Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa, Myth and History

I. Tecumseh's Death and His Mythologizing

A. Death's Blessings--in many ways, the death of Tecumseh helped solidify his standing, particularly since his death freed him of the responsibility for the military pursuit he was attempting to promote. This phenomenon can be seen in the careers of many "great Americans."

1. Abraham Lincoln--Lincoln's assassination came just a week after the victory of the Union over the Confederacy, and has meant that he has received much of the credit for that victory. His death also meant that he avoided the difficulties that presented Andrew Johnson so many difficulties, including the political problems with the Radical Republicans (which Lincoln undoubtedly would have faced as well).

2. Contrast with Ulysses Grant--by way of contrast, Grant was a great hero at the end of the war--so much so that the country (or, at least, the Republican Party) turned to him to be president after the conflicts of the Johnson years. But his two terms as President were marked by corruption, which has damaged his reputation.

3. Tenskwatawa--Essentially, Tenskwatawa bore the brunt of Tecumseh's defeat. The Battle of Thames took place in early October 1813. With the defeat, keeping approximately 1,000 Native Americans became the responsibility of Tenskwatawa alone. He was able to accomplish this, but the history books have not seen fit to recognize this as much of an accomplishment. Instead, the post-war narrative of Tenskwatawa's story emphasizes his return to drink, his turn to accommodationist politics after his return to the United States, his failure to realize his dream.

II. Inevitably and Historical Contingency

A. Historical Inevitability--the trend of the study of history until recently was to argue that historical events happened because it was inevitable that they happen that way--that, in fact, there could be no other outcome. This argument has a lot of intuitive power. It is difficult to imagine different outcomes, because those outcomes did not in fact happen--and it is easy to believe that these outcomes were some way destined to happen.

B. Historical Contingency--Most historians today argue for the idea of historical contingency--that events in the past happen for specific reasons, but that at the same time these reasons shift in importance as our relationship to the past changes; we come to see particular causes become more important than others. Historians today also favor arguments that recognize the role that accident plays in historical events

C. Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa--The brothers were reacting to the circumstances that they saw threatening their traditional way of life. To combat this threat, they used both aspects of traditional culture, and innovations they created, to try to achieve this. While recognizing that ultimately this effort failed, it is important to recognize how close it came to working. While circumstances ultimately worked against them, the brothers refused to accept that they could not change those circumstances.

Written Assignment 16

The first written assignment asked you to define "great." Has what you learned in this class caused you to revisit that definition? Do Tenskwatawa and/or Tecumseh meet that definition? Why, or why not?

Written Assignment 15

The assigned readings for this course, particularly R. David Edmunds The Shawnee Prophet and John Sugden's Tecumseh: A Life were the opening of an effort to reinterpret the lives of Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh. As such, they both broke new ground, and re-hashed old arguments. From what you have learned during this course, I would like to to assess both books--what new interpretations did the authors put forth, and what interpretations did they continue to accept as true? Do you agree with their choices? Why?

Written Assignment 14

Primary sources are the life's blood of history, but can often mislead as much as enlighten the study of events. This phenomenon we have discussed at various points in the semester when we talked about the reinterpretation of historical sources. Using primarily the documents provided during lectures on this blog, in what ways have the documents there enlightened our study of Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh--and in what way have they misled historians?

The War of 1812

I. Reasons for the War

A. The War Hawks--a relatively small group of Congressmen--all of them too young to have participated in the War of Independence--forced the issue on the Madison administration.

1. Unpopularity of Madison--Republican politicians did not trust Madison (who was, after all, a reformed Federalist). Madison, while a brilliant political theorist, was far less successful as a politician. A group of War Hawks called on Madison in the new Executive Mansion, and threatened to nominate another candidate against Madison if he did not agree to support the declaration of war.

2.Expansionary Ideology--the War Hawk were among the earliest proponents of the idea of Manifest Destiny, and looked not only to add land in the Northwest and the Southwest--but in Canada, as well.

