Choctaw

The Choctaw were Native Americans who lived in what became the state of Mississippi until they were forced to move west into Indian Territory in the 1820s and 1830s. They were expert diplomats who thrived by playing the French, British, and Spanish against each other. Once the expansion of the United States cut the Choctaw off from outside help, the Choctaw soon fell prey to the European-American demands for their lands.

Before the French and Indian War (1754-63), the Choctaw dealt primarily with French traders along the Mississippi River. When the war broke out, the British strangled the flow of French goods by controlling the shipping lanes to New Orleans, and the Choctaw drifted into the British camp by the end of the war. They found that the Anglo-American merchants trekking over the mountains to the east paid handsomely for the deerskins the Choctaw harvested in the forests. The Choctaw maintained contact with the Spanish through New Orleans, which the French king gave to Spain after the war.

When the Revolutionary War (1775-83) broke out, many Choctaw sided with Great Britain. However, in 1779 the Spanish entered the fighting against the British. Some of the Choctaw began to doubt whether the British could win and started to make friends with Spain and the United States. The British surrendered Florida to Spain by terms of the Treaty Of Paris (1783). The Choctaw managed to keep the United States and Spain bidding for their support during the years just after the war.

Spanish Florida and Louisiana were very sparsely settled places. In contrast, the population of the United States was bursting over the Appalachian Mountains. Soon, Euro-pean-American settlers appeared in the lands to the north of the Choctaw. At the turn of the 18th century, the United States built a military road through Choctaw land, which brought European-American immigrants from the East. The U. S. government also opened trading posts in the region to encourage the Choctaw to take up farming and ranching. Many Choctaw adapted to the new ways, some even using slaves to raise COTTON on their plantations. Most Choctaw were not very rich, but they began farming while still hunting for deer for hides to trade. They also maintained their diplomatic contacts with Spain to keep the United States from becoming too influential over Choctaw policy.

The trading posts of the United States also had a hidden agenda as many Choctaw fell into debt buying goods at the stores. In 1804 and 1805 the Choctaw signed away some of their land in the Mississippi Territory to satisfy those debts. This agreement cut down on hunting grounds, and small parties of Choctaw began to cross into Louisiana to find game. During the War of 1812 (1812-15), many Choctaw fought for the United States during the Creek War. However, their loyalty did not keep the European Americans from demanding more land. Even though the Choctaw instituted a regular government and farmed like European Americans, the U. S. government wanted them to sell all their land and move west.

Further reading: James Taylor Carson, Searching for the Bright Path: The Mississippi Choctaw from Prehistory to Removal (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999).

—George Milne

Church, Benjamin (1734?-1777) spy Doctor Benjamin Church was a Loyalist who passed secret information to the British before and during the Revolutionary War (1775-83). Church became involved in the revolutionary politics of Boston, making his way deep into the councils of the resistance leaders. He served on the Boston committee of correspondence, and in 1774 was selected as a delegate to the Massachusetts provisional congress. Although some patriots such as Paul Revere were suspicious, the leadership remained unaware of Church’s duplicity. Suspicions probably should have been raised in late April 1775 when Church, supposedly going to Boston to pick up medicines, was captured (he said) and taken before British general Thomas Gage. At this meeting, Church gave Gage information about business being discussed by the Massachusetts Provisional Congress and almost a full month’s notice of the plans to fortify Bunker Hill.

Events overtook Church in September 1775. General Nathanael Greene intercepted a coded letter from Church. Church claimed it was a letter to his brother, but when it was deciphered it was clear that Church was providing military intelligence to the British. In October 1775 a council of war found Church guilty of communicating with the enemy, and he was jailed at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and then sent to Norwich, Connecticut. Claiming ill health, Church later petitioned for a reprieve. Although it took several months, Church was paroled to Boston. In 1777 he left Boston in poor health for the West Indies, but his ship disappeared at sea.

Further reading: Allen French, General Gage's Informers (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1935).

—J. Brett Adams