Republicanism: Jefferson and Madison - Document Overview
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Americans inaugurated a new president and a new century in 1801. Revolutionary as it was for a nation's people to transfer power peacefully from a current head of state to a new one, and in the process from one interest group or political party to another, this was not another revolutionary era. While some citizens celebrated by talking of radical change or engaging in millenialist rhetoric, most sought assurance that the establishment created in the old century would continue in the new. As most of the nation's leaders had earned their original laurels in the Revolution, Americans could be assured that its principles and institutions would continue to be the foundation of government. But in moving into the future with a new president—one they had elected because he espoused a strict interpretation of the Constitution and a limited federal government—American citizens did indicate a desire for some course corrections on the nation's journey to security and prosperity.
The new chief executive of the nation, Thomas Jefferson, and the new chief justice, John Marshall, jousted again and again over what should be the proper interpretation and implementation of the Constitution. The Federalists, voted out of the executive branch and relegated to minority status in the legislative, made the judiciary their bulwark. As the champions for each side battled in Congress, courts, and finally in the Supreme Court itself, Marshall, Jefferson, and James Madison (first as Jefferson's secretary of state and then as president), further defined the powers of their own respective branches as well as the limits of the others. In the course of their political and legal contests, these leaders, like Washington and Hamilton before them, set precedents upon which later officials would base their decisions and actions.
Jefferson presided over a growing nation—both in population and territory—which presented particular challenges to its government. Upon taking office, Jefferson faced a major foreign threat to the nation's interests and security: Napoleon Bonaparte. In November 1799 General Bonaparte made himself first consul of France (he would declare himself emperor in 1804). Napoleon wanted not only to extend France's domain in Europe but to reestablish its empire in North America. Jefferson learned of his plans and immediately took steps to counter them, engaging both explorers and diplomats to secure his country's claims. Due to that American initiative and persistence, and because of various problems both in Europe and in the Caribbean, Napoleon sold the vast territory west of the Mississippi River to the United States in 1803.
While the United States thus resolved one impediment to its national interests, it was left with what many citizens deemed an even greater one: Native American resistance. Jefferson was willing to protect Indian interests on what lands the tribes still held, but he was primarily interested in supporting white settlement of the West. Jefferson and his successors not only bought Indian lands via treaties, they promoted land exchanges in which Native Americans traded their lands east of the Mississippi for lands to the west of it. As most Indians were not willing to do this, successive presidential administrations grappled again and again with the problem of how to foster peaceful coexistance with and assimilation of Native Americans. When economic and cultural coercion did not work, they adopted policies of force.
As the nation struggled with this western challenge, it also tried to counter trans-Atlantic threats to its interests. Problems had arisen due to European conflicts, primarily British-French warfare, and the continuing growth and strength of the British empire. British dominance on the high seas led to disagreements over maritime rights. Americans, insecure because of the British presence in Canada, also accused the British of inciting Indians against them. As such American weaknesses were revealed, militants in both parties, but especially Republicans, called for a war to defend the nation's honor, rights, and institutions. The result was the "second war of American independence," as some citizens called it. The title was perhaps apt, for whereas the first had been a war for independence, this was a war coming out of American insistence that its independence and autonomy be not only acknowledged but respected. Yet, even given such a noble-sounding aim, the War of 1812 was not a popular one, nor one well waged: it was a war that both united and divided Americans.
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Lewis and Clark's Journal of Exploration (1804-05)
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President Jefferson in his inaugural address spoke of Americans "possessing a chosen country, with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation." Such a conclusion, or rather, such hyperbole, was due to the expansiveness of the land then claimed by the United States as well as of Jefferson's vision. In this Jefferson echoed the American people, for many still believed that it would take generations to settle the territory out to the Mississippi and some had already come to contemplate expansion to the Pacific Ocean. Given the development of such a mental map—as well as the threat to national interests and security should France occupy the interior of the continent—Jefferson's decision to acquire the Louisiana Territory was a reasonable one. Even before the purchase was complete, Jefferson authorized an expedition to explore the northwestern frontier. This was due to simple curiosity—a desire to know who and what was out there—as well as a need to know what the United States was acquiring. He appointed Meriwether Lewis, a captain in the regular army who had extensive frontier experience as well as an avid interest in nature, and William Clark, a former lieutenant in the army who also was fascinated with nature and was now recommissioned, as commanders of the "Corps of Discovery." Jefferson gave them a multifaceted mission: they were to inform the natives of the government's acquisition, establish friendly relations with them, and record their languages and ways; they were to make topographical and horticultural studies; and, if possible, they were to find a viable trade route through the new territory. The expedition of forty to fifty men (of which only some were to go out to the Pacific) set out from the St. Louis area in May 1804. They traveled up the Missouri to Mandan territory in what is now North Dakota with the intention of wintering there before the permanent party continued west in the spring.
