The Great Indian Wars are the armed conflicts that took place on the territory of North America in the 16th-19th centuries between Indians and European conquerors. The French, Spaniards, British and Dutch took part in them.
First conflicts
The first clashes between the natives of America and the invaders happened back in the 16th century:
- in 1528 - with the conquistadors under the command of Panfilo de Narvaez;
- in 1535 - with the French under the leadership of Jacques Cartier;
- in 1539-1541 - with the troops of the governor of Cuba, conquistador Hernando de Soto;
- in 1540-1542 - with the Spaniards under the leadership of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado;
- in 1594 - with the Spanish detachment of Antonio Gutierrez;
- in 1598-1599 and in 1603 with the formations of Juan de Onyante.
Major battles between the colonists and the Powhatan Indians continued in Virginia in 1622, and in New England in 1637 with the Pequot tribe. In 1675-1676, the British invaders begin a new Indian war with the Wampanoa, led by the leader Metacomet, and tribes friendly to him. As a resultthe number of Indians in this region decreased from 15 to 4 thousand, most of the Indian settlements were completely destroyed.
Further events
Gradually, the Europeans moved from the east coast deep into North America, unleashing new Indian wars. So, in 1675, a conflict with the Susquehanocks begins, and the Iroquois are drawn into hostilities. From 1711 to 1715, the Tuscarora War lasts, in which several Indian tribes participate.
In an effort to win the support of the native population of America in order to achieve dominance on the continent, both the British and the French make alliances with them. In 1689-1697, Great Britain and France are at war with each other not only in Europe, but also in North America. These events were known as King William's Wars.
Indians are also fighting in the colonial wars between the Spanish, French and English invaders. The so-called Queen Anne's War in 1702-1713 claims a large number of lives of Indians of various tribes. 1744-1748 - this is the time of the War of King George, which took place despite the signed peace treaty of Utrecht.
Union of tribes
The French and Indian War of 1755-1763 was the last between the armies of England and France in North America.
Pontiac.
The Indians managed to capture most of the English forts near the Ohio River and the Great Lakes, besiege Detroit and Fort Pitt. However, in 1766 they were forced to stop resisting and recognize the authority of the British crown.
During the Revolutionary War in 1775-1783, the overwhelming majority of the Cherokee Indians opposed the rebels, later these hostilities were called the Chickamauga War.
The defeat of the Indians and the allied agreement
In 1779, troops under the command of Generals John Sullivan and John Clinton sacked and burned over 40 Iroquois settlements and countless Shawnee villages. After 1787, the colonization of the northwestern part of America served as a pretext for the resumption of hostilities. In 1790, the so-called Little Turtle War began, which ended with the defeat of the Algonquin Indians in 1795.
In the 19th century, the Shawnee Indians under the leadership of Chief Tecumseh tried to prevent the advance of foreign invaders in the west of America. In November 1811, near the Tippecane River (the territory of the present state of Indiana), Tecumseh's troops fought against the troops of General Henry Harrison, as a result of which the Indians were defeated and retreated. Subsequently, the leader entered into an allied agreement with the British and attracted many tribes to their side to participate in the Anglo-American war, which went from 1812 to 1814.
Other American Indian Wars(1813–1850)
In 1813, the War of Screams begins and lasts one year, ending with the victory of General Andrew Jackson, who defeated the enemy forces near the settlement of Horseshoe Bend. In 1817, General Jackson invades Florida with his army and defeats the Seminole and their former slave allies. In 1818, the fighting ends, in history they are known as the First Seminole War.
The US Congress in 1830 passed the Indian Removal Act. It talked about the resettlement of indigenous people from the Atlantic coast to territories located west of the Mississippi River. This leads to outbreaks of new armed clashes with the Fox and Sauk tribes in 1832 (the Black Hawk War). And also with the Creek in 1836 and the Seminole from 1835 to 1842 (Second Seminole War).
In 1847-1850, the authorities start a war with the Cayus tribe in the lands of the current states of Idaho, Washington and Oregon.
Events after 1850
Fighting continues from 1855 to 1856 on the Horn River with the Tututni and Takelma tribes. At the same time, the Yakima War with the indigenous peoples of the Yakima, Yumatilla and Walla Walla is going on.
Indian wars led to the fact that all the tribes were finally relocated to reservations. Some of them (Mojave, Yuma, Jicarilla Apaches) in the southwest of the country, having encountered in battles with the regular US army, began to look for a peaceful way to resolve conflicts. But it was not given to them.
By order of the authorities, the soldiers continued a massive attack on the lands of the Indians and their total destruction. Despite the superiority of the enemy in strength and weapons, the Navajo and Apache, like other tribes, continued to fight staunchly and selflessly against regular troops. Their struggle lasted from 1863 to 1866. The outcome of this war was the resettlement of the Navajos on the reservations and the complete surrender of the Apaches in 1886.
Murder of women and children
The Comanches fought stubbornly against the European conquerors in the Great Plains, both against the Spaniards at the beginning of the 18th century and in 1874-1875 with the troops of General Philip Sheridan (Red River War).
Fighting against the Dakota tribe in 1862-1863, known as the Crow-Red Cloud War of 1866-1868, was a major battle.
The wars of the Indian tribes of North America - the Arapaho and the Cheyenne - ended with the massacre at Sand Creek in November 1864, when the soldiers of Colonel John Chivington attacked peaceful Indians, killing women and children in the process. In 1867, the Cheyenne and Dakota tribes, united, destroyed the forces of George Custer on the Little Bighorn River, but in 1877 the Indian troops were completely defeated in the Black Hills War.
Latest events
In 1871, based on a law passed by the US Congress, the authorities begin a large-scale forced relocation of the natives of North America to 118 reservations. At the same time, by defining their borders, the US authorities deprived the Indians of more35 million hectares of land.
By that time, the number of Indians was catastrophically reduced: without civil rights, they eked out a miserable existence. The final act of the Indian Wars is considered the most brutal massacre of 1890 at Wounded Knee, in which US Army soldiers destroyed the settlement of the Lakota, Hunkpapa and Minnekonzhu tribes. Moreover, the fire was fired despite the fact that the white flag was raised, and women and children remained in the camp.
Some historians say that more than one million Indians died during the Indian wars of 1540-1890, others argue that this figure is underestimated at least three times. History itself shows that the European conquerors were ready to go to any crimes and did not stop at anything to achieve their goals.
