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A. Introduction B. Early life 1. Birth and influences 2. American Events C. Plan For an Indian Confederation D.
Forming the Confederation 1. Religious Support 2. Campaigning throughout the frontier 3. Treaty of Fort Wayne E. Battle of Tippecanoe F. Weakening of the Confederation G.
Looking for British support H. War of 1812 1. Allying with the British 2. Asisiting the British war effort 3. Campaigning with the Upper Creeks 4. Retreating from the front and Tecumseh's death I.
Conclusion Throughout the comparatively recent history of the United States, there have been many obstacles that the relatively young nation has had to overcome. Even before the nation had obtained its independence from Britain, there were conflicts with the Natives of the new land. Then wars were fought for other countries benefit, on their own soil. Then, of course, there was the Revolutionary War, fought in the late 1770 s, in which British colonists rose up against their British fathers in order to gain economic, religious and political freedom.
After the acquirement of their independence as a nation, there were still many conflicts that the fledgling country had to worry about. The continent of North America was still controlled by other European superpowers, not to mention the multitudes of Native Indians that populated the lands west of the Appalachians. In order to combat other world powers as well as increase their own wealth, trade, and influence, the Americans adopted an attitude of Manifest Destiny, in which westward expansion was priority and their right. This however, led to more troubles and conflicts with the Natives of the land. The Indians west of the Appalachian mountain range would not give up the land that their tribes had been living on for hundreds of years, at least not without a fight. And even though the Indians were much less advanced in technology and warfare, the American frontier-men found a major obstacle in the Shawnee leader, Tecumseh.
Tecumseh wielded more power than any other North American Indian before him, and no other Indian after him would ever come close to his political domination. His power was not a military power, directly threatening the United States, but rather the potential to unite a large confederation of Indian tribes to resist against the westward growing nation. Tecumseh was a major obstruction in the American westward movement because not only did he attempt to establish a vast Indian Confederation, which could have stopped the push westward to the Pacific, but also because he became allies with the British in the War of 1812, which was also a core barrier in the American obtaining of frontier lands. Tecumseh was born in 1768, and was the son of Puckeshinwau, a chief of the Kispapocoke or Kiskopoke clan and Methoataske, whom belonged to the Creek tribe. Tecumseh's early life was full of mixed feelings towards the Americans.
Puckeshinwau was usually friendly with the Americans; Thus, Tecumseh learned to act peaceful towards the new white settlers. However, when Puckeshinwau died at the hands of Americans, his view of the European colonists changed dramatically. After his fathers death, it is unclear who raised the young Shawnee, whether his brother, his mother, or Blackfish, another chief. Most likely all of them further influenced his views on the Americans. Not only did Tecumseh have a mixed upbringing in his formative years, but his various encounters with the Americans were often extremely negative as well. After his fathers death, another one of his brothers died fighting Americans.
The burning of two Shawnee villages, Piqua and Chillicothe, in 1780 by George Roger Clark did not improve his outlook towards the new colonists. Yet, Tecumseh seemed to have no real desire to fight the Americans. He simply wanted to stop the advance of the whites into Indian lands. Tecumseh believed that Americans were weakening the Indians. He saw the problems that alcohol, brought by white traders, was causing among the Indians, and he knew first hand that the demand for furs in Europe was decreasing the number of animals in the forest. Trading posts were beginning to be established all the way across the continent to the Pacific.
Tecumseh hated turning away from the Indian traditions, wanting the Natives to return to their previous way of existence, one of living off the land and not at the mercy of traders. Tecumseh, while recognizing the gunpowder and the rifle as powerful weapons, thought that the tomahawk and the bow were the rightful, traditional weapons of the Indians. Tecumseh knew that the Indians had no way to manufacture rifles or gunpowder, nor did he see a need to, he simply wanted isolation from the European Invaders in order to preserve the Native customs. In order to counter the threat the Americans posed, Tecumseh formulated a plan that he would spend most of his life trying to fulfill. Although most Indian tribes agreed that a tribe was not bound by land cessions given to the whites through bribery, Tecumseh further developed the idea by saying that all the land belonged to all the Indians and that no tribe could sell a part of this common territory. Thus, Tecumseh sought to create a continental Indian confederation, covering a vast amount of tribes throughout the frontier; for he believed that if the Indians would unite in their primitive strength they would be able to hold their heritage.
Tecumseh was aided in spreading his idea by his brother, Tenskwatawa the Prophet, who through trances, dreams and hallucinations developed a native religion which rapidly gained support throughout the tribes. His Indian Deity had told him that the white Americans grew from the scum of the great water, when it was troubled by an evil spirit and the froth was driven into the woods by a strong east wind they have taken your lands, which were not made for them (Do 106). His religion taught that the Indians should give up all the white mans corrupting influences- alcohol, domestic animals, traders products, and even guns and ammunition- and undergo a primitive revival of the old way of life. It was then said that the white men would be swept away by supernatural forces, and the Indians would yet again live without corruption. In 1808, the brothers built Prophets Town on the shores of the Tippecanoe Creek in present day Indiana, where the brothers followers lived by the old traditions peacefully. During the spring, the two brothers with several followers visited the tribes of the Old Northwest, winning followers of many tribes.
The next year, he headed south to the Southern tribes, traveling as far as the Florida Seminoles, where he made friendly contacts; the Osages in Missouri, who were not that interested; and the Iroquois in New York, who totally rejected the message. Meanwhile, in his absence, the Governor of the Indiana territory, Governor Harrison called some Indian chiefs to Fort Wayne, where, after mellowing them (Harrison) with alcohol, obtained their signatures on a treaty, ceding three million acres of land in Indiana, some of which belonged to tribes not present at the treaty (Tucker 25). When Tecumseh returned from his campaign he fiercely condemned the treaty as fraud, and by the spring of 1810, he had one thousand warriors at the Prophets Town, ready to ward off any potential white settlers to the newly acquired territories. His plan for peace and unity had not been strong enough to hold. Because of this, Tecumseh took three hundred warriors with him to meet Harrison at Vincennes. There he gave a speech, presenting the Indian cause with such eloquence that the interpreter had a hard tome following him.
Sell a country why not sell the are, the clouds the great sea as well as the earth? Did the Great Spirit make them all for the use of all his children? he proclaimed. He then compared the United States as a prequel to the Indian Confederacy, stating The States have set the example of forming a union among all the fires (the 17 fires were what he called the States) - why should...
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Research essay sample on War Of 1812 Indian Tribes