* * *
A fine morning. The chief of the Mandans sent a second chief to invite us to his lodge to receive some corn and hear what he had to say. I walked down and, with great ceremony, was seated on a robe by the side of the chief. He threw a handsome robe over me, and after smoking the pipe with several old men around, the chief spoke:
Said he believed what we had told them, and that peace would be general, which not only gave him satisfaction but all his people: they could now hunt without fear, and their women could work in the fields without looking every moment for the enemy; and put off their moccasins at night. [Sign of peace: undress.] As to the Arikaras, we will show you that we wish peace with all, and do not make war on any without cause. That chief—pointing to the second—and some brave men will accompany the Arikara chief now with you to his village and nation, to smoke with that people. When you came up, the Indians in the neighboring villages, as well as those out hunting, when they heard of you, had great expectations of receiving presents. Those hunting, immediately on hearing, returned to the village; and all were disappointed, and some dissatisfied. As to himself, he was not much so; but his village was. He would go and see his Great Father, &c.
He had put before me two of the steel traps which were robbed from the French a short time ago, and about twelve bushels of corn, which were brought and put before me by the women of the village. After the chief finished and smoked in great ceremony, I answered the speech, which satisfied them very much, and returned to the boat. Met the principal chief of the third village, and the Little Crow, both of whom I invited into the cabin, and smoked and talked with for about one hour.
Soon after those chiefs left us, the grand chief of the Mandans came, dressed in the clothes we had given, with his two small sons, and requested to see the men dance, which they very readily gratified him in. . . .
The wind hard from the N.W. Mr. McCracken, a trader, set out at 7 o'clock, to the fort on the Assiniboine. By him sent a letter (enclosing a copy of the British Minister's protection) to the principal agent of the Company.
At about 10 o'clock, the chiefs of the lower village came, and after a short time informed us they wished we would call at their village and take some corn; that they would make peace with the Arikaras; they never made war against them but after the Arikaras killed their chiefs. They killed them like birds, and were tired of killing them, and would send a chief and some brave men to the Arikaras to smoke with that people.
* * *
This morning at daylight, I went down the river with my men, to look for a proper place to winter. Proceeded down the river three miles, and found a place well supplied with wood, and returned. Captain Lewis went to the village to hear what they had to say, and I fell down, and formed a camp, near where a small camp of Indians were hunting. Cut down the trees around our camp. In the evening, Captain Lewis returned with a present of 11 bushels of corn. Our Arikara chief set out, accompanied by one chief of Mandans and several brave men of Minnetarees and Mandans. He called for some small article which we had promised, but as I could not understand him, he could not get it. [Afterward he did get it.] The wind from the S.E. A fine day. Many Indians to view us today.
* * *
A fine morning. We continued to cut down trees and raise our houses. A Mr.
Charbonneau1 interpreter for the Gros Ventre nation, came to see us, and informed that he came down with several Indians from a hunting expedition up the river, to hear what we had told the Indians in council. This man wished to hire as an interpreter. The wind rose this evening from the east, and clouded up. Great numbers of Indians pass, hunting, and some on the return.
* * *
A very cold night. Early this morning, The Big White, principal chief of the lower village of the Mandans, came down. He packed about 100 pounds of fine meat on his squaw for us. We made some small presents to the squaw and child, gave a small ax with which she was much pleased. Three men sick with the [blank in MS.]. Several. Wind changeable. Very cold evening. Freezing all day. Some ice on the edges of the river.
Swans passing to the south. The hunters we sent down the river to hunt have not returned.
The Mandans speak a language peculiar to themselves, very much [blank in MS.]. They can raise about 350 men; the Wetersoons or Mahas, 80; and the Big Bellies, or Minnetarees, about 600 or 650 men. The Mandans and Sioux have the same word for water. The Big Bellies or Minnetarees and Raven [Wetersoon, as also the Crow or Raven] Indians speak nearly the same language, and the presumption is they were originally the same nation. The Raven Indians have 400 lodges and about 1,200 men, and follow the buffalo, or hunt for their subsistence in the plains, and on the Coôte Noire and Rocky Mountains, and are at war with the Sioux and Snake Indians. The Big Bellies and Wetersoons are at war with the Snake Indians and Sioux, and were at war with the Arikaras until we made peace a few days past.
The Mandans are at war with all who make war [on them—at present with the Sioux] only, and wish to be at peace with all nations. Seldom the aggressors.
* * *
A fine morning. Dispatched a pirogue and 5 men under the direction of Sergeant Pryor, to the second village, for 100 bushels of corn in ears, which Mr. Jussome let us have. [Did not get more than 30 bushels.] I was alarmed about 10 o'clock by the sentinel, who informed that an Indian was about to kill his wife, in the interpreter's fire [
i.e., lodge] about 60 yards below the works. I went down and spoke to the fellow about the rash act he was likely to commit, and forbade any act of the kind near the Fort.
