"James Grant, the first governor of the British province of East Florida, arrived at St. Augustin... more "James Grant, the first governor of the British province of East Florida, arrived at St. Augustine in 1763 with a determination to prioritize Indian diplomacy. To this end, Grant devised what he called a “new system” for the management of Indian affairs. This “new system,” actually relied on traditions of gift exchange and reciprocity long used by Southeastern Indians, which Grant learned while serving in the Anglo-Cherokee War of 1760-1761. However, it was innovative in the sense that it represented a commitment by a member of the British colonial establishment to engage, understand, and employ Native diplomatic practice in his administration. Grant served as an anomaly during an era in which most imperial officials attempted to scale back their engagement with Native diplomatic practice, initiating an ultimately futile effort to impose their will upon Native peoples from the Great Lakes to Georgia. His policies outline a separate path which British colonial administration may have taken during the contentious era leading up the American Revolution."
Between the late 1760s and the early 1780s, dozens of Creek Indians made the journey to Havana, f... more Between the late 1760s and the early 1780s, dozens of Creek Indians made the journey to Havana, ferried by Cuban fishing boats along the Gulf Coast of Florida. Creeks and Spanish Cubans traveled into the coastal and marine regions between Havana and the Florida Gulf Coast as it suited them; both took advantage of the space to negotiate and participate in exchanges with one another. For Creeks, the region served as an economic and diplomatic safety valve. In the midst of conflict with Anglo Americans, Creeks hoped that Florida would provide them with new avenues into Atlantic diplomatic and exchange networks. For Cubans, and the Spanish Empire as a whole, an alliance with the Creeks represented a means of reestablishing Spanish influence in Florida and of pushing back against an expansionistic British Empire in the wake of the Seven Years’ War. Though Spaniards and Creeks found the Florida Gulf Coast and its waters eminently useful, neither established full control over this maritime space. Though neither group would have framed it in these terms, Creek-Cuban contacts converted the Gulf of Mexico into a maritime borderland.
"James Grant, the first governor of the British province of East Florida, arrived at St. Augustin... more "James Grant, the first governor of the British province of East Florida, arrived at St. Augustine in 1763 with a determination to prioritize Indian diplomacy. To this end, Grant devised what he called a “new system” for the management of Indian affairs. This “new system,” actually relied on traditions of gift exchange and reciprocity long used by Southeastern Indians, which Grant learned while serving in the Anglo-Cherokee War of 1760-1761. However, it was innovative in the sense that it represented a commitment by a member of the British colonial establishment to engage, understand, and employ Native diplomatic practice in his administration. Grant served as an anomaly during an era in which most imperial officials attempted to scale back their engagement with Native diplomatic practice, initiating an ultimately futile effort to impose their will upon Native peoples from the Great Lakes to Georgia. His policies outline a separate path which British colonial administration may have taken during the contentious era leading up the American Revolution."
Between the late 1760s and the early 1780s, dozens of Creek Indians made the journey to Havana, f... more Between the late 1760s and the early 1780s, dozens of Creek Indians made the journey to Havana, ferried by Cuban fishing boats along the Gulf Coast of Florida. Creeks and Spanish Cubans traveled into the coastal and marine regions between Havana and the Florida Gulf Coast as it suited them; both took advantage of the space to negotiate and participate in exchanges with one another. For Creeks, the region served as an economic and diplomatic safety valve. In the midst of conflict with Anglo Americans, Creeks hoped that Florida would provide them with new avenues into Atlantic diplomatic and exchange networks. For Cubans, and the Spanish Empire as a whole, an alliance with the Creeks represented a means of reestablishing Spanish influence in Florida and of pushing back against an expansionistic British Empire in the wake of the Seven Years’ War. Though Spaniards and Creeks found the Florida Gulf Coast and its waters eminently useful, neither established full control over this maritime space. Though neither group would have framed it in these terms, Creek-Cuban contacts converted the Gulf of Mexico into a maritime borderland.
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Articles by James L. Hill