Lands and Gold: How the United States Expanded Its Borders in the Creek War in the 19th Century

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

205 years ago, the Creek War between the United States and a group of Creek Indians known as the Red Sticks ended with the signing of a peace treaty at Fort Jackson. The Americans defeated the part of this people disloyal to the whites and annexed about 85 thousand square meters. km of Indian territory.

The victory over the screams allowed the commander of the United States forces, General Andrew Jackson, to concentrate his forces on the fighting against the British, whom he defeated in the New Orleans area. Great Britain ended the war with the Americans and made a series of territorial concessions. After becoming president of the United States, Jackson expelled from the territories east of the Mississippi not only the screams, but also the Indian tribes who fought in this war on his side.

General Andrew Jackson and Upper Scream Chief William Witherford after the Battle of the Horseshoe Bend. 1814 © Wikimedia commons

On August 9, 1814, a peace treaty was signed at Fort Jackson, ending the Creek War between the American army and a group of Creek Indians known as the Red Sticks. In accordance with the agreement, about 85 thousand square meters. km of Cricket lands were transferred to the US government and the Cherokee tribe, an ally of the Americans in this war.

White colonizers

The Indians who inhabited the southeastern territories of the modern United States, before the arrival of whites in America, built large cities, erected large earthen architectural structures, were engaged in agriculture, and made metal products. They created a socially complex society.

As noted in an interview with RT, academician of the Academy of Political Sciences of the Russian Federation, head of the department of PRUE. G. V. Plekhanov Andrei Koshkin, “the Indian peoples living off the northern shores of the Gulf of Mexico were not far from creating their own statehood, similar to the one that the inhabitants of Central and South America had”.

“However, their natural development was influenced by the appearance in the 16th century of white colonizers, who brought diseases to which the Indians did not have immunity. In addition, Native Americans were drawn into the struggle between various European states,”said the expert.

Colonists and screams

One of the most powerful Indian peoples in the region were the screams (Muskogs), who lived in the modern American states of Oklahoma, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. At the beginning of the 18th century, the screams entered into confrontation with the British settlers invading their lands. However, in May 1718, the leader of the Screams Brim announced that his people would adhere to neutrality towards all European colonialists and did not intend to take sides in emerging conflicts.

For several decades, the policy of neutrality and good neighborliness has brought shouts of economic bonuses. They traded with white settlers in deerskin and adopted modern farming methods. Mixed marriages were concluded between the colonialists and the Indians. According to Krik customs, the children belonged to the mother's clan. Therefore, children born of the unions of white traders or planters with Indian women were considered by the Muskogs to be their fellow tribesmen and they tried to educate them according to Indian customs.

The balance in the southeastern North American continent was upset during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. During the struggle between the British and the French, the screams supported the British, hoping that the colonial administration would protect them from the arbitrariness of the colonists. During the Revolutionary War, most of the Muskogs were on the side of the British king, as American settlers constantly tried to seize their lands. In addition, the Shouts collaborated with the Spaniards to fight the Americans.

In 1786, the Muskogs came out with weapons in their hands against the invading white settlers. The US authorities initiated negotiations, which culminated in the 1790 signing of the New York Treaty. The Shouts transferred much of their land to the United States and returned the fugitive black slaves to American planters. In exchange, the US authorities pledged to recognize the sovereignty of the Muskogs over their remaining lands and to expel the white settlers from them.

The first President of the United States, George Washington, developed a plan for the peaceful coexistence of Americans with neighboring Indian peoples. The United States respected the right to sovereignty of the so-called civilized tribes that recognized private property, lived in homes, and engaged in agriculture. The first of these peoples was just the screams.

Washington appointed Benjamin Hawkins Inspector General of Indian Affairs. He settled on the border, negotiated with the leaders of the Shouts and created a plantation on which he taught the Muscovites the latest agricultural technologies. A number of Crick chiefs, influenced by Hawkins, became wealthy planters. In the early 19th century, the Indians ceded a large plot of land to the state of Georgia and allowed a federal road to be built through their territory.

Anglo-American War and Tekumseh

In 1768, on the territory of present-day Ohio, a boy named Tekumseh was born into the family of one of the leaders of the Shawnee Indian people. His ancestors came from the Krik aristocracy, therefore, as he grew up, he began to maintain close relations with the Muskogs. When the boy was only six years old, his father was killed by American settlers who violated the terms of the peace treaty with the Indians. As a teenager, Tekumse took part in battles with soldiers of the US Army, and then replaced his deceased older brother as the military leader of the Shawnee.

Over time, Tekumse created a powerful inter-tribal alliance to protect the Indians from the Americans. In 1812, when the United States attacked the British colonies in Canada, the leader formed an alliance with the British. For his victories, he was promoted to brigadier general of the British army.

