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Class Date: September20th
Location: Your couch! See your weekly e-mail for Zoom link!
Looking Way Back
Looking Way Back
This week we are looking at the life of Molly Brant and the conflict between Indigenous peoples and encroaching English colonists. Before our class, let’s take a look at the events of the time
1507 - America gets its name
Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci proposed the radical idea that the lands Columbus and Cabot had encountered were actually a separate continent. A mapmaker named Martin Waldseemüller created a map of the proposed new continent, labeling it as “America”, using the latinized version of ‘Amerigo’.
1595 - Pocahontas is born
The subject of much debate and even a Disney movie, this young native woman’s life was far more complicated than worrying over animal sidekicks. In fact, she was instrumental in relations between the powerful Powhatan Chiefdom that included more than 30 Algonquian speaking tribes. To read more about her life and involvement with the English, click here: https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/pocahontas-her-life-and-legend.htm
1607 - The English settle at Jamestown
104 Englismen and boys arrived in North America on the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery to start a new settlement. They named Jamestown, Virginia, after King James I.
The Virginia Company had sent along instructions for where to settle and who would serve as the council members for the new outpost. Unfortunately, the death tolls were high, largely due to drinking from the salty/slimy portion of the river and bug-born diseases. Luckily for the settlers, Chief Powhatan sent gifts of food to help the starving and ill settlers, saving the settlement from complete disaster.
1620 - The Mayflower arrives
A group of 120 English settlers arrive to establish another colony, which they name Plymouth, the name of their port of departure in England. To read more about the establishment of Plymouth, click here: https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/plymouth
1622 - Powhatan Natives attack English settlements
Though the colonists and Powhatan Confederacy had established peace in 1614, colonists continued to spread out from their initial settlements, encroaching on Powhatan territory, stealing food, abusing people, and allowing livestock to destroy crops and sacred sites. The swift and successful attack on the colonists was meant to demonstrate the military might of the Powhatan Confederacy and encourage the English to leave the area. The surprise attack resulted in the deaths of 347 colonists and launched the Second Powhatan War, which lasted until 1626.
1639 - Mail delivery has a cost
Richard Fairbanks, who was responsible for delivering mail in Massachusetts, is allowed to charge a penny a letter for delivery.
1650 - Colonial population growing
It’s estimated that the colonial population of the Eastern seaboard was roughly 50,000.
1744 - Treaty of Lancaster
Onondaga hoyaneh (chief, or Tadadaho) Canasatego addresses English colonists at the signing of the Treaty of Lancaster between the Haudensaunee and colonists. He reminds them that “whatever befalls you, never fall out with another.”
1751 - The Liberty Bell first rings
The bell was ordered from the Whitechapel Foundry in London. However, the bell cracked on its first test ring. John Pass and John Stow, local metalworkers, melted the bell and recast it. The bell was used to call lawmakers to meetings and townspeople together to hear the reading of the news. Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1755, “Adieu, the Bell rings, and I must go among the Grave ones and talk Politicks”. The bell began to be recognized as a symbol of liberty in the 1730s.
It developed a thin crack sometime in the 1840s, after nearly 90 years of use. In order to repair the bell and restore its tone, metalworkers used a technique called ‘stop drilling’, in which they drilled into the bell over 40 times to widen the crack into what we see today. The repair ultimately failed, as another fissure developed and the bell was silenced.
Though no living person has ever heard the Liberty Bell ring, students from Pennsylvania State University came up with a digital recreation of the bell and believe they replicated the sound of the bell as it would have rung for Ben Franklin and his contemporaries. You can listen to it here:
1763 - Proclamation of 1763
After securing victory over the French, the British government recognized the increasing agitation of the Native populations of the Eastern seaboard. The native tribes were concerned that continued westward expansion by the colonials would drive them from their lands. The British Proclamation declared a boundary line for colonial settlement, even ruling that settlements beyond the boundary must be abandoned.
Many Native tribes had previously aligned with the French, but in an attempt to build peaceful relations, the British government inflamed the sentiments of the colonists.
1765 - Coverture traditions are encouraged
Sir William Blackstone published Commentaries on the Laws of England that encouraged colonials to follow the tradition of “coverture” - the idea that once married, a woman’s property belongs to her husband and she ceases to have any legal rights. Coverture was brought over by British colonists, who practiced English Common Law, which also removed the legal rights of married women.
