The British government chooses William Johnson, an experienced trader and merchant, to oversee its dealings with Indians in North America. Johnson quickly embraces Mohawk ways. Often dressing in Indian garb and participating in Mohawk ceremonies, Johnson becomes fluent in the Mohawk language and fathers many children with his Mohawk wife Molly Brant. His enthusiasm for Indian life earns the respect of the Iroquois. Largely because of Johnson’s influence, they will become England’s most loyal Indian allies and provide the English with valuable military support during the French and Indian War (see entry for JULY 4, 1754). Johnson will also lend important support to Molly Brant’s brother Joseph, who will emerge as one of the most powerful Iroquois leaders during the Revolutionary War era (see entries for NOVEMBER 1775; JULY 1777; November 11, 1778; and FALL 1781).
The “noble savage” stereotype is advanced by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau popularizes the idea of Indians as “noble savages” in Discourse upon the Origin and Foundation of the
Iroquois Indians gathering at Johnson Hall, the mansion of British superintendent of Indian affairs William Johnson (Collection of the Albany Institute of History & Art)
Inequality among Mankind. Rousseau holds that Indians, largely ignorant of the ways of European civilization, live in a more “pure state of nature,” where their innocence gives them greater happiness than Europeans, corrupted by their societies, can ever achieve. For centuries, non-Indians will employ the stereotype of the noble savage to diminish the achievements and sophistication of Indian societies.
The Cherokee become British allies.
Representatives from the colony of South Carolina negotiate an alliance with the powerful Cherokee. The Indians agree to become subjects of the English king and cede some of their territory. In return, the English promise to build a fort in their territory to help protect the Cherokee from their French and Creek enemies and to supply them with trade goods at low prices. The allegiance will be shortlived: English abuses will soon lead the Cherokee to turn against their new allies (see entries for SUM MER 1760 and SUMMER 1761).
Guilty of the most perfidious, barbarous and inhuman Murders of. . . his Majesty's English Subjects; and have abstained from all Commerce and Correspondence with His Majesty's said Subjects for many Months past; and the said Indians have fully discovered an inimical, traitorous and rebellious intention and Disposition; . . . I do hereby require His Majesty's subjects of this Province to embrace all Opportunities of pursuing, captivating, killing and destroying all and any of the aforesaid Indians.”
—from a poster announcing the Massachusetts Bay Colony's Indian scalp bounties
Massachusetts Bay offers bounties on Indian scalps.
William Shirley, the captain-general of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, issues a proclamation that offers colonists cash bounties for the scalps of Indians of French-allied tribes. The scalps of male adults are to be rewarded with 40 pounds; those of female adults and males under 12 are to bring the scalper half that amount.
“Whereas the Indians. . . inhabiting in the Eastern and Northern Parts of His Majesty's territories of New-England, . . . [have] been
A French and Indian force defeat the British at Fort Duquesne.
English soldiers led by General Edward Braddock and Virginia militiamen under George Washington advance on the French Fort Duquesne, on the Allegheny River. They are ambushed by French soldiers and Indian warriors, soundly trounced, and forced to retreat. During the foray, the first major battle of the French and Indian War (see entry for JULY 4, 1754), more than 900 Englishmen and Virginians, including Braddock, are killed.
The British debacle sets the tone for the war for the rest of the year. Eager to drive the British from their lands, Indian raiders will effectively harass English settlements in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and the French will repel attacks on their forts at Niagara and Crown Point.
The Iroquois and the British force are victorious in the Battle of Lake George.
French soldiers, joined by a group of Mohawk and Abenaki warriors, lay in wait as a British-Iroquois force led by William Johnson (see entry for 1755) approaches Lake George in New York. Before the French are ready to engage the enemy, one of their Indian allies begins shooting, alerting the English and Iroquois to the trap set for them. The battle that follows ends in a British victory, but their Iroquois allies mourn the loss of Hendrick, an aged Mohawk leader who was fiercely loyal to the British. One of the battle’s first casualties, Hendrick was part of an Indian delegation presented to English queen Anne 45 years earlier (see entry for APRIL 19, 1710).