Chapter 5 Summary and Analysis

Traditional scholars have lumped the American Revolution in with other battles of early America with respect to the Indians, but in fact the war marked a new era for the Indians. As with the colonists, there were mixed feelings about the war in the Indian community, with some preferring to stay neutral, many siding with Great Britain, and a few number siding with the rebel Americans. Americans were more uniform in their regard of Indians as bloodthirsty savages, which caused more Indians to be driven toward helping the British. American strategy for dealing with Indians during the American Revolution was decisive and often brutal. George Washington became known as "Town Destroyer" for ordering the destruction of around forty Iroquois towns in 1779, and Thomas Jefferson, then Governor of Virginia, urged extermination of Shawnees in Ohio.

In the first text, Oneida Indians express...