Some misunderstanding took place between this man and his wife, about 8 days ago, and she came to this place, and continued with the squaws of the interpreters. [He might lawfully have killed her for running away.] Two days ago, he returned to the village. In the evening of the same day, she came to the interpreter's fire, apparently much beaten and stabbed in 3 places. We directed that no man of this party have any intercourse with this woman under the penalty of punishment. He, the husband, observed that one of our sergeants slept with his wife, and if he wanted her he would give her to him.
We directed the sergeant (Ordway) to give the man some articles, at which time I told the Indian that I believed not one man of the party had touched his wife except the one he had given the use of her for a night, in his own bed;2 no man of the party should touch his squaw, or the wife of any Indian, nor did I believe they touched a woman if they knew her to be the wife of another man, and advised him to take his squaw home and
live happily togetherin future. At this time the grand chief of the nation arrived, and lectured him, and they both went off, apparently dissatisfied.
* * *
This morning at 8 o'clock, an Indian called from the other side, and informed that he had something of consequence to communicate. We sent a pirogue for him, and he informed us as follows: "Five men of the Mandan nation, out hunting in a S.W. direction about eight leagues, were surprised by a large party of Sioux and Pawnees. One man was killed and two wounded with arrows, and 9 horses taken; 4 of the Wetersoon nation were missing, and they expected to be attacked by the Sioux, &c." We thought it well to show a disposition to aid and assist them against their enemies, particularly those who came in opposition to our councils. And I determined to go to the town with some men and, if the Sioux were coming to attack the nation, to collect the warriors from each village and meet them. Those ideas were also those of Captain Lewis.
I crossed the river in about an hour after the arrival of the Indian express with 23 men including the interpreters, and flanked the town and came up on the back part. The Indians, not expecting to receive such strong aid in so short a time, were much surprised, and a little alarmed at the formidable appearance of my party. The principal chiefs met me some distance from the town (say 200 yards) and invited me in to town. I ordered my party into different lodges, &c. I explained to the nation the cause of my coming in this formidable manner to their town was to assist and chastise the enemies of our dutiful children. I requested the grand chief to repeat the circumstances as they happened, which he did, as was mentioned by the express in the morning.
I then informed them that if they would assemble their warriors and those of the different towns, I would go to meet the army of Sioux, &c., and chastise them for taking the blood of our dutiful children, &c. After a conversation of a few minutes among themselves, one chief—The Big Man, a Cheyenne—said they now saw that what we had told them was the truth: that when we expected the enemies of their nation were coming to attack them, or had spilled their blood, we were ready to protect them, and kill those who would not listen to our good talk. His people had listened to what we had told them, and fearlessly went out to hunt in small parties believing themselves to be safe from the other nations, and were killed by the Pawnees and Sioux.
"I knew," said he, "that the Pawnees were liars, and told the old chief who came with you (to confirm a peace with us) that his people were liars and bad men, and that we killed them like the buffalo—when we pleased. We had made peace several times and your nation has always commenced the war. We do not want to kill you, and will not suffer you to kill us or steal our horses. We will make peace with you as our two fathers have directed, and they shall see that we will not be the aggressors. But we fear the Arikaras will not be at peace long. My father, those are the words I spoke to the Arikaras in your presence. You see they have not opened their ears to your good counsels, but have spilled our blood.
"Two Arikaras, whom we sent home this day, for fear of our people's killing them in their grief, informed us when they came here several days ago, that two towns of the Arikaras were making their moccasins, and that we had best take care of our horses, &c. Numbers of Sioux were in their towns and, they believed, not well disposed toward us. Four of the Wetersoons are now absent. They were to have been back in 16 days; they have been out 24. We fear they have fallen. My father, the snow is deep and it is cold. Our horses cannot travel through the plains. Those people who have spilt our blood have gone back. If you will go with us in the spring after the snow goes off, we will raise the warriors of all the towns and nations around about us, and go with you."
I told this nation that we should be always willing and ready to defend them from the insults of any nation who would dare to come to do them injury, during the time we remained in their neighborhood, and requested that they would inform us of any party who might at any time be discovered by their patrols or scouts. I was sorry that the snow in the plains had fallen so deep since the murder of the young chief by the Sioux as prevented their horses from traveling. I wished to meet those Sioux and all others who will not open their ears, but make war on our dutiful children, and let you see that the warriors of your Great Father will chastise the enemies of his dutiful children the Mandans, Wetersoons, and Minnetarees, who have opened their ears to his advice. You say that the Pawnees or Arikaras were with the Sioux. Some bad men may have been with the Sioux. You know there are bad men in all nations. Do not get mad with the Arikaras until we know if those bad men are countenanced by their nation, and we are convinced those people do not intend to follow our counsels. You know that the Sioux have great influence over the Arikaras, and perhaps have led some of them astray. You know that the Arikaras are dependent on the Sioux for their guns, powder, and ball; and it was policy in them to keep on as good terms as possible with the Sioux until they had some other means of getting those articles, &c. You know yourselves that you are compelled to put up with little insults from the Crees and Assiniboines (or Stone Indians) because if you go to war with those people, they will prevent the traders in the north from bringing you guns, powder, and ball, and by that means distress you very much. But when you will have certain supplies from your Great American Father of all those articles, you will not suffer any nation to insult you, &c.
