Book Review: American Creation

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American Creation by Joseph Ellis is a behind the scenes look at the sausage-making we call the American Revolution.   From Concord to the Louisiana Purchase, Ellis, a Puliitzer winning author, fills the reader in on some of the back stories of American history.   These stories make fascinating reading.   It is always amazing that we came out of the 18th century in as good a shape as we did.   

One part of the book was especially fascinating to me and that was the Indian "problem."   As Ellis points out the native Indians were not invited to the Treaty of Paris and yet it was there land that was being divided up.    The founders knew they had two problems on there hand from the get-go.   First was slavery, which they probably dealt with as best they could in the situation they were presented.    The other problem was what to do about the natives.    George Washington and others attempted to make the Indian nations into sovereign nations, giving them full status as separate governments.   Had this been successful and the borders defended, the US would have only reached about as far as present day Alabama or maybe even only halfway across Georgia.

The chief negotiator for the southern tribes, most notably the Creeks, was an unlikely character named Alexander McGillivray.  A charismatic, mixed-blooded chief of the Creeks and defacto leader and representative of the all the southern tribes.   Unfortunately, negotiations never really got anywhere as neither side really could stop the western expansion.  Settlers were pushing west regardless of where territories boundaries would have been set and neither the US nor the Creeks had enough troops or motivation to really stop the migration.   On top of that McGillivary, a crafty character was playing both sides, the US and the Spanish, against each other.    In the end the deal fell through and the US just pushed ever westward.   Significant though is that our early leaders did try and honor the Indians as full and equal citizens of the world.  I think George Washington and other founders are due recognition for trying, unlike the popular notion that they were indifferent or hostile to the natives.

What brings McGillivary home was that he lived in the panhandle of Florida and in Georgia.  One of the borders of Creek territory was my home stompin' grounds of the Ogeechee river.    I use to find lots of arrow heads along the river and always wondered about the Creeks that use to live along it's banks.       It looks like from this book that I grew up in what could have been the "Creek Nation".

A good read all in all on some of the less touted aspects of American History.