B. Opposition to the war--the position of the War Hawks was in the minority, compared to the rest of the country.

1. New England--Much of the opposition to the war between the United States and Great Britain was centered in New England. This region had the closest cultural ties with Great Britain, and also the closest economic ties; much of the trade of the region was directly tied to Great Britain, and people in the region realized that a war would disrupt that trade. Religious ties between England and New England led to mutual recriminations against the Roman Catholics/atheists in France, as well.

2. Great Lakes Region--Surprisingly, support for the coming war was rather soft in this region, as well. In part, the reasons for this lack of support was that many thought (rightly) that much of the war would be fought in the region, which threatened their property and lives. The enthusiasm generated for the war in the region mainly came from politicians, who saw a successful conclusion to the war as a means of building political support.

3. The Old Southwest--perhaps the greatest general support for the war among the citizenry was generated in the Old Southwest (Tennessee, western Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana), who saw this as a mean of expanding slavery, and therefore economic opportunities for whites. The southwest also had a charismatic leader at the head of the militia, Andrew Jackson, who inspired greater confidence in his forces.

II. Rebuilding the Coalition (Again)

A. Re-emergence of Prophetstown--within weeks of its destruction, Prophetstown was being rebuilt, and Native Americans were flocking there to hear what the Prophet had to say--and many were joining the movement. Harrison's attack on Prophetstown had sown the seeds of renewal for the movement, as it became apparent to most observers.

1. Resurgent numbers--before the outbreak of hostilities, there were probably somewhere between 5000 and 8000 Native Americans present at Prophetstown--and this would not have included  the group of warriors now under the command of Tecumseh, who by this time had returned from his southern journey and traveled to Amherstburg to obtain supplies, largely weapons, for this warriors.

III. Fighting the War

A.The Ohio/Kentucky/Michigan militia--most of the US forces were temporary soldiers--members of the militia, who generally elected their officers, and often were not well-schooled in military tactics. During this war, as well, some called into question the authority of the officers--or even the President himself--to send them to fight in a foreign county.

B. Fall of Detroit--a force under the command of William Hull, governor of the Michigan Territory, surrendered the fort and the city to forces under the joint command of Gen. Isaac Brock, in large part because of his fear that defeat (which seemed inevitable to Hull) would mean a general massacre of the residents of Detroit without the British protection that he was able to procure.

C. Battle of Lake Erie--the decisive battle of the entire war. When Perry defeated to naval fleet, it meant that the war in the interior turned in favor of the Americans, who could suddenly supply their army, and the British forces could not obtain supplies

D. Battle of the Thames--Isaac Brock had been killed earlier in the was (after the surrender of Detroit), and was replaced by Colonel Proctor. Proctor, upon hearing about the loss on Lake Erie, decided (rightly, in my opinion), that his position at the western edge of Canada was untenable, and decided o retreat toward York (present day Toronto). Tecumseh challenged Proctor to remain and fight, but to little avail. British forces abandoned their Indian allies, and Tecumseh was killed during the ensuing battle.

The Aftermath of Tippecanoe

I. American Victory?

A. Harrison Defending His Decisions--With the Native American reaction to what they perceived to be an unprovoked attack on Prophetstown, the decision of Harrison to lead a large unit against the settlement there (and not immediately attack) was called into question.



B. Band of Brothers


C. Harrison's Continued Defense


...continues into January 1812...



D. The Disposition of the Native Americans After the Attack on Prophetstown



E. Harrison in Command

The War of 1812

The War of 1812

Written Assignment 13

Students of history often struggle to figure out not only why events happened, but also what exactly took place. This has certainly been the case with the Battle of Tippecanoe. Because this was portrayed as a great victory for the United States from the 1830s on, all evidence that the outcome was a bit more problematic was largely ignored until quite recently. Why is this the case? Is there always only one answer to explain a historical event--or do we need to find ways to incorporate  new narratives of these events? Your 2-3 page answer is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, April 19.

The Battle at Tippecanoe

I. Growing White Dissent

A. Harrison's Continuing Political Problems--the anger the 1809 Ft. Wayne Treaty caused among Native Americans was felt throughout the lower Great Lakes region, and helped fuel the continued opposition to Harrison's policies.

