George Washington and Indian Policy
George Washington was elected the President of the United States in 1789, and as everybody knows, was the first President in American history. For people who do not know who the first president is, he can be found on the dollar bill. After Washington was selected as the president, he chose various people to run each department in the government. He selected General Henry Knox for the Department of War, Alexander Hamilton for the Treasury, and Thomas Jefferson for the State (218). Alongside those people, Washington was President for a number of years (winning reelection in 1792) until John Adams became president in 1796. During Washington’s presidency, America was in a number of conflicts with
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Georgians who were seeking land that was occupied by the Creek Indians were pushed away. Therefore, the American government had to intervene. Washington and Henry Knox tried to negotiate a treaty with the Creek chief Alexander McGillivray, but refused any kind of negotiation. They tried again a year later, and this time McGillivray accepted. Washington and Knox were able to convince McGillivray in accepting trade negotiations by inviting him to meet the president and having him arrive “in a triumphal procession of various lesser Creek Chiefs and was accorded the honors of a head of state” (226). After McGillivray was open to trade negotiations, the Treaty of New York was created. The treaty promised the protection of Creek Indian land boundaries against land seeking settlers and also assured them annual payments in money and trade goods (226). Although a treaty was created, neither side could keep their promise. McGillivray had also signed an agreement with the Spanish before he died because “the Creeks’ interests were best served by maintaining creative tension between the American and Spanish authorities” (226). The agreement that the United States had made in the Treaty of New York could not be kept as well as it had proved to be unrealistic. It was not actually possible for the U.S to protect Creek boundaries. However, agreements with a different group of Indians ended very …show more content…
The Ohio Indians did not open up to negotiations willingly unlike the Creek Indians. With the Northwest Ordinance in effect, “the federal government started to survey and map eastern Ohio, and settlers were eager to buy” (227). Because of this, U.S Army units were sent into the Western half of Ohio to suppress and bring the Ohio Indian tribes under control. Fort Washington, which was built on the Ohio River, was the command post for invasions against the Indians. There were three major invasions. General Josiah Harmar led the first invasion in which he and his 1,400 men were ambushed by Miami and Shawnee Indians led by their chiefs, Little Turtle and Blue Jacket (227). General Arthur St. Clair led the second invasion with 2,000 men, and along his travel route, built Fort Jefferson and Fort Hamilton. At the headwaters of the Wabash River, the General and his men fell under a surprise attack that “left 55 percent of the Americans dead or wounded” (227). In retaliation to that crushing defeat, Washington increased the military presence in Ohio. General Anthony Wayne of Pennsylvania led the third major invasion against the Ohio Indians. Wayne’s army overpowered the Ohio Indians in the battle of Fallen Timbers, which was a major defeat for the Indians. The confederated Indians ambushed the Americans again as they have done so in the previous two major invasions, except this time they were underpowered. The defeated
The document “Colonists Encroach on the Stanwix Line”, records a speech made by a Native American, John Killbuck to the governors of three separate English Colonies. He tells of the English and other European Settlers invading Naive American lands base on their own greed and compete against one another. The English haven’t always agreed on bringing about peaceful compromises on the lands they and other European Nations have conquered, instead, wars erupted and whoever were the victors reaped all the rewards, land that consisted of Native American tribes. The Native had tried to make a peaceful compromise of a land dispute by setting a boundary between Native American tribes and the English Colonies. However, with the increase of Europeans flooding
The translator was supposed to act neutral during the negotiations, but the translator did not have enough grasp of the Ojibwe language to translate thoroughly. After it was said and done, Alexander Ramsey boasted about buying each acre for only 5 cents from the Ojibwe tribe as it was the cheapest price ever per acre done through a land cession treaty. As said from Henry Whipple an advocate for Native Americans, "from beginning to end a fraud…"(Folwell). Not only did the Ojibwe tribe get swindled but the United States senate refused to ratify the treaty because it was to favorable to the indigenous people. The United States senate made significant changes throughout the Old Crossing Treaty.
Anthony Wayne, best known as Mad Anthony for his aggressive way of fighting, was a general who leads the American military in 1792. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives. Mad Anthony was an important figure in history because he was a general who lead his militia to the Battle of Fallen Timbers which derived in the removal of Native American claims. Anthony was a hero because he played major roles in the Battles of the American Revolution that resulted in Great Britain losing, becoming the United States of America they defeated the British in the American Revolutionary War. George Washington appointed Wayne as brigadier general because of his passion and aggressive way he dealt with battles.
