A Diplomatic Dilemma: The Lenape Indians and the Revolutionary War

Central issue, problem, or question: What diplomatic options were available to Lenape, or Delaware, leaders during the Revolutionary War? What diplomatic strategies did Lenape leaders pursue? Why did American revolutionaries wish to enlist Lenape support? How did the American victory in the Revolutionary War affect the Lenape?

Significance: By examining deteriorating diplomatic relations between the United States and the Lenape, this lesson explores the Revolutionary War's consequences for American Indians. This lesson encourages students to see Indian nations as sovereign powers (comparable to European nations) with their own diplomatic objectives.

New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Social Studies: Standard 6.4 (United States and New Jersey History). Middle School: E-1 (Discuss the background and major issues of the American Revolution); E-8 (Analyze the causes and consequences of continuing conflict between Native American tribes and colonists). High School: E-1 (Discuss the social, political, and religious aspects of the American Revolution); E-2 (Analyze the social and economic impact of the Revolutionary War).

Objectives: After reading and analyzing primary source documents relating to the Lenape Indians' diplomatic decisions during the Revolutionary War, students will be able to: • Compare and contrast the motives of Lenape and revolutionary leaders. • Explain the reasons for the Treaty of Fort Pitt's failure to create a lasting alliance between the Lenape and the United State government. • Compare and contrast the actions and beliefs of two Lenape leaders, White Eyes, who advocated peace with the revolutionaries, and Captain Pipe, who wished to fight the revolutionaries. • Analyze how the war, and especially the American victory, affected diplomatic relations between the U.S. government and Native Americans.

Abstract: This lesson examines the diplomatic dilemmas facing the Lenape and other Indian tribes during the American Revolution. After studying primary sources, middle school students will work in cooperative groups to list the

1 reasons why the Lenape should have allied themselves with the British, allied themselves with the revolutionaries, or remained neutral. Afterwards, they will write individual essays on that topic. High school students will debate whether or not the Lenape should ally themselves with the United States government in 1778 and write essays comparing the Treaty of Fort Pitt to the far less favorable 1785 Treaty of Fort M'Intosh.

Duration: Two or three 45-minute class periods.

Sources

Secondary Sources

Gregory Evans Dowd online lecture: “Two Lenapes, Two Franklins: Diplomacy, Justice, and Evasive Coexistence, 1737-1787,” July 2003; available on the New Jersey History Partnership Project website, http://nj-history.org, in the “Lenape” section.

Gregory Evans Dowd, A Spirited Resistance: The North American Indian Struggle for Unity, 1745-1815 (Baltimore, 1992).

Colin G. Calloway, The American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in Native American Communities (New York, 1995).

Colin G. Calloway, ed. The World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America (Boston, 1994).

Royal Rule and Religious Revival, program 3, New Jersey Legacy television series, co-produced by the New Jersey Historical Commission and New Jersey Network, 1993, videocassette.

Primary Sources

A Moravian Missionary's Account of a Dispute between Captain Pipe and Captain White Eyes, 1818. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc1.pdf

Treaty of Fort Pitt, 17 September 1778. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc2.pdf

2 Lenape Complaints about the Treaty of Fort Pitt, 1779. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc3.pdf

Lenape Memorial to George Washington and Congress, 10 May 1779. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc4.pdf

George Washington's Speech to the Lenape Chiefs, 12 May 1779. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc5.pdf

Treaty of Fort M'Intosh, 21 January 1785. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc6.pdf

Materials: Both middle and high school teachers will require copies of the primary source documents. High school teachers might make a LCD projector available for students who wished to make PowerPoint presentations.

Background: The Lenape (or Delaware) Indians lived in New Jersey when the European settlers arrived, but by the 1770s, most Lenape had moved to the Ohio country where they hoped to found a permanent state. During the early years of the American Revolution, Lenape leaders were divided about the best means to achieve this goal. Some, like Captain White Eyes, advocated neutrality and cooperation with the new government of the United States. Others, like Captain Pipe, argued for a military alliance with the British.

In 1778, at war with both Great Britain and most Indians living west of the Proclamation Line of 1763, the U.S. government was eager to ally itself with the Lenape. Commissioners representing the United States in treaty negotiations at Fort Pitt recognized Lenape territorial rights and even proposed that the Lenape might found their own state within the United States. The Continental Congress opposed the latter provision and declined to ratify the treaty. The Treaty of Fort Pitt became a source of conflict in 1779, when Captain John Killbuck charged that the U.S. had altered the treaty's provisions after it was signed. The Lenape, Killbuck insisted, had never agreed to provide warriors to fight with U.S. forces; rather they promised to serve as guides and to assist negotiations with other Indian nations. In addition, the garrison at Fort Laurens failed to fulfill American promises of protecting the neutral Lenape and of supplying them with necessary goods.

White Eyes was killed, probably by American militiamen, in November 1778, and Lenape neutrality did not long survive him. Pressure from other northern Indians combined with violent attacks by white settlers pushed most Lenape into the British camp. The American victory over Great Britain made the Lenape even

3 more vulnerable to exploitation by the United States government and to displacement by land-hungry settlers.

