The American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in Native American Communities

Cambridge Studies in North American Indian History

by Colin G. Calloway

This study presents the first broad coverage of Indian experiences in the American Revolution rather than Indian participation as allies or enemies of contending parties. Colin Calloway focuses on eight Indian communities as he explores how the Revolution often translated into war among Indians and their own struggles for independence. Drawing on British, American, Canadian and Spanish records, Calloway shows how Native Americans pursued different strategies, endured a variety of experiences, but were bequeathed a common legacy as a result of the Revolution.

Genres: History, American History, American Revolution, Native American, Nonfiction, 18th Century, Native Americans

354 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Colin G. Calloway is John Kimball Jr. 1943 Professor of History and Native American Studies at Dartmouth College. His previous books include A Scratch of the Pen and The Victory with No Name.

Reviews

[Phyllis Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

It kept me up all all night. This was America's first war fought on more than one front and I always had the feeling that something very large was missing from our history books. Thanks to Colin Calloway's excellent research, great organization and writing ability, the mystery has been solved.
I always wondered how bitter (French and Indian)wars could be fought, not even decades previously, between the Native Americans and the Europeans, only to have them all get along to fight together against the English King. Our history books have done us the disservice of sorting the tribes and neatly labeling them as "British ally", "American ally" or "neutral".
Memories are very long in the remote area where I grew up, just off the main battlefields of the northeast and if southerners are said to be still fighting the Civil War, northerners may still be fighting the Revolutionary War. I believe that both my European ancestors and my Native ancestors would approve of the restoration of information to our knowlege base, even if it is told in chilling and deavasting detail at times. Such was reality for our forebears: One of mine witnessed it first-hand when she was taken captive.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine overview by Calloway of how various tribes responded to the increasing pressures placed on their societies by the invasion of Europeans. It is a book about the choices that these tribes made and the ultimate consequences of their approaches. Unlike many historians, Calloway grounds his work in the understanding that the Natives had agency and were not benchwarmers while America-in-the-making unfolded around them.

8/5/2014 - The second time around with this book was as informative and enjoyable as the first in 2008. I highly recommend this book & will probably assign the Prologue and Chapter 1 for classes I teach in the future.

[Todd Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Calloway is arguably the greatest expert on Native American history of this era. He has studied and understands the unique qualities of Native American culture. In this work, he demonstrates the great variety of tribal beliefs and value systems, demonstrated by the various native peoples of the United States. This is a groundbreaking work, as it more accurately portrays Native American politics and decision making at the community rather than tribal level, and recounts the greatly different experiences of tribes during the American Revolution.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a tough book for me to get through. Calloway clearly wrote it for an academic audience, focusing much more on detail than narrative flow. He also assumes the reader has a good knowledge of the American Revolution and the basic structure of the indigenous nations. I did, however, learn a ton and am ultimately happy to have read the book. I just don’t know that I would recommend it.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this book for a college course i'm taking and its been a challenge. The thesis took forever to figure out because the author rambles on too much. Also, each chapter is packed with to much information which takes away from the point he is trying to make.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across ARIC in the bibliography of another Native American related book I had read recently.  Its Goodreads description and a few complimentary reviews led me to read it.

For a number of reasons Calloway merits kudos for a job well done.  First, he presents his arguments in a coherent, carefully laid out and well organized manner.  After a general introduction the book has eight chapters each of which describes in a thorough, highly textured way how different NA nations tried to cope with the upheaval that the American Revolution caused for them. Each one reacted differently depending on their location, past relationships with the rebellious Americans or the British, and their own internal dynamics. He ends the book with a chapter on the impact that the 1783 Paris peace treaty had on the nations and then with an epilogue discussing its legacy.
 
Second, the author bases all of this on dozens and dozens of primary and secondary sources.  Even in a chapter of 20-25 pages in length there are 75 or more footnotes.  

Third, there is no bibliography at the end of the book.  But the footnotes are very clear.  And some of them are annotated. 

Fourth, ARIC is reader friendly in other ways.  Unlike many academic books Calloway writes for the most part in a direct prose.  There are about a dozen maps and reproductions of paintings of some of the men he writes about and he sometimes quotes correspondence or speeches given by some of the people described in the narrative.  The quotations are not excessive, however.

Overall this is a very informative, readable, and engaging work for readers with an interest in Native American history.  As I will look to read more of Calloway’s work one cannot recommend it more highly than that. 

[Karen Boblett · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in American Indian history or how the American Indian fared during the Revolutionary war, this book is definitely a must read. Calloway (author) goes into much detail describing how and where the Eastern American Indian fared during the Revolutionary war. Also, he delves into the different tribes experiences during the time this war was going on.

In areas where Indians had communities there were some who fought with the Revolutionists while others hoped the British would win in order to drive the colonists out of their lands. This book goes in to great detail how the Revolutionary War affected the American Indian population. The book begins with a Prologue of what Eastern Indian America was all about in 1775. It gives the reader a whole new idea of how and where these American Indians lived, how they lived and that many were Christians going to Protestant churches.

He goes on throughout the book describing the problems of the American Indian at that time. It is more than a history book but a compilation of what, how and why things happened during that period of history.

I found this on a used book website. It was first published in 1995.

[Kirby · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book follows the events of different native nations before, during, and after the american revolution. Calloway includes maps and other visuals. it would probably have gotten another star if i didn't have to put it down so much as i got busier :[ but that's on me

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated that this book was broken into non-sequential chapters, but a deep dive into a Native group in the context of the Revolution. While the whole book was enlightening, I enjoyed learning about the refugees at Ft. Niagara, the town of Oquaga, and the Stockbridge Indians in particular.

[Philip A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for serious students of American history.

Looking at the American mythology surrounding the Revolutionary period through Professor Calloway’s research provides an insight into the War of Independence that is missing from American history.

[L.A. Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but what got me was the fact that it wasn't always tribes or "The Indians" doing the action, it was individuals. I would have loved to know which individuals they were.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Changes in eight Indian towns during late 18th century. Indians vs British vs Americans vs French vs Spanish. Not as interesting as I'd hoped

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Native Americans were affected by the American colonies revolution. Some tribes took part in the Revolutionary war and some tried to remain out of it.

[Tree Rings · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not satisfy my expectations from the title.

[Mark Singer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential but depressing reading for anyone interested in the American Revolution. The indigenous peoples lost lands, and it only got worse afterwards.

[John Nelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book covers developments in Indian country during the American Revolution, beginning in the north and continuing progressively southward until hitting the Seminoles in Florida, which was under Spanish sovereignty at the time. The author states that his objective for this book was to focus on Indian tribes themselves, rather than focus on their roles as allies or adversaries of the British and Americans. While this objective may be acceptable, the result in this book is a rather disjointed telling, with the events being described not being linked to events in the Revolution, and the reader forced to supply this connection for himself. It seems self-evident that the story of the American Revolution in Indian country cannot be told effectively without including the story of the Revolution itself, and this book serves to illustrate the point.