This mass destruction seemed like more of a way to “get rid” of the indians which would “get rid” of the problem. Washington did inflict a sort of Ethical Cleansing upon this group. He clearly stated that he wanted to imprison and destroy them and anything that they had. While he did not come out and say “murder them” he wanted to capture them. What was the next step after that?
In 1742 the chief of Onondaga of the Iroquois Confederacy knew that his land that the people shared would become more valuable than it has ever been. (Doc B)The reason for this was because the “white people” also known as the Americans wanted the land of the chief. The feelings of the Chief result in complaining to the representatives of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia,
George Washington was faced with many challenges during his presidency as he not only had to establish a new system of government but also deal with many foreign and domestic affairs such as the North American War and unrest in Great Britian and France, all while being left with great financial debt accumulated during the
In February 1789, George Washington was elected to govern the United States. Washington felt it was important to watch his every move and judge every stride very carefully. There was definitely method in his madness though. Along with internal problems (like the Native Americans) beginning to arise, trouble was toiling across the Atlantic as well. In France, the need for a revolution and a change in powers was bending the country out of shape.
When white Americans started to expand farther West, they would inevitably encounter Native American land and become increasingly aggravated and disappointed when they were unable to settle that piece of land. Because of this, the Indians became subject to significantly more lawful wars, as defined by Congress, when they continued to resist the Western expansion settlers. The Native Americans weren’t always defeated, which was frightening to some whites who realized that if the Native Americans wanted to rebel against the white American settlers, they might have the numbers to fight back, pushing settlers east, off their claimed
The focal point of the meeting was to negotiate a peace treaty between the Americans and Indians that would give the Creeks the land that was already theirs; It also served to end the gruesome war from the South-west borderline. The treaty was the first treaty between Americans and indians that did not happen on indian controlled soil. The Treaty of New York was signed in 1790; there was a failed treaty attempt between the U.S and Creeks at "Rock Landing, Georgia", in 1789. It was a 3 week negotiation that seemed to have never happened; it was almost completely unrecorded except for the final declarations. McGillivray expressed his gripes in a letter that was sent to the U.S commissioners.
There were growing tensions in the Northwestern territory between colonists and native tribes that was caused by the results of the Treaty of Paris. The U.S. gained control over the land northwest of the Ohio River (northwestern territory). Natives that lived in northwestern territory responded in revolts against colonists and the American military. In response, George Washington called for General Anthony Wayne to lead an expedition against tribes in the Northwestern Territory (present day Ohio) led by Chief Little Turtle. On August 20, 1794, American forces defeated the Native American uprising, that occurred in present day Ohio, also known as The Battle of Fallen Timbers.
Comparison between President George Washington and JamesMonroe The United States has had several presidents since the year 1979 when it had its first ever-elected president. President Gorge Washington became the first president. This essay will compare and contrast President George Washington and James Monroe.
The treaty the US government signed with the Indians in 1851 granted the Indians to have an extensive territory, which means the Indians can get more land, but eventually that did not last(doc 3,4). One of the most important and well-known wars was the Sand Creek Massacre. On November 29, 1864, John Chivington led 700 troops in an unprovoked attack on the Arapaho and Cheyenne villagers. There they killed over 200 women, children, and older men. US Indian Commissioner admitted that :We have substantially taken possession of the country and deprived the Indians of their accustomed means of support.”
After learning that America declared war with Britain, he knew it was his last hope in winning the dispute. In the Battle of Brownstown, American forces lost a substantial amount of soldiers, while the British were barely wounded. Tecumseh and Brock were the masterminds behind the capture of Detroit. In the battle of Detroit, Americans surrendered their weapons and the battle was named one of the “most humiliating defeats suffered by an American.” Tecumseh said he would die for his land, and ends up doing so in the War of 1812.
The government tried to force assimilation on Native Americans as well as an attempt to “kill the indian, save the man.” These ideas and policies are similar to those popular during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Jackson developed a sense of ‘paternalism’ towards indians and believed he was saving them by forcing them to live out west of the Mississippi river away from white culture. The difference was that Jackson did not believe in assimilation of indians into white culture, he believed they should be kept separate. With the help of the Federal government removing indians from land west of the Mississippi, Americans were
George Washington’s presidency did couple key things. First, it established the unwritten rule that a President was only supposed to serve two terms in office. This unwritten rule was only ever broken by Franklin Roosevelt during WW II, and it later became an Amendment to the Constitution. Second, Washington talked at great length about isolationism in his farewell address, specifically citing that America should avoid foreign entanglements in Europe.