After about two hours' conversation on various subjects, all of which tended toward their situation, &c., I informed them I should return to the Fort. The chief said they all thanked me very much for the fatherly protection which I showed toward them; that the village had been crying all the night and day for the death of the brave young man who fell, but now they would wipe away their tears and rejoice in their father's protection, and cry no more.
I then paraded and crossed the river on the ice, and came down on the north side. The snow so deep, it was very fatiguing. Arrived at the Fort after night, gave a little taffee3 [dram] to my party. A cold night. The river rose to its former height. The chief frequently thanked me for coming to protect them; and the whole village appeared thankful for that measure.
Wind from the N.W. All hands engaged in getting pickets, &c. At 10 o'clock, the half-brother of the man who was killed came and informed us that, after my departure last night, six Chiens [Cheyennes]—so called by the French—or Sharha Indians, had arrived with a pipe, and said that their nation was at one day's march and intended to come and trade, &c. Three Pawnees had also arrived from the nation. Their nation was then within 3 days' march, and were coming on to trade with us. Three Pawnees accompanied these Cheyennes. The Mandans call all Arikaras Pawnees; they don't use the name of Arikaras, but the Arikaras call themselves Arikaras. The Mandans apprehended danger from the Sharhas, as they were at peace with the Sioux; and wished to kill them and the Arikaras (or Pawnees), but the chiefs informed the nation it was our wish that they should not be hurt and forbid their being killed, &c. We gave a little tobacco, &c., and this man departed, well satisfied with our counsels and advice to him.
In the evening a Mr. G. Henderson arrived, in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, sent to trade with the Gros Ventres, or Big Bellies, so called by the French traders.
* * *
A very cold day. Wind from the N.W. The Big White, grand chief of the first village, came and informed us that a large drove of buffalo was near, and his people were waiting for us to join them in a chase. Captain Lewis took 15 men and went out and joined the Indians who were, at the time he got up, killing the buffalo, on horseback with arrows, clothed. This man was not in the least injured. Customs, and the habits of those people, have inured them to bear more cold than I thought it possible for man to endure. Sent out 3 men to hunt elk, below, about 7 miles.
A cold, clear day. Great numbers of Indians move down the river to hunt. Those people kill a number of buffalo near their villages and save a great proportion of the meat. Their custom of making [sharing] this article of life general leaves them more than half of their time without meat. Their corn and beans, &c., they keep for the summer, and as a reserve in case of an attack from the Sioux, of which they are always in dread, and seldom go far to hunt except in large parties. About 1/2 the Mandan nation passed today, to hunt on the river below. They will stay out some days. Mr. Charbonneau, our interpreter, and one man who accompanied him to some lodges of the Minnetarees near the Turtle Hill, returned, both frozen in their faces. Charbonneau informs me that the clerk of the Hudson's Bay Company, with the Minnetarees, has been speaking some few expressions unfavorable toward us, and that it is said the N.W. Company intends building a fort at the Minnetarees. He saw the Grand Chief of the Big Bellies, who spoke slightingly of the Americans, saying if we would give our great flag to him he would come to see us.
* * *
| | Fort Mandan, April 7th, 1805 |
Having on this day at 4 p.m. completed every arrangement necessary for our departure, we dismissed the barge and crew, with orders to return without loss of time to St. Louis. A small canoe with two French hunters accompanied the barge. These men had ascended the Missouri with us the last year as
engagés. The barge crew consisted of six soldiers and two [blank space in MS.] Frenchmen. Two Frenchmen and an Arikara Indian also take their passage in her as far as the Arikara villages, at which place we expect Mr. Tabeau to embark, with his peltry, who, in that case, will make an addition of two, perhaps four, men to the crew of the barge.
We gave Richard Warfington, a discharged corporal, the charge of the barge and crew, and confided to this care likewise our dispatches to the government, letters to our private friends, and a number of articles to the President of the United States. One of the Frenchmen, by the name of Joseph Gravelines, an honest, discreet man, and an excellent boatman, is employed to conduct the barge as a pilot. We have therefore every hope that the barge and, with her, our dispatches will arrive safe at St. Louis. Mr. Gravelines, who speaks the Arikara language extremely well, has been employed to conduct a few of the Arikara chiefs to the seat of government, who have promised us to descend in the barge to St. Louis with that view.
At the same moment that the barge departed from Fort Mandan, Captain Clark embarked with our party and proceeded up the river. As I had used no exercise for several weeks, I determined to walk on shore as far as our encampment of this evening. Accordingly I continued my walk on the north side of the river about six miles, to the upper village of the Mandans, and called on The Black Cat, or Posecopsehá, the Great Chief of the Mandans. He was not at home. I rested myself a few minutes and, finding that the party had not arrived, I returned about two miles and joined them at their encampment on the N. side of the river opposite the lower Mandan village.
