Download Indian tribes were divided over whether to support Great

Indian tribes were divided over whether to support Great Britain or the
Patriots during the American Revolution.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE [ edit ]
Discuss Native Americans' role in the Revolutionary War
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
War damaged food supplies and atrocities were committed by both sides.
The first Native community to sign a treaty with the new United States Government was the
Lenape.
The Iroquois Confederacy split its allegiance between the British and the Patriots.
In the Treaty of Paris (1783), the British ceded vast Native American territories to the United
States without informing or consulting with the Native Americans. Tribes who fought with the
British had their land confiscated.
The Northwest Indian War was led by Native American tribes trying to repulse American settlers.
The Northwest Indian War was led by Native American tribes trying to repulse American settlers.
TERMS [ edit ]
Iroquois Confederacy
The Iroquois, also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are a league
of several nations and tribes of indigenous people of North America.
Sullivan Expedition
The Sullivan Expedition, also known as the Sullivan­Clinton Expedition, was an American
campaign led by Major General John Sullivan and Brigadier General James Clinton against
Loyalists ("Tories") and the four nations of the Iroquois who had sided with the British in the
American Revolutionary War.
Northwest Indian War
The Northwest Indian War (1785–1795), also known as Little Turtle's War and by other names,
was a war between the United States and a confederation of numerous American Indian tribes for
control of the Northwest Territory.
Give us feedback on this content: FULL TEXT [ edit ]
During the American Revolution, the newly proclaimed United States competed with the
British for the allegiance of Native American nations east of the Mississippi River. Most
Native Americans who joined the struggle sided with the British, based both on their trading
relationships and hopes that colonial defeat would result in a halt to further
colonialexpansion onto Native American land. Many native communities were divided over
which side to support in the war and others wanted to remain neutral . The first Native
community to sign a treaty with the new United States Government was the Lenape. For the
Iroquois Confederacy, based in New York, the American Revolution resulted in civil war. The
only Iroquois tribes to ally with the colonials were the Oneida and Tuscarora.
The Treaty of Penn with the Indians by Benjamin West painted in 1771
The Treaty of Penn with the Indians
Frontier warfare during the American Revolution was particularly brutal, and numerous
atrocities were committed by settlers and native tribes alike. Noncombatants suffered greatly
during the war. Military expeditions on each side destroyed villages and food supplies to
reduce the ability of people to fight, as in frequent raids by both sides in the Mohawk Valley
and western New York. The largest of these expeditions was the Sullivan Expedition of 1779,
in which American colonial troops destroyed more than 40 Iroquois villages to neutralize
Iroquois raids in upstate New York. The expedition failed to have the desired effect, as Native
American activity became even more determined.
The British made peace with the Americans in the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which they
ceded vast Native American territories to the United States without informing or consulting
with the Native Americans. The Northwest Indian War was led by Native American tribes
trying to repulse American colonists. The United States initially treated the Native
Americans, who had fought as allies with the British, as a conquered people who had lost
their lands. Although most members of the Iroquois tribes went to Canada with theLoyalists,
others tried to stay in New York and western territories to maintain their lands. The state of
New York made a separate treaty with Iroquois nations and put up for sale 5,000,000 acres
(20,000 km2) of land that had previously been their territories. The state established small
reservations in western New York for the remnant peoples.