It is true, warfare with the Indians made the British colony to lurch from crisis to crisis no matter how they decided to liaise with the local communities. Colonization started after King James heard rumors from the Spanish that virgin island was full of gold and silver deposits. This made him to send his people to look for these treasures. The first expedition to the island consisted of farmers and gentlemen. The gentlemen ruled over the farmers who build fortress and figured out ways of cultivating the new land. These people were however, warned by their captain to be watchful of the natives. Indian scouts were watching the British from the shadows of the trees in the forest. They reported their findings to Powhatans and their leaders. The invasion of the British made the Indian chiefs so angry that they decided the British had to be removed from the island.
In addition to the Indian menace, the colonists did not know how to cultivate the new land. Starvation, death and cannibalism were other problems that faced the colonists. Though they tried to establish cordial relationships with the native communities in the foreign land so as to ensure their survival, the hardships they experienced were so great for them to bear. This is very well outlined when Captain John Smith befriended an Indian girl who taught him the local language while he taught her English. Smith knew that befriending the chiefs daughter would finally lead the colonists to the chief, where they would find help. He had great desire to practice trade with the local people, because the colonists were in dire need of food and other basic necessities. The first encounter the colonists had with the Indians led to their killing by the Indian warriors. This developed to great massacres for the colonists by the Indians. Strive with the Indians developed to be a dark and bloody affair. The colonists tried to make peace with the Indian, but it was all in vain.
Though the English colonists were the strongest force in the world at the time, they depended on the farmers, state militia, as well as merchants who volunteered for duty only at very critical times when the war was very close to their homes. The British colonists had formed alliance with members of the Iroquois confederacy. They provided the Iroquois with firearms and other weapons in order to strengthen their alliance.
The British colonists tried as much as possible not to go to war with the French because this could culminate to a war with the Spanish. Thus, the colonists avoided emergence of two war fronts which could have been very difficult for them to manage. They also tried as much as possible not to wage war against any local tribe as they saw this as a way of weakening their control. Britain tried to avert any war that emerged, but the constant nag of the Native Americans, particularly the Indians, was too much for them. As stated by Clarence, the colonists even formulated a plan for commercially and politically controlling the Indians. A scheme for managing all Indians affairs was developed thereby dividing the Indian territories for easier control. The Indians however, strongly resisted the British rule as they operated from the forests where it was very difficult for the British to get them. The Indians, who were by then very powerful, realized that they could no longer depend on the European allies to fight the British. They decided to conduct their resistance against the British alone without the help of any European nation. They felt that they were independent people who could fight for their sovereignty by use of force and weapons. The British on the other hand maintained that they were the rulers of the Indians. These conflicts eventually led to the emergence of the bloodiest war between the Native Americans and the British settlers in the 17th century.
2. Basing your essay upon a thorough examination of all the assigned readings, describe the core beliefs and fundamental values of those Americans who resisted British imperial policy beginning in the 1760s. How did these beliefs inform the colonists responses to British Imperial policy
British resistance in the early 1760 mostly came from the leaders in the provinces. These leaders were the initial makers of law regarding every thing. They made laws concerning the salaries of the officials debated high policies and dealt with all issues concerning taxes. These leaders regarded their administration as equal to the British parliament. According to them, the parliament was threatening their power as well as dignity. Though the provincial administration used to make local laws, not even one of the British policies could be changed by their laws. Their laws could also not alter the primary terms of the lives of Americans. Resistance movements started emerging in the 1760s due to the British rules they considered harsh. These movements were made up of ordinary people, their grievances and a very well organized provincial leadership. According to History World, the American revolutionaries believed that they were more superior to the British. The belief of being superior was the major factor that initiated resistance against the British dominance. A realization came to all the English speaking communities in America that their goals and interests were different from those of the colonists. Rebels of British governance maintained that their main aim was to protect their motherland from any invader. They also believed that it was their duty to protect the rights of Americans as well as the rights of their country. Members of the native leadership complained that the British colonists were mistreating them and had also taken their land by force. Native Americans realized that the peace they had lived with till the appearance of the British colonists was under threat. They decided that the only thing that could help them out of the British rule was fighting the colonists as a group and also individually.
The quartering act, the sugar act and the parliaments proclamation of 1763 made the natives realize that their rights were being threatened. Kelly states that they believed the rights they had been guaranteed by the earlier constitutions were being overlooked by the British. They decided that the sustenance of the frontier stability as well as peace with the other tribes required the restriction of settlement of the British west of Appalachians. This made it necessary for the British troops to be present in order to protect the British officials as well as gentlemen. British forces had considered settlement in the western regions as a reward for their hard won battles. The imposition of the Sugar Act, which required tax to be paid for all sugar imports, as well as other Acts though constitutional, greatly affected the lives of the colonists as well as the natives.
The Stamp Act which required that everything being carried out for purposes of transaction be taxed raised a big uproar among the natives. They saw this Act as an infringement of the rights that had been developed in the original colonial charters. These charters clearly stated that the parliament did not have the right to impose taxes on them without consent and fair representation. The ordinary people as well as the provincial leaders stated that they would not continue paying taxes if they were not going to be represented in parliament. They termed taxes without representation as tyranny. Without representation, these people believed that they had no say in the process of setting up taxes as well as using them. They felt that they were being taxed and nothing was coming out of these taxes to benefit them, as all taxes were being sent direct to Britain. Americans realized that without their involvement in the implementation of taxes, all their rights had been destroyed. They believed that the taxes were supposed to be used to benefit their motherland and not a nation miles away.
According to Hickman, Americans believed that if they organized themselves in masses, they could force the British parliament to overhaul its decisions. Effigies of the stamp act distributors were burned and buildings which they believed belonged to Stamp tax officials were burned. It was ordered that ground forces of the resistance be provided in every town. Americans believed that mass action would alter their plight. The natives also revolted against the British because they believed that they were independent people who did not require a foreign rule. Americans wanted to do things by themselves without being governed by anybody especially the British who were miles away from their land. Native Americans also realized that they could do without the British colonists as well as help from the Great Britain. They started manufacturing their own glass, timber, paper and paint and therefore they could no longer depend on highly taxed products from the colonists.
Washburn states that the French-Indian greatly affected the British plans to rule over the whole nation. Warriors from the local communities joined in the war in an attempt to drive away the British from their country. The British, after the end of the seven year French-Indian war made a decision to rule the whole nation, a decision which was greatly opposed by the Native Americans. The British colonists wanted to use the kings name throughout the colonies. The war made Britain to enter into a very big debt. In order to repay its debts huge taxes were imposed to the colonialists as well as the Native Americans. Each and every person was unhappy with this decision. The French-Indian war greatly affected the relationship between the colonists and their mother nations. Conflict also developed between the British and other colonists.
There were certain events that acted as the main symbols of the Americans resistance which included the Boston Tea Party, the Boston massacre, and the revolutionary outbreak of the Lexington- Concord. These movements played a very important role in strengthening the resistance of the Americans against the British. Native Americans started holding meetings to discuss the ways through which they could deliver themselves from the hands of the British. They choose representatives whom they believed could effectively deal with their problems. Peaceful as well as violent protests were the order of the day. The British colonists responded to these violent by imposing harsher rules which led to a war break out in Massachusetts. When the colonists realized that the Great Britain was not protecting their rights, they saw independence as the only option to safeguard their autonomy as well as self government.
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