Indian Relations Quotes
In the midst of the French & Indian Wars, the Board of Trade drafted the royal proclamation of October 7, 1763, forbidding the granting of lands in the vast interior, which was specifically reserved to the Indians. Most whites, themselves interested in land, saw this as a temporary expediency only. This quotation must be viewed in juxtaposition with his of 1767 on the subject: {624055}
Johnson strongly urged white contact with the Indians in the Indian communities, He himself married an Indian Woman.
The Navaho were at constant war with their neighbors—the Mexicans and other Indian Tribes who often would capture Navaho women and children and make slaves of them. This is one of the earliest examples of the United States acting as a peacemaker.
a Shoshone Indian woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark in exploring the Louisiana Territory
Unlike lost other Indian Nations, the Iroquois had years before formed a formal federation whereby each of the six tribes governed their own local affairs, but they spoke and acted as one in governing trade matters, security and foreign policy. This was the main reason that they dominated the other Indian nation. Colonial history is replete with the Iroquois leaders recommending such a confederation to the whites—advice that was finally taken.
Not all whites were allowed to usurp all Indian lands. There were many attempts to limit white settlement to avoid friction with the Indians although the overall tendency was for the whites to take over and dominate the land.
Note that there was still a serious attempt to coexist with the Indians and to pay for lands that whites moved into. This would change radically in the administration of Andrew Jackson who would replace Adams.
The Mormon settlement of the West has, from an economic development point of view, produced a successful model that few have ever even approached. Using techniques that ranged from classic capitalism to classic socialism, they blended both systems into a unique structure of their own. The results were spectacular despite the fact that the Mormons faced boycotts from manufacturers throughout the country and could borrow no money from banks, and never received any financial help from the Federal or any other government but their own. Even if they had gone into heavy debt, the results would have been spectacular, but achieving all that without any debt whatsoever is one of the most successful economic developments in the history of the world.
This clause protecting and restoring Indian lands was one of the reasons that New York had less hostility between Indians and whites than many other states did.
At the time, the traders were mostly French who traded all kinds of goods and especially alcohol—usually rum—for fur animal pelts. Many of the Indians were partial to the French and French oriented traders who did not covet their land and would provide the Indians with alcohol and guns, lead and powder while English traders sometimes tried to restrict these items. Many tribes of American Indians are genetically very susceptible to alcohol—both in terms of immediate impairment—getting drunk and in developing a dependency on having alcohol—addiction or alcoholism.