* * *
Our party now consisted of the following individuals:
| Sergeants: |
John Ordway
Nathaniel Pryor
Patrick Gass |
| |
| Privates: |
William Bratton
John Colter
Reuben Fields
Joseph Fields
John Shields
George Gibson
George Shannon
John Potts
John Collins
Joseph Whitehouse
Richard Windsor
Alexander Willard
Hugh Hall
Silas Goodrich
Robert Frazer
Peter Cruzat
John Baptiste Lepage
Francis Labiche
Hugh McNeil
William Warner
Thomas P. Howard
Peter Wiser
John B. Thompson |
Interpreters: George Drouilliard and Toussaint Charbonneau; also a black man by the name of York, servant to Captain Clark; an Indian woman, wife to Charbonneau, with a young child; and a Mandan man who had promised us to accompany us as far as the Snake Indians, with a view to bring about a good understanding and friendly intercourse between that nation and his own, the Minnetarees and Amahamis.
Our vessels consisted of six small canoes and two large pirogues. This little fleet, although not quite so respectable as that of Columbus or Captain Cook, was still viewed by us with as much pleasure as those deservedly famed adventurers ever beheld theirs, and, I daresay, with quite as much anxiety for their safety and preservation. We were now about to penetrate a country at least two thousand miles in width, on which the foot of civilized man had never trod. The good or evil it had in store for us was for experiment yet to determine, and these little vessels contained every article by which we were to expect to subsist or defend ourselves. However, as the state of mind in which we are, generally gives the coloring to events, when the imagination is suffered to wander into futurity, the picture which now presented itself to me was a most pleasing one.
Entertaining as I do the most confident hope of succeeding on a voyage which had formed a darling project of mine for the last ten years, I could but esteem this moment of my departure as among the most happy of my life. The party are in excellent health and spirits, zealously attached to the enterprise, and anxious to proceed. Not a whisper or murmur of discontent to be heard among them, but all act in unison and with the most perfectharmony.
* * *
1. "Mr. Charbonneau" was Toussaint Charbonneau, husband of Sacagawea, and of another Shoshone girl as well. [Footnote from Bakeless edition—Ed.] (Return to text)
2. Among these Indians, a husband had the right to give (or sell) his wife's favors to anyone he pleased. Surreptitious adultery was an offense, which the husband might punish, practically as he pleased. But a woman who yielded to another at her husband's order was merely doing her duty as a wife. [Footnote from Bakeless edition—Ed.] (Return to text)
3. A local rum. [Footnote from Bakeless edition—Ed.] (Return to text)
[From John Bakeless, ed.,
The Journals of Lewis and Clark, (New York: Mentor Books, 1964), pp. 98–127. This is a heavily edited, including modern spelling and grammar, version of the Reuben G. Thwaites edition. [Editorial insertions that appear in square brackets are from the Bakeless edition—
Ed.]]
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Lewis and Clark Reach the Pacific Ocean (1805)
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One of the premier developments of the Jefferson administration was the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. Following the purchase, Jefferson sentMeriwether Lewis and William Clark on an exploration which took them to the Pacific. Presented below are some excerpts of the careful diaries they kept on the journey. This excerpt includes the day they finally readed the Pacific Ocean. [The spelling is given as in the original printed diary.]
November 7th Thursday 1805
A cloudy foggey morning Some rain. We Set out early proceeded under the Star Side under a high rugid hills with Steep assent the Shore boalt and rockey, the fog o thick we could not See across the river, two cano(e)s of Indians met and returned with us to their village which is Situated on the Star Side behind a cluster of Marshey Islands, on a narrow chan of the river through which we passed to the village of 4 Houses, they gave us to eate Some fish, and Sold us, fish . . .roots three dogs and 2 otter skins for which we gave fish hooks principally of which they were verry fond. . . .
After delaying at this village one hour and a half we Set out piloted by an Indian dressed in a Salors dress, to the Main Chanel from behind those islands, without a pilot, a large marshey Island near the middle of the river near which several Canoes came allong Side with Skins, roots, fish &c. to Sell, and had a temporey residence on this Island, here we see great numbers of water fowls about those Marshey Island; . . .
. . . . We proceeded on about 12 miles below the Village under a high mountaneous Countrey on the Star Side, Shore boald and rockey and Encamped under a high hill on the Star Side opposit to a rock Situated half a mile from the shore.... We with dificuelty found a place clear of the tide and Sufficiently large to lie on and the only place we could get was on round stones on which we lay our mats rain continu moderately all day. . . .
Great joy in camp we are in view of the Ocian, (in the morning when fog cleared off just below last village (first on leaving this village). . .) this great Pacific Octean which we been so long anxious to See.and the roreing or noise made by the waves brakeing on the rockey Shores (as I suppose) may be heard disti(n)ctly
We made 34 miles to day as computed.