Although no Indians were present at the negotiations, the 1783 Treaty of Paris gave the United States title to Indian land. Representatives of the new government moved quickly to cement their claim by drawing up new treaties and pressuring Indian leaders (many of whom had no such authority) to sign the documents. Most Indians refused to honor these treaties, fighting to retain their land and uniting to protect shared interests. The United States would not be able to put down Indian resistance until decades later.

Key Words: Neutrality Militia Diplomacy

Middle School Procedures

The middle school lesson focuses on the question of whether or not the Lenape should have allied themselves with the revolutionaries during the American War for Independence. The teacher should begin the lesson with a short lecture on the dilemmas facing the Lenape (based on Gregory Dowd's online lecture, available in the “Lenape” section of the New Jersey History Partnership Project website, http://nj-history.org). The lecture should include a description of the 1778 Treaty of Fort Pitt. The students will then discuss primary source documents: • A Moravian Missionary's Account of a Dispute between Captain Pipe and Captain White Eyes. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc1.pdf • Lenape Complaints about the Treaty of Fort Pitt. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc3.pdf • Speech by George Washington. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc5.pdf

The teacher should explain that alliances are like friendships before using the following questions to help students to analyze the situation facing the Lenape in 1778: • What things do you look at when you decide who your friends will be? • What did the Lenape hope to achieve through friendship with the United States? • What did the United States hope to achieve through friendship with the Lenape?

4 • Why might the Lenape and the revolutionaries have had such different interpretations of the meaning of the Treaty of Fort Pitt? • Why might some Lenape leaders have sided with the British and others with the revolutionaries?

To help students make sense of the final question, the teacher should explain that many Lenape, including White Eyes, were the victims of violence at the hands of U.S. soldiers and settlers. The teacher should also explain that John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder was biased in favor of the revolutionaries. That bias might have caused him to present White Eyes, who cooperated with the revolutionaries, in a more favorable light than Captain Pipe, who later fought alongside the British.

After the discussion of primary source documents, the teacher will break the class into small cooperative groups. The teacher will assign each group a position—neutral, pro-American, or pro-British. Students will list the reasons supporting the position they were assigned and will present their findings to the class. Each student will be graded on a short essay written from the perspective of a Lenape leader in 1778, explaining what he or she believes the Lenape should do—form an alliance with the British, form an alliance with the Americans, or remain neutral. An alternate assignment might ask students to compose a speech from the perspective of a Lenape leader advocating one of the three positions.

High School Procedures

The high school lesson should begin with a short lecture by the teacher (based on Greg Dowd's online lecture, available in the “Lenape” section of the New Jersey History Partnership Project website, http://nj-history.org) about the diplomatic dilemmas facing the Lenape and the history of their relations with English colonists (esp. the Walking Purchase).

The teacher should then divide students into three groups representing each side of a debate on the question: • Should the Lenape ally themselves with the United States, ally themselves with Great Britian, or remain neutral? o What are the benefits? o What are the dangers or drawbacks?

To prepare for the debate, students should begin by analyzing the Treaty of Fort Pitt. They might wish to map out which provisions reflected the demands of the U.S. government and which represented the desires of the Lenape. They should also study the following primary source documents:

5 • A Moravian Missionary's Account of a Dispute between Captain Pipe and Captain White Eyes. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc1.pdf • Lenape Complaints about the Treaty of Fort Pitt. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc3.pdf • Lenape Memorial to George Washington and Congress. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc4.pdf • George Washington's Speech to the Lenape Chiefs. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc5.pdf

Once the groups have prepared their arguments, the teacher (or group members) should select representatives to assume the role of tribal leaders. The remainder of the class will vote for the winning position in the debate.

After the debate, the teacher should explain to the students that although representatives of the U.S. government signed the Treaty of Fort Pitt, Congress never approved it. After the Treaty of Paris, the U.S. government tried to force the Lenape and other tribes to cede their land through treaties like the 1785 Treaty of Fort M'Intosh. http://nj-history.org/americanRevolution/theLenape/documents/ theLenapeDoc6.pdf

Students should then write an essay on the questions: What diplomatic options did the Revolutionary War offer the Lenape? How did the American victory limit these options? More advanced students will recognize that even during the war, Lenape diplomatic options were limited by an inequality of wealth, population, and military might. An alternate assignment might require students to compare and contrast the treaties of Fort Pitt and Fort M'Intosh. How and why did the Lenape negotiating position weaken between 1778 and 1785?

Connections: This might be part of a larger lesson on Indian relations during the early national period and leading up to the policy of Indian removal during Andrew Jackson’s presidency. Teachers might also use this lesson as an opportunity to talk about the changing geographical boundaries of the United States and the enforced westward migration of Native Americans.

Comments and Suggestions: In both the middle and high school lessons, the teacher may choose to have students do further background research using the school library or the internet. In preparation for this lesson, the class might wish to view the video Royal Rule and Religious Revival from the New Jersey Legacy Series. As time allows, the class might visit Waterloo Village or the New Jersey State Museum.

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