1. Accusations of Unfair Dealing--white opponents of Harrison accused him of dealing unfairly with Native Americans. This was not done out of any real concern for Native Americans; indeed, Harrison's main accuser, William McIntosh, prevailed in a lawsuit in which his attorneys argued (and the Supreme Court agreed) that Native Americans were an "inferior race" whose land was justifiably taken.

2. Accusation of corruption--McIntosh filed suit against Harrison, accusing him of negotiating the Treaty of Fort Wayne to enrich himself. Harrison did indeed benefit economically from the Treaty, but that was actually standard operating procedure at that time.

B. Emergence of an Independent Legislature--during the early years of the Territorial Legislature, members were easily convinced by Harrison to vote according to his policies and proposals. As his political base shrank, however, more opponents found their way into the legislature, and Harrison found it increasingly more difficult to persuade them to follow his lead.

C. Greater Influence of the Prophet--the Treaty of Ft. Wayne so inflamed Native Americans that the Shawnee Prophet was once again successful in gaining adherents to his cause.

1. Prophet's Inability to Control all Native American groups--As we will see in greater detail below, Harrison used reports of Native American depredations in the Illinois treaty to persuade his superiors that action needed to be taken against Prophetstown to ensure the attacks stopped--even though those Native Americans were not under the control of Tenskwatawa or Tecumseh.



2. Harrison attempts to intimidate Tenskwataw and Tecumseh



II. The Coming Conflict

A. Harrison and the Effort to increase his popularity--with the legislature in session, and no longer willing to rubber stamp all of Harrison's proposals, Harrison seems to have felt that it was necessary to abandon diplomacy and take up war. Harrison continually during 1810 and 1811 sent letters to his superiors in government of reports that the forces from Prophetstown was soon be invading Vincennes

B. Tecumseh's Return to Vincennes--in mid-summer of 1811, Tecumseh sent word to Harrison that he would be visiting Vincennes in the near future.



1. Tenskwatawa's Salt Blunder--Tecumseh made this trip to Vincennes in part to smooth Harrison's ruffled feather. Tenskwatawa seized an entire salt shipment to help feed all of the people that were showing up in Prophetstown. Harrison, of course, seized on this opportunity to send off an angry message to that village.

2. Tecumseh and Harrison, Round 2



3. Tecumseh Announces His Southern Trip.

C. Harrison Moves Up the Wabash--Harrison, determined to strike against Prophetstown while Tecumseh was away. In part, this was because Harrison had so little regard for the leadership capabilities of Tenskwatawa, and despite the high regard that a number of Native Americans held for him.



1. We Shall Remain clip.

2. Harrison claims victory



3. Prophetstown Rises from the Ashes

Written Assignment 12-Alternative

The documents presented in class during last week concentrated on the reasons for conflict between whites and Native Americans. After reading the appropriate sections of the documents, what explains the reasons for this conflict? Cite appropriate passages to strengthen your argument. This 2-3 page paper is due at the beginning of class next Tuesday, April 17.

Tecumseh the Diplomat

I. Tenskwatawa, Tecumseh, and Traditional Shawnee Roles

A. War chiefs and diplomacy--in traditional Shawnee culture--as in many other traditional native cultures--the war chief was usually in charge of diplomatic efforts; it was, after all, usually only necessary to obtain allies when one was threatened with war.

Excerpt from Benjamin Drake, The Life of Tecumseh and of His Brother the Prophet


B. Tecumseh and his diplomatic mission--Tecumseh spoke to a wide variety of Native American groups, attempting to convince them to join the confederacy at Prophetstown. While he was able to convince a number of young warriors, older chiefs and sachems were less reluctant to move there, undoubtedly worried about what their role would be there upon arrival.

