American Revolution: the Indians' War of Independence

Home , American Revolution

American Revolution: The Indians’ War of Independence By Colin G. Calloway, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, adapted b y Newsela staff on 11.04.16 Word Count 625

TOP: An oil painting titled "Herkimer at the Battle of Oriskany." Courtesy of Wikipedia. MIDDLE: King George III's Proclamation of 1763, (Gilder Lehrman Collection). BOTTOM: Map of Iroquois Six Nations. Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia.

The Declaration of Independence is one of the country's most important documents. It announced that the United States was its own nation. It also describes the part American Indians played in the American Revolution against Britain.

The American Revolution was a war that took place from 1765 to 1783. The Americans fought to be free from British rule.

The Declaration of Independence says Indians were on the wrong side of the ﬁght for liberty. While the Americans fought for their rights and freedoms, the Native Americans fought against them alongside the British. This was the view of the nation's founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1 Indians fought for independence, too

In the late 1700s, most Indians did not want to take a side in the American Revolution. However, most of them eventually sided with the British. For the Indians, the Americans were more dangerous to their land and their way of life than the British. The American War of Independence was an Indian war for independence as well.

By the early 1760s, the British declared that the Appalachian Mountains would divide British settlement from Indian land. This started a chain of events that led to a revolution and independence.

Tribes were forced to choose sides

When the Revolution broke out, Indian people knew their land was at stake. The British and the Americans competed for the support of the Indian tribes. Most tribes did not want to side with either the British or the Americans. This ended up not being possible for the Indians, though.

One example is the Delaware Indian tribe. At ﬁrst, the tribe did not want to support the British. In fact, the Delaware chief, White Eyes, led his people in making the Treaty of Fort Pitt in 1778. This was the ﬁrst Indian treaty made by the new nation. The Delaware Indians and the Americans agreed to be on the same side. But American soldiers killed White Eyes, so the tribe instead joined sides with the British soldiers.

Agreement to end war didn't include tribes

In the East, the ﬁghting between the British and the Americans ended in 1781, when the British surrendered to Washington's army. By April 1783, Britain recognized the independence of the United States at the Peace of Paris. This agreement gave British land to the United States.

There were no American Indians at the Peace of Paris and Indians were not mentioned in its terms. The tribes were furious when they learned that the British had given away their lands.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 2 Americans justified attacks on tribal land, culture

Although the founding fathers struggled with how to deal honorably with Indian people, taking Indian land was never in doubt. After the long war against Britain, the United States government had no money. Its only wealth was the land the British had given them at the Peace of Paris. This was Indian land. The government needed to sell the land to American settlers to raise money for the country's future.

How could the Americans claim to deal honorably with Indian peoples at the same time as they built their nation on Indian land? The Declaration of Independence provided some justiﬁcations. It said that Indians had fought against American rights and freedoms, so they could not expect to share those rights and freedoms. The United States must and would take the Indians’ land. In return, the government would give these "savages" civilization, and that was honorable enough.

For Native Americans, this was an attack on their lands and way of life. They fought back as well as they could. Meanwhile, they tried to preserve what they could of Indian life in a nation that was trying to destroy it.

Colin G. Calloway is a professor of history at Dartmouth College.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 3 Quiz

1 Which sentence from the article is MOST important to include in its summary?

(A) The Declaration of Independence is one of the country's most important documents.

(B) The American Revolution was a war that took place from 1765 to 1783.

(D) In fact, the Delaware chief, White Eyes, led his people in making the Treaty of Fort Pitt in 1778.

2 Which detail BEST reﬂects the Native Americans' difﬁculty in choosing between the British and Americans?

(A) After the Revolutionary War, the United States needed money so it sold Native American land.

(B) In 1783, the British recognized the United States as a country at the Peace of Paris, which did not include or mention Native Americans.

(C) The Delaware Indian Tribe wanted to support the Americans, but after the Americans killed their leader they supported the British.

(D) The Declaration of Independence said that Indians had fought against Americans, so they could not receive rights and freedoms.

3 What was the relationship between Native Americans and the British?

(A) Native Americans always supported the British against the Americans because the British respected their rights.

(B) Many Native Americans supported the British because they were more threatened by the Americans.

(D) Native Americans always opposed the British because they gave away their land to the Americans in 1783.

4 What effect did the Peace of Paris have on the United States?

(A) It gave the United States a great deal of British money.

(B) It gave the United States British land in North America.

(D) It caused the United States to compete for support from Native Americans.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 4 This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 5 Answer Key