Oklahoma History Chapter 3


 

Europeans came to the New World for different reasons:

  • Spanish - slaves, wealth, and to covert the people to be Catholic
  • French - trade
  • British - Land and make people Protestant
Colonial America:
  • Spain owned the land south of Oklahoma
  • French came into Oklahoma to explore trade opportunities with the Indians
    • 1741 - trade agreement with Commanche
    • 1746 - trade agreement with the Caddo opened up the Arkansas to trade.
1606 - King James of England gave the Virginia Company a patent to establish colonies in north America.
  • A patent is an exclusive right to create
  • May 14, 1607 - Jamestown - the 1st permanent English settlement.
    • Most of the people were thieves/beggars, often released from prison.
    • 1619 - first Africans brought to the Jamestown
Problems in the Northeast:
Several European countries had set up a colony - a settlement in a different area.
  • Dutch set up colony in New York City area, 1612.
  • Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Mass. in December 1620.
  • Sweden set up colony in Delaware in 1637.
Problems between Europeans and Indians:
Many tribes formed Confederations, groups united for a cause.

Some Indians became friends with Europeans; this caused problems among Indians.

  • Indians became involved in Europeans Wars.
Europeans believed since they "discovered" the land, they owned it.

Any war in Europe carried over the New World.

1750's - England at war with France. Spain was helping France. French and Indian War. Indians caught in the middle, they would fight on both sides. Both France and Great Britain wanted to control the ohio and the Mississippi River Valley.

 

1754 - George Washington, age 22, tried to force the French out of the Ohio valley. Washington was defeated, this as the start of the French and Indian War in the New World.

The name of the war refers to the two main enemies of the British: the royal French forces and the various Native American forces allied with them.

  • The French had Indians (Cherokee and Creek) in the south attack white settlements on the Frontier.
  • Most attacks occured on the edge of settled areas.
  • The battles lasted for the next 6 years, most battles won by the Indians.
1761 - English with the help of Indians attacked and destroyed many Cherokee towns. (This caused the Cherokees to move farther into the mountains.)

The war between Great Britain and France ended in 1763.

  • Great Britain won, and France ceded (gave up) all claims in Canada and all land east of the Mississippi river.
Spain gave Florida to Great Britain.

France gave Louisiana to Spain for helping them with the war.

Indians did not understand how Europeans could give away land that they did not own.

November 10, 1763 - English signed a treaty at Congress of Augusta with:

  • Cherokee
  • Choctaw
  • Chickasaw
  • Creek
  • Indians forced to give up land and English promised not to take anymore of their land.
At the end of the French and Indian War, French and Indian allies began to move west. St. Louis became a major trading area for the French, Spanish, and Indians.
American Revolution:
  • April 19,1775 war broke out between the colonists and Great Britain.
  • Colonists were fighting for their independence.
  • July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was approved.
    • Both sides wanted the Indians to remain neutral (favor neither side.)
    • Indians saw it as a way to regain some of their lost land.
    • Cherokee and Creek Indians attached colonists in Virginia, N. and S. Carolina, and Georgia. In return, troops from here destroyed 36 Cherokee towns, Cherokee forced to give up more of their land.
    • The Cherokee and Creek would never fully recover from their losses.
    • The colonists defeated Great Britain and began their new nation - United States of America.
Westward Expansion - Americans were eager to move west, but owned only land to the Mississippi River.

Early 1800's more Indian tribes began to move into Oklahoma. Being pushed west by white settlers and the treaties they were forced to sign.

The Great Plains become crowded with tribes.

More people competing for fewer animals, led to fighting among the tribes.

Veterans of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 were given land in the Great Plains, and allowed to settle where they wanted. This took land from the Indians once more.

5 Civilized Tribes - These lived in the Southeastern part of the U.S. Intermarried with settlers and trades. Adopted white culture, "civilized"
  1. Cherokee
    • (Originally from north of Ohio.)
    • Had moved to the Carolinas and Georgia.
    • A group known as the Arkansas Cherokee moved to Arkansas around 1808.
    • Moved of tribe would stay in Georgia.
    • East Cherokee
      • Traders and Planters
      • Imported goods from around the world.
      • (Would be forced west by white settlement.)

  2. Choctaw
    • Originally lived in Alabama.
    • Strong French influence, many French married into tribe.
    • (Would be forced west by treaties with whites.)

  3. Chickasaw
    • Originally part of the Choctaw tribe. Same customs and traditions.
    • Supported the British, broke with Choctaw who supported the French.

  4. Creek
    • 12 separate tribal groups.
    • Intermarried with French.
    • Fought with the British during the Revolutionary War.

  5. Seminole
    • Once a part of the Creek.
    • Approx. 25,000 moved into Florida in 1750's.
    • Most killed in wars with Spanish and Britain.
    • By 1763 very few left, fled into south Florida.
    • Many black slaves running from Spanish owners became a part of their tribe.