November 8th Friday 1805
A cloudy morning Some rain, we did not Set out until 9 oClock, having changed our Clothing. proceeded on close under the star Side, the hills high with steep assent, Shoar boald and rockey . . .
here we found the Swells or Waves so high that we thought it imprudent to proceed; we landed unloaded and drew up our Canoes. Some rain all day at intervales, we are all wet and disagreeable, as we have been for Several past, and our present Situation a verry disagreeable one in as much, as we have not leavel land Sufficient for an emcampment and for out baggage to lie cleare of the tide, the High hills jutting so close and steep that we cannot retreat back, and the water of the river too Salt to be used, added to the waves are increaseing to Such a hight that we cannot move from this place, in this Situation we are compelled to form our campe between the hite of the Ebb and floor tides, and rase our baggage on logs. . . .
November 10th Sunday 1805
. . . .we are all wet the rain having continued all day, our beding and maney other articles, employ our Selves drying our blankets. northing to eate but dried fish pounded which we brought from the falls. We made 10 miles to day.
[From
Originals Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, 1804-1806 (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1905), pp. 208-15.]
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Clark from Indian Hostilities (1812)
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As the United States government, through such representatives as Lewis and Clark, attempted to establish cordial relations with Native American tribes in the far northwest territories, it faced increasing hostility from tribes resisting the encroachment of settlers from the Ohio country to the Mississippi territory. Many of these tribes, such as the Delawares, Miamis, Kickapoos, and Ottawas, had relinquished substantial portions of their lands to the United States via treaties such as the 1809 Fort Wayne Treaty. That particular agreement, concluded by William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana territory, with the Miamis, Delawares, and Potawatomis, was a high point for the nation but a low point for the Indians in this era. Even though the United States had acquired title to millions of acres of land upon which they could plant and build, many settlers invaded lands that their government acknowledged as still belonging to the Indians. Ultimately Native Americans all along the frontier responded violently to this encroachment on their tribal lands.
The following is an extract of a letter from a gentleman at St. Charles, Louisiana Territory, dated Jan. 10, 1812.
"In answer to your enquiry, respecting Indian hostilities in this quarter, I have to inform you, that some of the reports that have found their way into the public prints are much exaggerated, but are generally true. The depredations committed by them have been principally in Indiana and Illinois territories; some horses have been taken in this territory, but I believe no murders have been committed by them for the last ten or twelve months. I had flattered myself that the drubbing given them by the troops under the command of Gov. Harrison would have disposed them to return to order. In this it appears I was mistaken, for this day, by an express from Fort Madison, we are informed of cruel murders committed on some traders, about 100 miles above that Fort, by a party of the Pecant nation. A Mr. Hunt, son of the late Col. Hunt, of the United States' army, and a Mr. Prior, were trading in that quarter—their houses about 3 miles distance from each other. The party of Indians came to Hunt's house, and appeared friendly until they obtained admittance into the house—they then shot down two men that Mr. Hunt had with him, seized him and a boy, who was his interpreter, tied them, and packed up the goods that were in the house, and carried them off. Mr. Hunt discovered that they believed him to be an Englishman, and on that account saved his life. They told him that they had sent another party to kill Prior, and carry off his goods, and that they intended in a short time to take the Fort—after which they would come on and kill every American they could find. They took Mr. Hunt and his boy with them some distance,but night came on, and proved extremely dark, which fortunately gave them an opportunity of escaping, and they arrived safe at Fort Madison on the sixth day.
"The hostilities that have taken place, together with the mysterious conduct of the few Indians that are passing amongst us, lead me to believe they are determined for war, and that they are set on by British agents. If we go to war with England, I calculate on some very warm work in this quarter."
[From "Indian Hostilities," The
Pennsylvania Gazette, 4 March 1812.]
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from The Indian Prophet and His Doctrine (1812)
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Native Americans were not only angered about the loss of their territories, they were concerned that continued contact and conflict with the Euro-Americans was undermining their autonomy and cultures. Particularly worrisome was the illegal trade in alcohol: as frustrated tribesmen tried to drown their sorrows, they created more problems for their people. This situation created chaos in many villages, especially those of the Shawnee. Although many Shawnees blamed outside sources for their troubles, others believed that in neglecting their own traditions they had brought these evils upon themselves. During these difficult times, a pair of Native American brothers, Lalawethika and Tecumseh, each with a different world vision, assumed leadership roles within the tribe, and ultimately came to influence other tribes as well. Lalawethika, an alcoholic who had been unsuccessful much of his life, renounced his former ways upon experiencing visions in 1805, renamed himself Tenskwatawa (meaning "The Open Door": he came to be called the Prophet), and set out to reclaim his people from evil and revitalize their culture. Over the next few years the people of many tribes participated in this religious and cultural revival. The Ottawa warrior Le Maigouis, for example, as revealed in the document below, passed on the Prophet's message to his people as he traveled among their villages in Michigan. Although the Prophet said he wanted to maintain peace, some of his followers started to attack white settlers. As relations deteriorated, William Henry Harrison completed the negotiations for the Treaty of Fort Wayne, which led to a rupture of relations. Riding the wave of hostility, Tecumseh began to exert more influence than his brother as he called for political and military solutions to the Indians' problems.
