At the Crossroads: Indians and Empires on a Mid-Atlantic Frontier, 1700-1763

by Jane T. Merritt

Book Overview

Examining interactions between native Americans and whites in eighteenth-century Pennsylvania, Jane Merritt traces the emergence of race as the defining difference between these neighbors on the frontier.

Before 1755, Indian and white communities in Pennsylvania shared a certain amount of interdependence. They traded skills and resources and found a common enemy in the colonial authorities, including the powerful Six Nations, who attempted to control them and the land they inhabited. Using innovative research in German Moravian records, among other sources, Merritt explores the cultural practices, social needs, gender dynamics, economic exigencies, and political forces that brought native Americans and Euramericans together in the first half of the eighteenth century.

But as Merritt demonstrates, the tolerance and even cooperation that once marked relations between Indians and whites collapsed during the Seven Years' War. By the 1760s, as the white population increased, a stronger, nationalist identity emerged among both white and Indian populations, each calling for new territorial and political boundaries to separate their communities. Differences between Indians and whites--whether political, economic, social, religious, or ethnic--became increasingly characterized in racial terms, and the resulting animosity left an enduring legacy in Pennsylvania's colonial history.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080785462X
• ISBN13: 9780807854624
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Omohundro Institute and Unc Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Critical addition to the literature on this topic

Jane Merritt makes an excellent addition to the discussion of Indians in the Mid-Atlantic region during the age of empire. This is a complex topic and Merritt does an excellent job of sorting it out. On that note this is a complex topic and this is not a book a novice in the subject would want to start with. It assumes knowledge of the Iroquois and the covenant chain as well as the Seven Years war. (See my other reviews for suggestions on those topics). Merritt's book analyzes a variety of cross sections of Delaware Indian culture and their relation with Pennsylvania's (Quakers, proprietors, and frontiersman), Iroquois, and the French. She looks at the role of language, women and religion and how these each affected the relationships between the various groups. Utilizing sources from local to state level she is able to get at a large cross section that allows for significant corroboration. Unlike many where there is an Indian view and a colonial view in this case there we have a variety of colonial sources since they each represented a different viewpoint. The book chronologically covers the famed Walking Purchase during the time of William Penn to the conclusion of the Seven Years War (French and Indian War) and how it shaped the frontier. The idea that Indians and colonists lived at a crossroads where trade dictated interactions are thoroughly explored. For those who want to gain a greater understanding of the Mid-Atlantic world in colonial times you cannot go wrong with this book.

A good reference on pre-independence America 1700-1763

Jane Merritt gives an inside expose, on the clash of cultures in the Mid-Atlantic frontier(Delaware,Pennsylvania,Virginia etc.). The early relationship between a young Colonel George Washington of England and the Delawares is highlighted. The initial interaction between Washington and the Delawares, was poor. This lead to early military defeats to the French. The dynamics of the 7 years war, which changed the harmony of this region dramatically, is examined. The odd antagonistic relationship between the Delawares and the Iroquois 6 Nations is analyzed to the fullest. It appears the Iroquois sold Delaware land inappropriately (walking purchase Treaty). You will gain insight into famous chiefs such as Delaware chief Shingas and chief Teedyuscung. The shrewd business dealings of the European settlers is analyzed. You are made aware how simple semantics could misconstrue entire Treaties and agreements. Overall this book does a good job in clarifying, certain key points, in a very complex period, in American history.