Anglo-American War of 1812-1815 © Wikimedia commons

“The British skillfully intrigued and were able to win the Indians to their side. The Americans in general treated the Indians badly, already then professing the principle that General Philip Sheridan would later formulate - "a good Indian is a dead Indian," historian and writer Alexei Stepkin told RT in a commentary.

Tekumseh troops played a decisive role in the capture of Detroit and in a number of other battles. However, in 1813, the command of the British army in Canada changed, and British officers became indecisive and cautious. During one of the battles, the British fled from the battlefield, leaving the Indians alone with the Americans. Tekumse was killed.

Creek war

At that time, a faction of Muscogs acted against the Americans, advocating the restoration of old Indian traditions. She received the nickname Red Sticks due to the tradition of painting battle clubs with red paint, symbolizing war.

Creek traditionalists were outraged that American colonists were invading and taking over tribal lands. They were also displeased with the conciliatory position of some of their fellow tribesmen, who, for the sake of peace with the United States, were ready to make any concessions and abandoned the Muskoge customs. Fighting parties of Red Sticks from time to time joined Tekumse's forces.

In the fall of 1813, internal friction amid screams escalated into civil war. Residents of pro-American and anti-American villages raided each other. For some time, the conflict was predominantly intratribal in nature. During the fighting, only a few white settlers were killed who seized Indian lands.

On July 27, 1813, the American authorities dispatched a troop of soldiers under the command of Colonel James Koller to destroy the Red Sticks group that had gone to the Spanish colonies in Florida to retrieve ammunition. The military attacked the Shouts in the Burnt Corn area, the Indians retreated. But when the Americans began to plunder the cargo they were escorting, the maskogues returned and defeated the US Army detachment.

On August 30, Red Sticks attacked Fort Mims, where they killed and captured about 500 mestizos, white settlers and their fellow tribesmen loyal to the United States. Indian attacks on American fortresses have spread panic in the United States. The authorities threw in the army and militias of Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee under the command of local politician Andrew Jackson against the Red Sticks, as well as detachments of allied Cherokee Indians and the remaining Yells on the side of the Americans.

The forces of the Red Sticks numbered about 4 thousand soldiers, who had only 1 thousand guns. The largest detachment they assembled during the war numbered approximately 1, 3 thousand Indians.

The main battles took place in the area of the Tennessee River. Back in November 1813, Jackson's troops destroyed a group of Red Sticks along with women and children at the Battle of Tallushatchee. Having received reinforcements from the soldiers of the regular army, he began to move into territory controlled by the Indians.

On March 27, 1814, Jackson's detachment, numbering about 3.5 thousand people, reinforced with artillery, attacked the Krik village, in which there were about 1 thousand soldiers of the Red Sticks. About 800 Indian fighters were killed, the rest withdrew to Florida, taking with them the wounded leader Menavu.

Battle of the Horseshoe Bend. 1814 © Wikimedia commons

Another leader of the Red Sticks, mestizo William Witherford (Red Eagle), decided that it was useless to resist, and surrendered.

On August 9, 1814, a peace treaty was signed at Fort Jackson. As a result, the US authorities took away the land from both the Red Sticks and those shouts who fought on the side of the United States.

Taking advantage of the fact that the screams no longer pose a threat to the United States, Jackson sent his troops against the British in the New Orleans area and defeated them. In February 1815, Great Britain ceased fighting against the United States in North America. London was forced to make a series of territorial concessions to the Americans.

Through victories over the screams and the British, Jackson became a popular political figure. He took over as Senator from Tennessee and was promoted to military governor of Florida. And in 1829 he was elected president of the United States.

At the same time, Jackson refused the guarantees that Washington gave to the civilized Indian tribes. On his initiative, the US Congress passed a law to evict the Indians.

In the arid regions west of the Mississippi, not only the screams and other civilized Indian peoples were expelled, but also the Cherokee, who fought under Jackson's command. In the course of the deportation, dubbed the "road of tears," thousands of Indians died from illness and deprivation.

The Road of Tears - forced resettlement of Indians © fws.gov

As Andrei Koshkin notes, "in the 19th century, the territory of the United States expanded several times due to a cascade of violent annexations."

“It was a natural robbery and genocide. The territories were taken from both the indigenous population and from neighboring states, in particular from Mexico. Washington was not interested in the opinion of the inhabitants of these lands. They were confronted with the fact that now this is the territory of the United States, and those who were indignant were destroyed or driven into reservations,”the expert noted.

According to Koshkin, "at times this was done under the slogan of protecting civilization and democracy, but in reality the Americans were only interested in gold and fertile lands."