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History of the Southern Indian DepartmentChartered Responsibilities of the Southern Indian Department Peace Medals issued by the Southern Indian Department Contents: Early History
(Click on the map for a larger version. It will open in a new window. Close it to return.) The role of the Native American in the Southeastern part of North America is a complex one during the period 1750 - 1783. Early HistoryPrior to the arrival of the Europeans in the Southeast, the natives of this
region had complex socio-economic arrangements that provided them with both the
political and economic base to support large, complex civilizations and
alliances. Beginning with the arrival of the Spanish in the first half of the
16th Century, these "structures" began to break down due to the
pressures of war, disease, and trade with the Europeans. As time went on, the
native people of the Southeast became more and more dependent on goods that they
were able to obtain from the European powers through the deerskin trade. By the
18th Century, this trade was fully developed and there were many whites who were
making a living through trading with the Native tribes. Another issue that came into play was that while the various European powers (Spain, France and England) were all vying to create empires in the New World at this time, none of them could afford to place or support large standing armies in their colonies here. As a result, all the European powers (and later the Americans) saw the native nations as sources for large numbers of surrogate troops during their various conflicts and spent significant (although varying) amounts on gifts and supplies for the various Native groups in an effort to keep them friendly to their cause. Prior to, and continuing into the early years of the French and Indian War, each of the English colonial Governors were given a free hand to deal with the various Native American groups as they saw fit. The results of this were what might be expected: different Governors treated the tribes differently, ranging from being vary solicitous of them and providing them with quantities of gifts, to virtually ignoring them or threatening them with military action, and the various tribes became adept at playing the various colonies against one another to obtain the best deals. The treatment that the Tribes received when they brought complaints to the Colonies about the abuses they were suffering at the hands of Traders also was less than satisfactory as often, the Traders in question were either not licensed nor else licensed by a colony other than the one that the natives were complaining to. As a result of this and other factors, by the beginning of the French and Indian War in 1754, the French were able to influence large numbers of Natives to support their side in the conflict not just in the Southeast but throughout North America. The English Crown, after suffering several defeats at the hands of combined French and Indian forces and at the same time having difficulty recruiting large numbers of Natives to assist the English forces, realized that something must be done. The Beginnings of the Indian DepartmentIn 1755, a South Carolinian submitted a report and a plan to the Board of Trade in London that shed much light on frontier conditions. Edmund Atkin, himself a Charlestown merchant in the Indian Trade, was tactless, quarrelsome, pompous, arrogant, and inept. And he did not play favorites angering whites and Indians alike. Yet Atkin was intelligent, well educated, and a good observer. And unlike many, if not most, of his fellow merchants, he believed strongly that central, imperial, control and regulation of the Indian Trade was necessary if England was to best France in the war for North America then being waged. His general approach was neither unique nor new to the authorities in London. Various proposals by well-known colonials had been submitted to the Board of Trade during the early 1750s. This plan, however, was truly the first comprehensive, well-organized design for Indian management submitted to British authorities. Atkin divided the colonies into northern and southern departments with a Superintendent for each. In 1755 Sir William Johnson was appointed as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department (North of the Ohio River) and in 1756 Edmond Atkin was appointed as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern Department (South of the Ohio River). The superintendents operated in subordination to the commander-in-chief of British forces in America. While not taking the conduct of Indian relations entirely out of the hands of the colonial governors and assemblies, the existence of these new royal colonial officers marked a significant diminution of the powers inherited and assumed by the individual English colonies. Atkin arrived in New York on October 6, 1756, received his instructions from the Earl of Loudon and then attended the conference of the Six Nations at Albany with Sir William Johnson before starting south. He was expected in Charles Town shortly after this, for Governor Lyttleton wrote to the Board of Trade on October 17, that through his agents in the Cherokee and Creek nations he hoped to be able to preserve order until Atkin’s arrival. The Cherokees, he said, were being constantly tempted by the French to take their side in the struggle, and if the Cherokee should waver, the English might lose loyalty of all the southern tribes. The Creeks enjoyed holding, “us in one hand and the French in the other … as if they meant to play between us and the French, in order to trade with and get presents from both, and if forced out of this state of neutrality to side with the strongest.” Atkin did not reach Charles Town until March 23, 1758, and in the meantime Indian affairs still remained in colonial hands. The Governor of Virginia dealt with the Cherokees living near his frontiers, but it was difficult, on account of the great distance, for him to be in close co-operation with the governors of South Carolina and Georgia. Consequently, for two years after the Crown assumed nominal control, the chief responsibility of conciliating the tribes in the far south fell upon Governor Lyttleton and Governor Ellis. In addition to retaining the loyalty of the nearby Indians, the governors had to deal with English settlers who had crossed the Altamaha River (the southern boundary of Georgia) and were therefore under Spanish jurisdiction. In 1758, with the French and Indian War then in progress, Lord Loudon decided to use the Cherokees against “the Indian allies of the French on the Virginia frontier”. He sent orders to Atkin, who was still on his journey southward, to collect them and assemble them at Winchester, Virginia. In case Akin had not arrived in South Carolina, he directed Mr. Byrd, a member of the Virginia Council, to go to Charles Town and confer with Governor Littleton. Littleton sent Col. Hogarth ahead to gather the Indians at Kiowa, in readiness to start for Virginia as soon as Byrd could join them. On March 24, Byrd set out for Kiowa. Atkin arrived in Charles Town on the 23rd and gave Byrd a message for the Indians. Byrd collected sixty or seventy Cherokees. Colonel Hogarth had found on his arrival in the Nation that from four to five hundred had already departed for Virginia. Sixty Catawba’s had also gone. Akin did not seem to realize the gravity of the situation. At a time when it was necessary to mobilize the Indians for war, he assured Littleton that he would go into their country and “take a view of the trade.” Even then he delayed his departure until autumn. This procrastination led Governor Littleton to report to the Board of Trade that Akin evidently thought that he could live in Charles Town and make only occasional visits to the Indians. In December, 1758, Atkin arrived at Augusta on his way to the Creek nation. He had not reached their country by April 14 of the following year, but was expected daily and was awaited there by a delegation of 20 Choctaws. Eventually he went to the Choctaw nation with these delegates. By that autumn, however, he had concluded a peace treaty with both the Creeks and the Choctaws and sent 60 horse loads of goods into the Choctaw nation under a guard of 180 Indians. His mission was partially successful as two Creek Chiefs promised to lead war parties against the French at Mobile, as soon as English ships were sighted in the harbor. Upon his return to Charles Town on March 27, 1760 Atkin learned that some of the Cherokees had deserted the English cause. Instead of trying to hold the Nation by peaceful means Governor Lyttleton had conducted an expedition into Cherokee country. At Fort Prince George he imprisoned the delegates who had come down to Charles Town to secure terms of peace. This show of force turned into a fiasco as the Cherokee surrounded the Fort in an attempt to rescue their delegates. The Cherokee attempted to take the fort's commander captive to use to exchange for their delegates but he was killed in the process. In revenge, the men in the fort killed the Indian hostages. Apparently, Atkin did little or nothing to offset Lyttleton's blunders and the Cherokee War exploded along the Carolina/Virginia frontier. Atkin continued serving as Superintendent until his death in 1761. On January5, 1762, John Stuart received a Royal Commission as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern Department and assumed the office. With the end of the French and Indian War came more problems for Anglo-English relations. Under the terms of the peace treaty England took Canada and all the lands claimed by France west of the Appalachians to the Mississippi River, and from Spain all of Florida. The Indians vigorously objected to the transfer arguing that the French never conquered them, nor did they purchase a foot of their Country, nor had they the right to give it to the English.
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