What do you think?
Rate this book
Warrior Nations: The United States and Indian Peoples
During the century following George Washington’s presidency, the United States fought at least forty wars with various Indian tribes, averaging one conflict every two and a half years. Warrior Nations is Roger L. Nichols’s response to the question, “Why did so much fighting take place?” Examining eight of the wars between the 1780s and 1877, Nichols explains what started each conflict and what the eight had in common as well as how they differed. He writes about the fights between the United States and the Shawnee, Miami, and Delaware tribes in the Ohio Valley, the Creek in Alabama, the Arikara in South Dakota, the Sauk and Fox in Illinois and Wisconsin, the Dakota Sioux in Minnesota, the Cheyenne and Arapaho in Colorado, the Apache in New Mexico and Arizona, and the Nez Perce in Oregon and Idaho.
Virtually all of these wars, Nichols shows, grew out of small-scale local conflicts, suggesting that interracial violence preceded any formal declaration of war. American pioneers hated and feared Indians and wanted their land. Indian villages were armed camps, and their young men sought recognition for bravery and prowess in hunting and fighting. Neither the U.S. government nor tribal leaders could prevent raids, thievery, and violence when the two groups met.
In addition to U.S. territorial expansion and the belligerence of racist pioneers, Nichols cites a variety of factors that led to individual cultural differences, border disputes, conflicts between and within tribes, the actions of white traders and local politicians, the government’s failure to prevent or punish anti-Indian violence, and Native determination to retain their lands, traditional culture, and tribal independence.
The conflicts examined here, Nichols argues, need to be considered as wars of U.S. aggression, a central feature of that nation’s expansion across the continent that brought newcomers into areas occupied by highly militarized Native communities ready and able to defend themselves and attack their enemies.
Virtually all of these wars, Nichols shows, grew out of small-scale local conflicts, suggesting that interracial violence preceded any formal declaration of war. American pioneers hated and feared Indians and wanted their land. Indian villages were armed camps, and their young men sought recognition for bravery and prowess in hunting and fighting. Neither the U.S. government nor tribal leaders could prevent raids, thievery, and violence when the two groups met.
In addition to U.S. territorial expansion and the belligerence of racist pioneers, Nichols cites a variety of factors that led to individual cultural differences, border disputes, conflicts between and within tribes, the actions of white traders and local politicians, the government’s failure to prevent or punish anti-Indian violence, and Native determination to retain their lands, traditional culture, and tribal independence.
The conflicts examined here, Nichols argues, need to be considered as wars of U.S. aggression, a central feature of that nation’s expansion across the continent that brought newcomers into areas occupied by highly militarized Native communities ready and able to defend themselves and attack their enemies.
- GenresHistory
253 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 26, 2013
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 14, 2014
A clear and cogent analysis of eight "Indian wars" that explains that as expected white "...self-interest,...pervasive greed, constant fraud and bitter racial and ethnic hostility.. made them more to blame for these events than the Indians." that said once you are beyond the main reasons, the seconadry reasons/factors are much more varied and complex. It is in following the many multilayered secondary and tertiary factors that Mr Nichols excels.
Cultural misunderstandings (intentionally or not) played a factor. Nichols shows how the U.S. was seemingly incapable of understanding that the native american tribes were almost independent nations and would not and could not accept one appointed leader to speak for all tribes with hegemonical authority. Try this:yougather all 50 states together to sign a treaty with Russia and appoint Chris Christie ( NJ Governor)to negotiate for all the states. Do you think all would agree to what he proposed?
add to this Intra-indian conflicts that had been part of their culture for centuries. No matter what white man or any chief said these deep rooted conflicts could not easily stop.
Nichols prose is scholarly but not overly dry, and fair and impartial to both sides.
An excellent well nuanced study.
Cultural misunderstandings (intentionally or not) played a factor. Nichols shows how the U.S. was seemingly incapable of understanding that the native american tribes were almost independent nations and would not and could not accept one appointed leader to speak for all tribes with hegemonical authority. Try this:yougather all 50 states together to sign a treaty with Russia and appoint Chris Christie ( NJ Governor)to negotiate for all the states. Do you think all would agree to what he proposed?
add to this Intra-indian conflicts that had been part of their culture for centuries. No matter what white man or any chief said these deep rooted conflicts could not easily stop.
Nichols prose is scholarly but not overly dry, and fair and impartial to both sides.
An excellent well nuanced study.
March 26, 2015
I was disappointed in this book although the subtitle should have warned me away. "Indian Peoples"? While the author notes some of the unique characteristics of each Native American tribe mentioned, he seldom delves into the complexities of each tribe's culture. The interaction between settlers and the natives as the United States expanded westward was much more complex and nuanced than this historian lets on.
Want to Read
January 17, 2015as preview
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews