The Revolutionary War did not only determine the future of the American colonies, but it also shaped the future of the Native peoples who lived in and around them. Native Americans were not passive observers in the conflict. While most Native communities tried to remain neutral in the fighting between the Crown and its colonists, as the war continued many of them had to make difficult decisions about how and when to support one side or the other.
Even before the outbreak of war, the colonists were angered by the ways that the British government tried to manage the relationship between its colonists and Native Americans. The British were concerned by violence between white settlers and Native peoples on the frontiers and attempted to keep the two groups apart. The Proclamation of 1763 reserved the lands west of the Appalachian Mountains for Native Americans, which the colonists resented. When the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, among the charges levied at King George III was that he had "endeavored to prevent the population of these states."
Another grievance in the Declaration of Independence was that the King and his government had "endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages." Many rebel colonists assumed that Native Americans would naturally be allied with the British. But most Native communities tried to avoid getting involved throughout the conflict. Officers in both armies, including General George Washington, had fought in the French and Indian War. They had learned to appreciate the value of Native warriors, who had acted as scouts for European armies and launched devasting raids on the colonial Frontiers.
Among the first Native Americans to take part in the Revolutionary War actually joined the rebel side. The Native community at Stockbridge, Massachusetts, sent seventeen men to join the army of militiamen that was laying siege to Boston in 1775. Other Native Americans joined the British side and fought to defeat the American invasion of Canada in 1775-1776. Native communities did not always make unanimous decisions about which side to support. Continue reading from American Battlefield Trust
Native Americans Involvement in the American Revolution (Washington Crossing Historic Park)
Origins of Native American Military Service (National Museum of the American Indian)
Native American Soldiers and Scouts (Museum of the American Revolution)
Native American Soldiers and the 6th CT Regiment (The 6th Connecticut Regiment)
