The Forced Removal of American Indians from the Northeast

Between the settlement of the Pilgrims in New England in 1620 and the 1850s, native Indians were forced to move west of the Mississippi River. In the process they surrendered, mainly reluctantly, their claims to 412,000 square miles of land east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River and the Mason-Dixon Line. Relying on the words of those involved and pertinent documents, this study gives insight into the thoughts and attitudes of those demanding the movement and the efforts of the Indians to remain. The changes in governmental policies that came about as a result of the Revolutionary War are noted as is the incremental weakening of the Indians as the avalanche of settlers moved west. Attention is given to the policies of George Washington and his secretary of war, Henry Knox, in the early years of the United States.

David W. Miller is a retired naval officer, Department of Justice attorney and federal administrative law judge. The author of three other books, he lives in Springfield, Virginia.

David W. Miller
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 223
Bibliographic Info: 13 photos, 14 maps, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2011
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6496-8
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8705-9
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1

1. Kingdom of Saguenay (1497–1543)      3

2. Iroquois Conquests (1580–1653)      6

3. Jamestown, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay      11

4. Destruction of the Pequot      17

5. Next Were the Narragansetts      21

6. King Philip’s War      25

7. The Fur Trade and Struggles Between the French, English, and Indians (1641–1753)      32

8. Pennsylvania (1681–1754)      41

9. Iroquois Route to the South      48

10. Who Owns Land in the Ohio River Watershed      53

11. French and Indian War (1755–1763)      58

12. War’s Aftermath in the North (Pontiac’s War 1763–1764)      65

13. Proclamation of 1763, Lawlessness, and the British 1764 Offensives      71

14. Frontiersmen Out of Control and the 1768 Treaty at Fort Stanwix      75

15. Land Schemes      79

16. Dunmore’s War      83

17. Early Kentucky Settlements      88

18. A New Force Emerges      91

19. The Northern Frontier During the War Years      93

20. Indians Betrayed      101

21. Kentucke (1782–1792)      104

22. Defining Indian Boundaries in the Six Nations and North of the Ohio      109

23. Chaos in the Northwest      116

24. The Ohio Company      120

25. Negotiating for an Indian Boundary for the Northern Tribes      124

26. Washington’s First Offensive in the West Flounders (1790)      131

27. Another Failure (1791)      140

28. Mad Anthony Prepares (1792–1793)      147

29. Mad Anthony Prevails—Treaty of Greenville (1794–1795)      153

30. Taking Over the Northwest Territory (1801–1819)      163

31. More Indiana Land Ceded and the War of 1812      170

32. Mopping Up in the Lower Northwest Territory (1817–1847)      175

33. Lead Mines and the Black Hawk War      179

34. Michigan and Wisconsin Through the Years 1807–1854      183

Notes      191

Bibliography      203

Index      209

“Miller…offers a detailed narrative with quotes from primary sources woven throughout, focusing on the actual words and actions of individuals, communities, and organizations as revealed by letters and journals, goverment documents, and other archival sources”—Reference & Research Book News.