
3) What values did Tecumseh and his brother, The Prophet represent?
4) Did Tecumseh’s plan to halt the westward movement of settlers work? Why?