1773 - Phillis Wheatley publishes her poetry
Phillis publishes Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, in London, England. Her book also becomes popular in the colonies, though many struggle with the clear illustration that enslaved African Americans have souls, minds, and thus deserve human treatment and liberty.
Recommended Reading
Recommended Reading
To read more about this period, here are some great books to get you started:
For Kids:
Who Will Win? By Arihhonni David
Bear has fast legs. Turtle has a fast mind. Who will win the race? A fun Native American tale that kindergarteners and first graders can read on their own.
Ready, set, go!
Bear will go over the ice.
Turtle will go under the ice.
Bear runs fast.
But where is Turtle?
When a quick-footed bear and a quick-witted turtle race across a frozen lake, Turtle has a secret plan to win! Written and illustrated by Mohawk author-illustrator Arihhonni David, this easy reader based on a Native American tale combines exciting storytelling and easy-to-read language.
The Corn Chief by Karen Whetung
A story of hard work, perseverance, developing leadership skills, and reaching your goals!
With the wizened old chief set to step down, young Linny dreams of being chosen as his replacement. As she struggles to pass his test, Linny learns with the help of her family what it really takes to become chief... in the most unexpected way.
This story is told with the help of traditional corn husk dolls. Corn dolls protect the home, livestock, and personal wellness of the maker and their family. Corn husk dolls have been made in some Indigenous cultures since the beginning of corn agriculture more than one thousand years ago, and continue to be made today.
Medicine Wheel Publishing publishes culturally authentic Indigenous books that invite all children, youth and adults to engage and participate in culture with authenticity and respect. In all of Medicine Wheel Publishing books, every word and image has the explicit approval of the Indigenous Storytellers and Elders connected to the story. Through an award-winning relationship-based publishing program, Medicine Wheel Publishing offers a process that is culturally sound and authentic.
For Adults:
Molly Brant: Mohawk Loyalist and Diplomat by Petty Dymond Leavey
Molly Brant, a Mohawk girl born into poverty in 1736, became the consort of Sir William Johnson, one of the wealthiest white men in 18th-century America. Suspected of being a spy for the British during the American Revolution, Molly was forced to flee with her children or face imprisonment. Because of her ability to influence the Mohawks, her assistance was needed at Fort Niagara, and she found refuge there.
A respected Mohawk matron, Molly became a vital link between her people and the Canadian Indian Department. Like her brother Joseph, she worked hard to keep five of the Six Nations on the side of the British throughout the war, believing the empty promises that all would be restored to them once the conflict ended. Although she was seen as fractious and demanding at times, her remarkable stamina and courage gained the respect of the highest levels of Canadian government.
Joseph Brant, 1743 - 1807: Man of Two Worlds (The Iroquois and Their Neighbors) by Isabel Thompson Kelsay
Joseph Brant, 1743 - 1807: Man of Two Worlds (The Iroquois and Their Neighbors) by Isabel Thompson Kelsay
This is a major historical biography of the great Indian figure from the Revolutionary War period. Kelsay calls Joseph Brant the "most famous American Indian who ever lived"—a claim which she supports with her book. The result of some thirty years of research and writing, Joseph Brant provides a total picture of Indian life in northeast and mid-America at the end of the 18th century. Kelsay presents the reader with a wealth of characters and recreates in rich detail the historical period, its mood, and atmosphere. Educated into European culture, Brant belonged everywhere—and nowhere. Born in a bark hut, he died in a mansion. A "common Indian" among an aristocracy-ridden people, he married power (his wife was the head woman of the Mohawks) and came to be resented as "too great a man." He built churches, befriended missionaries, translated a prayer book into Mohawk—and voiced scandalous doubts about the Christian religion. Though he was called the "Monster Brant," he was merciful in warfare. He worked all his life for the good of his people. His position and prominence brought him into contact with most of the major figures of the period, including George Washington, George Ill, Aaron Burr, Sir William Johnson, even a traveling James Boswell. His best friend was an English duke. His enemies were legion. Washington tried to bribe him, his own son tried to kill him, and many of the Indians hated him. It was his tragedy to preach an unattainable unity to tribes torn by jealousies and ancient feuds.
Works Cited
Works Cited
https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2016/07/how-did-america-get-its-name/
https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191736810.timeline.0001
https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/a-short-history-of-jamestown.htm
https://www.worldhistory.org/Indian_Massacre_of_1622/
https://pacificu.libguides.com/c.php?g=1050460&p=7794169
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Native-American/Native-American-history
https://pages.nativehope.org/reflecting-on-our-foundations#understanding-native-tribes
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