1.The Travels of Tecumseh--Tecumseh travelled far and wide to make diplomatic overtures to other Native American groups to join the confederacy at Prophetstown. We know that Tecumseh had contact with the Iowa people and Lakota people in the west, and also with some Cherokee peoples in the south (including a number of dissident groups like the Creeks and Red Sticks) in the south. Many of these people the Shawnee had previous contact with in their peripetic travels before their return to Ohio in historic times. Again, these efforts met with some mixed success; Tecumseh was successful in persuading many young warriors to join the effort, but had little success in convincing whole villages to relocate to Prophetstown.

II. The Growing Fear

A. White Sense of Unease--Although depradations on the part of Native Americans was reduced under the influence of Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh, whites were on edge because of the great numbers of Native Americans taking up temporary (and sometimes permanent) residence there. This fear led Harrison to attempt to defuse the situation (one, in part, of his own making).

1. Harrison's communications with the government in Washington--Harrison spent a good portion of 1810 sending communications to Washington to attempt to persuade officials there of the danger that the brothers presented to whites in the region, which is exemplified by the following passages from Harrison's Messages and Letters



2. Harrison's communications with Prophetstown--Harrison attempted to intimidate the brothers by intimating that the US government could easily raise a force that could overwhelm the Native American contingent at Prophetstown.



B. The Prophetstown response--although we've already looked at the speech of Tecumseh last week, this is probably a good time to examine it once again, since it is obvious that Tecumseh fears little that Harrison presents:



C. Beating the drums of war--Harrison, recognizing the reluctance of the American government to act as long as the Native Americans at Prophetstown remained peaceful, began to play up the conflicts between whites and natives, and the continually insist that the Prophet was a grave danger to settlers along the lower Great Lakes.



1. Tecumseh attempts to maintain peace--

Written Assignment 12

This week's lectures revolved around the idea of adaptability in the face of change. Citing at least to examples from the source material used in class, how did Tenskwatawa attempt to adapt his message to meet the challenges to his leadership. Was he successful? Why or why not. Your 2-3 page answer is due next Thursday, April 12, at the beginning of class.

The Second Treaty of Fort Wayne (1809)

The year 1809 started badly of William Henry Harrison. The western region of the Territory of Indiana, tired of Harrison's high-handedness in the political arena, petitioned the federal government to be separated from Indiana; this meant that Indiana would not become a state in 1810, and that Harrison's political career was essentially stalled. The territorial legislature was becoming more independent, and harder for Harrison to control, as well.  For Tenskwatawa, on the other hand, 1809 started out well. His nemesis William Wells was dismissed as Indian agent at Fort Wayne, and his negotiations the previous summer and fall with Harrison had resulted in his gaining a large share of the stipend that had been exclusively the domain of Black Hoof at Wapakoneta. In 1809, after the Quaker William Kirk, was forced to leave the settlement at Wapakoneta, Black Hoof saw very little of the stipend promised the Shawnees.

I. Settlement at Prophetstown

A. Harsh Winter of 1808-1809--the winter of 1808-1809 was particularly harsh; William Well reported that snow 3 feet deep covered most everything, and that natives had been forced to eat nearly all of their cows and horses, because they could not hunt, and that they had consumed almost all of their corn from the fall harvest.

1. Continued boycott--Jefferson's boycott, begun the previous year, had failed to effect British trade much at all--except that it made prices for goods in the interior of the United States much more costly, and made it very difficult for both whites and Native Americans to obtain these trade goods

B. Sources of information--ironically, although Prophetstown was closer to Vincennes than Greenville was, gathering reliable information about the settlement at Prophetstown was more difficult for Harrison--and for historians. In part, this was due to Prophetstown being ensconced in a region where Native Americans were more sympathetic to his message--Tenskwatawa did not have to battle with an influential accommodationist chief like Black Hoof feeding information to white government officials. But it does seem that falling out of favor with the Ojibwas, the Ottowas, and the Pottowatomies also effected Tenskwatawa's influence adversely, and therefore our information about him and his settlement.

1. Threat of Indian attack--Michigan territorial governor William Hull reported that the three nations--Ojibwas, Ottawas, and Pottowatomies--were planning a coordinated attack on Prophetstown in retaliation for the events that occurred there in the fall and early winter of 1808.



