The War of 1812
1
Last week
• Euro-American claims of sovereignty based on
right of discovery, right of conquest, and
treaties
• American policy of civilizing the Indians
• Ideal of the Agrarian Republic
2
Shifting boundaries
Before and after the Treaties of Greenville (1795) and Fort Wayne (1809)
TECUMSEH, a Shawnee
PBS.org: We Shall Remain
3
Tecumseh and Harrison, c. 1810
Exaggerated late 19th century engraving of Harrison’s meeting with Tecumseh.
New York Public Library.
4
Tenskwatawa (Shawnee Prophet &
brother of Tecumseh)
Portrait by Henry Inman after Charles Bird King, c. 1830-1833, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian
5
Tippecanoe =
Prophetstown
6
“The only way to stop this evil [white settlement of
the Indians’ land] is for all the red men to unite in
claiming a common and equal right in the land as it
was at first, and should be now – for it never was
divided, but belongs to all…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?”
--Tecumseh (1810)
7
Competing strategies
• Nativist
• Accommodationist
8
9
Consequences of the War
• U.S. agreed to leave Canada to the British
• British agreed to stop supporting Indians
within the U.S.
American geographic expansion
Cession of Indian lands
10
Upper Creeks:
Embraced Tecumseh’s
Idea of resistence
Lower Creeks:
Embraced ‘civilization’
program
Maps ETC, Florida Center for Instructional Technology
11
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/national_parks/horseshoe_bend_cessions.jpg
12
After the War of 1812 and
the Creek War of 1813
• Native Americans could not rely on foreign
support
• America expanded west of the Mississippi
• Adherence to ‘Civilization’ program did not
end conflict
13
Norton Anthology of American Literature, 8th ed.
14
midterm exam- 7 November
• Definitions: briefly define 2 out of 3 terms (4
pts)
• Identification: identify the author of the
passage and briefly explain its context (2 pts)
Commentary: read a document and analyze it
(14 pts)
15
Your commentary should include:
• A first paragraph that situates the document in its
historical context and introduces your analysis;
• At least two paragraphs in which you analyze the
document, i.e. identify the main points, explain
any important terms or concepts, analyze the
author (or speaker’s) assumptions, goals,
strategies, etc.
• A conclusion that explains the significance of this
document for our understanding of Native
American history.
16
• Why did Tecumseh want to fight the
Americans?
• How did Pushmataha view the Americans?
17