[As this man has been for some years making a figure among the Savages to the Westward, and seems to be attempting something like becoming another MAHOMET, it may not be uninteresting to our readers, to peruse the following substance of a GREAT TALK, which he circulated among the different tribes of Western Indians, when he first gave himself out for a Prophet; or, ADAM come again on the earth. It gives a strong clue to his character, his policy and his views. It shews, that his object is to unite the different tribes, and to render the savages more truly savage and Independent, by prohibiting commerce and by establishing a perfect system of Non-Intercourse with the Whites; in short, by enabling the Aborigines to depend more on their own internal resources, and to restore the savage character to its native vigour and perfection. This Talk was communicated, a few days after its delivery, to the Editor of the Washingtonian, while at Fort Michilimakinak, by a trader of unquestionable veracity, who had intermarried with them, and had long resided in the Indian Country. It was procured from his Squaw and several intelligent Indians present, who confided it to him, as an adopted member of their family.—EDITOR.]
Substance of a TALK, held at Le Maionitinong, entrance of Lake Michigan, by the Indian Chief, LEMAIGOUIS, May 4, 1807, . . . addressed to the different tribes of Indians.
* * *
"My Children!
* * *
The Great Spirit bids me say to you thus. My Children! Have very little to do [with the Americans]. They proceeded from the froth of the Great Lake, [the sea] when it was troubled, and were driven on shore by a strong east wind.—They are very numerous. But I HATE THEM—BECAUSE THEY TAKE AWAY YOUR LANDS, which were not made for them—the Whites I placed on the other side of the Great Water, to be another people, separate from you. To them I gave different manners, customs, animals, and vegetables. You may salute them; but must not shake hands.
My Children! You must not get drunk. It displeases the Great Spirit. And on no account drink WHISKEY. It was made by the Big Knives, without my permission. It makes you sick, and burns your insides; It destroys you. . . .
* * *
My Children! To you I have given Deer, Bears, and all wild animals; wild fowls and fish, corn and squashes; for yourselves only, and not for white men. To them I have given Oxen, Cows, Sheep, and all other domestic animals, for themselves only; therefore, you are not to keep any of their animals, nor any living thing made for them. You are not to plant more corn, than you want for your own use; you must not sell it to them unless they are starving, and then only by measure, lest they cheat you. When you plant, you must help each other, and then the Great Spirit will give you good crops.
My Children! I made all the trees of the woods. The maple tree I made, that you might have sugar for your children. I love the maple tree, which you spoil and give pain to (for it has feeling like yourselves) by cutting it too much, to make sugar for the Whites. They have another sugar, which I made for them. If you make more sugar than you want for yourselves, you shall die, and the maple tree shall yield no more water. If a white man needs a little sugar, you may sell him very little; but always by weight.—But even this I dislike, because it burns your kettles, which you must not destroy.
My Children! You must pay the Whites only half their credits; because they cheat you. You may sell them only peltries, canoes, gums, &c. but no wild meat. . . . You may give them a little dried meat, without any bone; because they burn the bones, so that the animals cannot come again on the earth. This is the reason why they are so few and so lean. You complain that the animals are few on the earth. How can it be otherwise, when you destroy them yourselves. You take only their skin, and leave their bodies to rot. When I pass by and see them thus, I take them back that they come no more to you again.
My Children! You must not dress like the Whites; but pluck out your hair, as in former times; and wear the feather of the eagle on your head. And when it is not too cold you must go naked, (excepting your breech-cloth) with your bodies painted, &c. When I see you thus, I am well pleased.
COURTSHIP, MARRIAGE, &c.
[Here the Prophet goes on to prescribe rules to be observed in courtship and matrimony. He forbids their women to live with a white man, unless they are lawfully married. "But" adds he "this I dislike. Let the whites marry only whites, and the Indians marry Indians. Because I made you to be two distinct people." When they marry, they must be of mature years, and of nearly equal ages.]
* * *
"My Children! When you dance you are not to dance the Ouabanna, nor the Poigan or pipe dance [social dances.] I did not place you on the earth to dance these dances. When you dance you are to be naked, and painted, with your feather on your head, and dance among yourselves, holding the Poigamaugan, [war club] or some other club, in your hands; and then I shall look on with pleasure.
My Children! You are to make for yourselves PAKATOUANACS (or Crosses,) which you are always to carry with you; as it pleases me to see you play at that game. Your women must have handsome Pasaquanacs, that they may play also; for I made you to amuse yourselves. You are not to beat your wives. If you strike them with your fist, or kick them, the part which touches them will be wanting to you when you are gone from this life. If you punish them, use a small switch, and have pity.
[He directs them to keep but one dog each, because by keeping too many they starve them. At their feasts and councils they must not use fire procured from flint and steel; but as they formerly did—(probably by friction.) And they are strictly forbidden to fight and kill each other; but enjoined to cultivate friendship and union among their several tribes, and, on no occasion, to smoke pure tobacco.]
