Existing comment:
"That event was for us the greatest blow that could have been dealt us, unless it had been our total destruction."
-- Chiefs of the Haudenosaunee [Iroquois], Shawnee, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Loup Nations to Francisco Cruzat, Spanish governor of St. Louis, August 23, 1784
Conflicting Loyalties
When the War of Independence began in 1775, the opposing powers sought first to secure the neutrality of, then to forge alliances with, powerful Indian Nations. Most nations sided with the British, who Native people considered less threatening than the land-hungry colonists.
American victory in the Revolutionary War proved disastrous for American Indians. Abandoned by their British allies, Indian tribes were left to face Americans, who considered them conquered peoples. Still viewing Britain as their last, best hope against U.S. expansion, many Native Nations fought alongside the British during the War of 1812.
All tribes, whether they supported the British or fought with the Americans, came to regret the U.S. victories of 1783 and 1814. Settlers now flooded their lands and set into motion the conflicts, land loss, and removals to come. |