Harrison was receiving conflicting information, and sending conflicting reports back to Washington. This made the federal government leery of negotiating further land concessions from Native peoples during this part of the year--another frustration for Harrison, as he saw these negotiations as a way to firm up support by whites in the territory, and a way to attract more white settlers to the region.

C. Treaty of Fort Wayne (1809)--hoping to take advantage of what he perceived to be the Prophet's diminishing influence, and to regain political momentum, Harrison negotiated a new treaty in the fall of 1809--despite constant appeals from the Prophet warning against such a move. Harrison also had to overcome a great resistance among many other native peoples, as well. Miami leader Little Turtle, a prominent accommodationist, was losing influence. A rival Miami chief, who we know as Owl, insisted that the Indians should receive $2 per acre for any land concession--the going price at resale. After strenuous negotiations, hundreds of gallons of whisky, and a promise that the Miami would receive twice what other native peoples received, Harrison was able to secure signatures of a handful of minor chiefs to this treaty.


D. Native Reaction--not surprisingly (to us, anyway--Harrison seems somewhat surprised), Native Americans returned to the message of the Prophet, and the population at Prophetstown again began growing.

E. Harrison's Appeal to Tenskwatawa--Harrison reacted against what he saw was the rehabilitation of Tenskwatawa by attempting to downplay the conflict--but emphasizing the numerical superiority of US forces.

F. Tecumseh Comes to Vincennes--in what I interpret as a serious change to negotiating strategy, Tecumseh travelled with a party of Native Americans to attempt to negotiate with Harrison.

Harrison and Tenskwatawa

I. Organizing Everyday Life at Prophetstown

A. The Village--or, perhaps more appropriately, the villages. Dwellings were set up in a grid pattern, in the European (or American) pattern, and the dwellings themselves utilized both traditional Native American styles and European styles. There was also a kind of temporary shelter for short-term visitors (called the Strangers' House), a granary, and a lodge for the Prophet to commune with the Great Spirit.

B. Popularity of Prophet's Message--the move to Prophetstown did nothing to diminish the popularity of the Prophet's message; in fact, its appeal to western Native Americans created a greater popularity. By 1810, there were probably more than 6,000 people living in the town--which meant that the largest city in the interior of the country outside of New Orleans was an Indian town. This popularity put even greater stress upon finding a way to feed all of the visitors, however, and in the short run undermined the Prophet's message.

1. Lack of Food--the huge numbers of people flocking to Prophetstown meant that food was perpetually in short supply. For those arriving later in the fall of 1808, this left them more susceptible to diseases. Losses were particularly heavy for the Ojibway, Ottowas, and Pottawatomies--but, surprisingly, affected relatively few Shawnee. This led the people who suffered the heaviest losses to suspect the Prophet of practicing some kind of witchcraft on them, and in the spring they fled Prophetstown, moving back to their home villages where they began to undermine the Prophet with their suspicions.


2. Harrison's Reappraisal--despite his lingering suspicions, upon meeting Tenskwatawa Harrison was surprisingly impressed. This was especially true after Harrison witnessed Tenskwatawa preaching (although Harrison was not converted, and in fact attempted to explain Christianity in more detail to the Prophet--at least, as he practiced Christianity)


3. Native Challenge to the Prophet's Authority--several of these new non-believers returned to Prophetstown to directly challenge the Prophet. Finding a Shawnee woman and child outside the confines of the settlement, they murdered and scalped them, to challenge Tenskwatawa's contention that he and the Great Spirit would prevent any harm coming to the residents of Prophetstown.


4. Harrison's Lingering Doubts-despite his initial favorable impression, Harrison continued to believe that Tenskwatawa was plotting with the British to create a buffer state in the Great Lakes region.


5. US Indian Policy Subverts Peace Efforts--Historians of late have placed much blame on Harrison for the continued hostility between the United States and Native Americans in the Great Lakes region--but it was in fact the policies of the United States that caused this rift.