A CONQUERING SPIRIT
A CONQUERING SPIRIT:
FORT MIMS AND THE REDSTICK WAR OF 1813-1814
Terry Witt
History and Historical Evidence: HI 301
October 14, 2013
In A Conquering Spirit, Gregory Waselkov contends that aggressive American colonization of Creek lands in what is now southern Alabama was the main cause for the Fort Mims Massacre and a continuation of the Redstick War; history seems to support this view without vindicating the action of the Redsticks which were mostly composed of Upper Creek Indians. The atrocities at Fort Mims, such as the indiscriminate killing of pregnant women and children, incensed Americans and escalated the war in the region, which later prompted General Andrew Jackson and his troops to become involved in the conflict. Waselkov appears to believe that the events at Fort Mims were unavoidable given the tensions between the Creeks and the Americans. Bad feelings had been fermenting between white settlers and Creek Indians for several decades primarily because of occupation of Creek lands and the insistence from white settlers that the Creeks adopt white traditions. In the mind of the Creeks, the battle was more than just a fight for survival; it was a struggle to tenaciously hold on to traditions and culture which the Creeks felt to be under attack by American colonists. As John Walton Caughey mentions in McGillivray of the Creeks, “Our lands are our life and breath, if we part with them, we part with our blood. We must fight for them.”1 This statement seemed to be a common theme among the Upper Creeks. American colonists and the government hoped the Creeks could be assimilated in a peaceful manner into American society through negotiations and financial enticements: “Westward expansion could then proceed in an orderly way, with Indian population retreating before the advancing American frontier or assimilating with American society.”2 The mainstay of
FORT MIMS AND THE REDSTICK WAR OF 1813-1814
Terry Witt
History and Historical Evidence: HI 301
October 14, 2013
In A Conquering Spirit, Gregory Waselkov contends that aggressive American colonization of Creek lands in what is now southern Alabama was the main cause for the Fort Mims Massacre and a continuation of the Redstick War; history seems to support this view without vindicating the action of the Redsticks which were mostly composed of Upper Creek Indians. The atrocities at Fort Mims, such as the indiscriminate killing of pregnant women and children, incensed Americans and escalated the war in the region, which later prompted General Andrew Jackson and his troops to become involved in the conflict. Waselkov appears to believe that the events at Fort Mims were unavoidable given the tensions between the Creeks and the Americans. Bad feelings had been fermenting between white settlers and Creek Indians for several decades primarily because of occupation of Creek lands and the insistence from white settlers that the Creeks adopt white traditions. In the mind of the Creeks, the battle was more than just a fight for survival; it was a struggle to tenaciously hold on to traditions and culture which the Creeks felt to be under attack by American colonists. As John Walton Caughey mentions in McGillivray of the Creeks, “Our lands are our life and breath, if we part with them, we part with our blood. We must fight for them.”1 This statement seemed to be a common theme among the Upper Creeks. American colonists and the government hoped the Creeks could be assimilated in a peaceful manner into American society through negotiations and financial enticements: “Westward expansion could then proceed in an orderly way, with Indian population retreating before the advancing American frontier or assimilating with American society.”2 The mainstay of
Bibliography: (Dictionary of Quotes, s.v. “Frederick II The Great,” [accessed October 11, 2013, http://www.dictionary-quotes.com/in-trying-to-defend-everything-he-defended-nothing- Halbert, H. L. and T. H. Ball. The Creek War of 1813 and 1814. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1969. Phillips, John. The American Indian in Alabama and the Southeast. Birmingham: Public Library Press, 1986. Stiggins, George. Creek Indian History. Birmingham: Public Library Press, 1989. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2006.