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Frontier Militia versus American Indians

One of the major points of contention between the American colonists and the British government in the aftermath of the French & Indian War had been Parliament’s ban on western settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains – known by history as the Proclamation of 1763. Though far from being the only grievance — Parliament’s interference in other colonial affairs such as taxation, currency, and civil liberties were arguably more contentious — the ban on western settlement undoubtedly irked both elite land speculators and common yeoman farmers alike who dreamed of expanding west.

Not surprisingly, in the immediate decades following the Revolution, frontier settlers eagerly pushed further west. Inevitably, they would run into conflict with the American Indians there who had inhabited the region for centuries. On some occasions, Indians preemptively attacked the new settlements, but in other cases, the new settlers intentionally provoked conflict by attacking otherwise friendly, native villages.

Such was the case on the Georgia frontier in May 1794. Acting completely independently of the War Department, a group of 150 militia commanded by Major Adams violently attacked a camp of Creek Indians who were on friendly terms with the Georgia government and Governor George Mathews. The militia was frustrated with the Georgia government’s supposed appeasement of the Creeks and were said to be “irritated beyond all reconciliation.” The Georgia militia also insisted that they were retaliating against the natives for the death of Lieutenant Hay, allegedly killed by the Creeks.

The War Department and Georgia government were outraged by the unwarranted behavior of the rogue militia, and quickly condemned it. Although the War Department was undoubtedly involved in some attacks on western Indians, particularly in the Northwestern Territory, in many cases the department had an intrinsic interest in maintaining peace between the natives and new settlers. The French and British still had a significant presence on the continent and the United States could not allow an alliance between the Indians and Europeans against the newly independent American states.

Ultimately the rogue settlers and conniving land speculators won the day — and by the 1830s there was little to no trace of the former Indian presence in Georgia and in other states across the Southwest. The United States was “destined” to expand across the entire continent and would resort to virtually anything to ensure that the American Indians did not stand in their way. Even if that meant violating the very property rights and individual liberties that the Revolution so brilliantly articulated just a few decades prior.