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    North American Indian Wars
    North American Indian Wars
    North American Indian Wars
    Ebook148 pages51 minutes

    North American Indian Wars

    By Liam McCann

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    About this ebook

    Now that we are re-assessing the devasting effect of aggressive and predatory European colonialism, particularly by Britain, this book provides a timely review of how the indigenous population of North America was virtually wiped out by the end of the 19th century.
    It's estimated that between two and ten million Native Americans farmed the plains in the northwest of the continent before the arrival of Columbus in the New World. Unfortunately, the aggressive, land grabbing Europeans brought all manner of infectious diseases across the Atlantic with them. Millions of Native Americans who weren't killed in conflict ended up dying from diseases like smallpox (to which they had no resistance) or were forced to flee their lands to Mexico and Canada.
    The American-Indian Wars were a series of conflicts between European settlers in North America and the indigenous people. They were mostly fought over resources, cattle and land, which the colonists believed they had a right to seize. As the number of Europeans increased, they expanded their territory north and west into lands that had belonged to the Indian people for centuries.
    By the middle of the 19th century the population of indigenous people had declined to little more than half a million. It would take until 1924 before peace between the settlers and the aboriginal people allowed their numbers to recover.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherG2 Rights
    Release dateJul 10, 2020
    ISBN9781782819318
    North American Indian Wars

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      Book preview

      North American Indian Wars - Liam McCann

      INTRODUCTION

      The American-Indian Wars were a series of conflicts between European settlers in North America and the indigenous people. They were mostly fought over resources, cattle and land, which the colonists believed they had a right to seize. As the number of Europeans increased, they expanded their territory north and west into lands that had belonged to the Indian people for centuries.

      It’s estimated that between two and ten million Native Americans farmed the plains in the northwest of the continent before the arrival of Columbus in the New World. Unfortunately, the aggressive, land-grabbing Europeans brought all manner of infectious diseases across the Atlantic with them.

      Millions of Native Americans who weren’t killed in conflict ended up dying from diseases like smallpox (to which they had no resistance) or were forced to flee their lands to Mexico and Canada. Their numbers declined to little more than half a million by the middle of the 19th century.

      illustration

      An unknown artist’s 1899 chromolithograph of US cavalry pursuing mounted American Indians

      In 1894, the American Census Bureau reported that around 50,000 indigenous people had been killed in battle, against half that number of settlers. However, their results were based on estimating that the original Native American population was only half a million, whereas it was likely much higher. In any case, either thousands more died in battle or they succumbed to disease instead. It would take until 1924 before peace between the settlers and the aboriginal people allowed their numbers to recover.

      THE COLONIAL PERIOD

      Although Columbus supposedly discovered the New World in 1492, the Vikings had crossed the North Atlantic 500 years earlier. While translations of the early written sagas suggest that Leif Erikson reached North America – the Vikings called it Vinland – around the turn of the millennium, he might not have been the first European to land there.

      That distinction goes to Bjarni Herjólfsson, a merchant who strayed off course and sighted the coastline in 986. Accounts of his voyage suggest he didn’t make landfall but returned instead to Greenland. When Erikson heard about the new lands to the west, he bought Herjólfsson’s boat and retraced his voyage.

      It’s likely that Erikson made land on Baffin Island before heading south to Labrador. After two more days at sea, he arrived in a place teeming with salmon. He eventually established a settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. While half his team wintered at the settlement, the other half explored the region and found it to be rich with vines and timber, which they transported back to Greenland.

      Erikson was considered wise and thoughtful, and his exploits convinced other Norse people to make the journey west. His son, Thorvald, was apparently the first European to make contact with the indigenous people of North America but the two camps were hostile to one another and permanent settlements on the mainland were abandoned (expeditions for timber continued for centuries, however).

      illustration

      Christian Krohg’s 1893 painting showing Leif Erikson discovering America

      From around 1600 onwards, the English, French, Spanish and Dutch laid claim to the lands in North America and began the process of colonising the continent. This brought them into contact and conflict with the native people. The English established a permanent settlement at Jamestown in Virginia but the land was swampy and in fested with disease-carrying insects so they relied on the native people supplying them with food and clean water.

      Colonial leader Captain John Smith was then captured by a rogue hunting party. The English responded by stealing corn, so the natives attacked their forts. Smith was eventually released but he was injured in a gunpowder explosion and sent back to Britain. This left the settlement vulnerable and the Powhatan people killed Captain John Ratcliffe in an ambush. They then surrounded the fort and began to starve the English into submission.

      Sir Thomas Gates elected to evacuate Jamestown but an English contingent under Lord de la Warr soon arrived by sea. De la Warr was a brutal leader who mutilated several natives and sent them to Powhatan with an ultimatum: return all English subjects and property or their villages would be destroyed. Powhatan didn’t respond so de la Warr kidnapped several women and children before throwing them into the river and shooting them. War between the settlers and natives raged for two years but, when the English captured Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas, the native tribes sued for peace. This was confirmed in 1614 when Pocahontas married colonist John Rolfe.

      illustration

      A chromolithograph from 1870 showing Pocahontas saving the life of Captain John Smith

      Eight years of peace were shattered when Chief Opechancanough launched a surprise attack on Jamestown in 1622. His men killed 350 people, a quarter of the settlement’s population. The English responded by burning villages and playing the tribes off against one another. An uneasy truce was called in 1632 but Opechancanough was still determined to drive the English out and his army killed another 500 colonists in 1644.

      By 1646 peace had been restored and the two sides were separated by a border marked with small forts. Aside from several minor skirmishes, the status quo held until Chief Metacomet was forced to sign away Wampanoag tribal lands and guns at Taunton in 1671. Four years later, the English hanged three Wampanoags for the murder of a Christianised Native American. This enraged Metacomet so he formed alliances with the Nipmuck, Podunk and Nashaway tribes and launched attacks on colonial towns across New England.

      For more than a year, Meta-comet’s forces racked up notable victories. The English had also forged alliances, however, and they retaliated with help from the Mohegans and Pequots. By July 1676, Metacomet’s allies were deserting him. He was eventually traced to Mount Hope and hunted down by Benjamin Church. Both he and the neighbouring Chief Anawan were captured and beheaded, which marked the end of a war that was perhaps the most costly – in terms of deaths to population – in the entire conflict.

      There would be another 40 years of relative peace before British,

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