* * *
Now My Children, I charge you not to speak of this talk to the whites; and every Indian village must send me two deputies, to be instructed, lest they be cut off from the face of the earth. The world is not as it was at first, but it is broken, and leans down; and those that are on the slope, from the Chippewas, and further, will all die, if the earth should fall; therefore, if they would live, let them send to me two persons from each village, that they may be instructed, so as to prevent it."
NOTES.
The prophet says the Great Spirit opened to him a door, and shewed him all wild animals, very large and fat—and said "Look!—these are the animals I made, when I created you."—He then opened another door, and shewed me all wild animals very small and lean. "Look! said he again—These are the animals you now have on earth."
Men with hats.—The French were the first Whites seen by the Western Indians, and were called by them the men with hats. They are, in general, more partial to the French than to any other nation. It is a remark, I have heard more than once by traders, that these western savages " love the French, respect the English, and hate the Americans." But they certainly fear us more than both the others; and this alone has kept them quiet so long.
* * *
PAKATOUANACS, Heavy batts—for playing a kind of wicket ball, an athletic game common among the Savages, and well calculated to give them strength and agility.
PASSAQUANACS—These also are Ball-Sticks for the use of their women; two balls are tied together by a thong about six inches in length, and by these sticks they are thrown at a certain goal; and sometimes at each other, when they are used for defence and to catch the balls. This game has the same object as the other; to render them more hardy, active and athletic.
On receiving the above Talk, it was communicated to his Excellency Governor HULL, with a letter, of which the following is an extract.—It may serve to shew what views were then entertained of this impostor, and his designs.
"Extract of a letter from the Commanding Officer, at Fort Michilimakinak, to his Excellency Gov. Hull, dated May 20, 1807."
Sir,
I have thought it my duty to state to your excellency, that there appears to be an extensive movement among the SAVAGES of this quarter, which seems to carry with it much of the dark and mysterious. Belts of wampum are rapidly circulating, from one tribe to another; and a spirit is prevailing, by no means pacific. What I have been able to learn, through sources to be relied on, leaves little room for conjecture, as to the object of their hostile dispositions; and the enclosed Talk, which has been industriously circulated, and which seems to have had considerable effect on their minds, needs no comment.
It ought to be observed, that this Talk is freely communicated in open council, where old and young, of both sexes, are allowed to assemble. There is, however, another Talk, known only in the private counsel of the chiefs and warriors. From the letter and spirit of the former, we may infer the complexion and views of the latter. There is certainly mischief at the bottom:— And there can be no doubt in my mind, but that the object and intention of this MANITOU, or second ADAM, under the pretense of restoring to the Aborigines their former independence, and to the savage character its ancient energy, is, in reality, to induce a general effort to rally—and sooner or later to strike, somewhere, a desperate blow. I cannot say, that I apprehend an immediate attack. Perhaps my character as a soldier, might be called in question, were I to admit the possibility of a thing, which to me would deem so improbable; but, aware, as I am, of the insidiousness and treachery of these people, I have thought it no more than prudence to watch their motions—and to be in constant readiness to receive them, either with the olive-branch, or the bayonet, as circumstances might require.
Many fabulous and foolish stories are circulated, to impress the idea of their GREAT PROGENITOR'S Divinity and Mission:—But whether he is, really, the Envoy of Heaven, or only an EMISSARY from the Cabinet of ST. CLOUD—I would not presume to decide.
He is represented, as being seen only on an elevated scaffold, sitting or kneeling on a cross, and in a constant attitude of devotion. It is even said he can fly—and that the multitude of his disciples, who visit him, are miraculously fed by a profusion of wild animals, which are thronging about him for that purpose.—All this is eagerly swallowed—and the severe denunciations of his penal code terrify them at once into an adoption of his Creed. This new system is so artfully interwoven with their ancient superstitions and their modern prejudices, that they receive the whole with a religious enthusiasm.
The Herald, or Preacher, of this new religion here (LEMAIGOUIS) is brother to the principal chief in this quarter. He has gone to Lake Superior to initiate the savages there into its mysteries, and is expected to return to L'Arbre Croche immediately, when, it is said, he is to be met by all the War Chiefs, to whom he is to communicate something further. . . .
I have not a doubt but securing him, and immediately calling together the C HIEFS, in order to open their eyes to the real views of this impostor, will be the means of preventing at least the Chippewas and Attawas of this part of the country from entering into the combination, that is either formed or forming, as I believe, against our people and government."
[From "The Indian Prophet and His Doctrine," The
Pennsylvania Gazette, 11 March 1812. [Editorial insertion that appear in square brackets are from the original printing—
Ed.]]
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| 2. For what audience was the document written? |
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| 3. What do you find interesting or important about this document? |
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| 4. Is there a particular phrase or section that you find particularly meaningful or surprising? |
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Connection |
| 5. What does this document tell you about life in this culture at the time it was written? |
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