Doug Ahlgren
February 25, 2008
Chapter 4-- Indians as Slaves
The fourth chapter in Thomas Berger’s “A Long and Terrible Shadow” takes on a discussion about Indian slavery in the Americas. Berger cites a number of sources in this chapter but as in previous chapters he is forced to rely heavily on the accounts of the priests and missionaries of the time. Berger also occasionally draws from “official” records kept by the Portuguese and English governments.
Berger states early in the chapter that “It is a myth, still held by many, that there was no system of Indian slavery in the Americas. He goes on to explain that despite the common knowledge that Africans were “imported” to the Americas in a substantial slave trade, much earlier the Europeans had taken to capturing and enslaving Indians. Berger takes the position that slavery was an even more potent torture to the tribes who were subjected to it than the loss of lands or hunting rights suffered by other tribes.
Berger begins his argument by explaining to us that the two greatest slave holding states in the early Americas were Brazil, which was then owned by Portugal, and the English in what would later become the southeastern United States. He goes on to explain that slavery was a deeply rooted tradition in the Mediterranean cultures. It had long been held that prisoners captured in a “just” war could be kept as slaves. So Berger argues that perhaps it is not surprising that the Europeans would take slaves in the New World.
It is perhaps the economics of the time though that drove the rise of the slave trade more than anything else in the Americas. Berger discusses how in Brazil first it was the Brazilwood tree and later sugar plantations that created such a high demand for labor. The Portuguese having an aversion to manual labor began recruiting Indians. At first they bribed the Indians with “trade goods” and metal implements. Later as the sugar plantations began to take up more and more land the Indians revolted. The Portuguese used the resulting war as a justification for taking slaves. After this, forced labor grew ever more important to the Brazilian economy. It became standard practice for the settlers to send out raiding parties up the Amazon to capture slaves. Slavery was very hard on the Indians and Berger explains that very few survived. This resulted in the beginning of the African slaves being brought to America in the mid sixteenth century.
In North America, England had established colonies in the Carolinas whose economies were based not on the use of Indian slaves but rather on the trading of Indian slaves. The English exploited rivalries between the tribes in order split the Indians and eventually to capture, enslave, and destroy them one tribe at a time. The eradication of the coastal tribes also provided more land for settlers and the eventual sugar cane plantations that sprung up there. For the English the slave trade was less of an economic necessity but rather an entrepreneurial opportunity that provided a solution to increasing demands of the settlers for more land. There were a number of wars and Indian rebellions during this time but eventually the English prevailed and as in Brazil little remains of the coastal tribes. In the final sentence of the chapter Berger writes “The Indians of the Atlantic seaboard in North and South America are for the most part silent, the victims of a system of slavery that killed, absorbed, or expelled them within two centuries of contact.”
I believe that Berger does make a very compelling argument regarding slavery. Without a doubt this trade did exist in both North and South America. The historical records of the European governments involved and the personal accounts of those on the ground at the time attest to its existence. In his final paragraph Berger argues in a compelling manner that our modern day proof of the brutality of Indian slavery can be seen by the simple fact that despite a resurgence in Indian rights across the Americas there is little to no discussion about the rights of the Atlantic coast tribes. Berger’s conclusion is that there are simply no descendents left to tell their story. The Indian slave trade was dramatically more profound and devastating to the tribes it victimized than nearly any other hardship brought upon the Indians by the Europeans.
This topic of Indian slavery is not widely taught in our society today. Students learn about African slavery, which was also a travesty, but for the most our history books are silent on Indian slavery. Why is this? Is it because that perhaps the reality of what was done is too difficult to face even today? Or is it because there is no one left to seek justice and recognition? Most of the tribes who were enslaved were either annihilated or later absorbed into the African slave populations. Perhaps the reason we do not hear about this part of our history as much is because people have simply forgotten. Entire villages just vanished forever as a result of the Indian slave system. This is a part of history we cannot afford to forget.
Chapter 5 --- Indians as Allies
The fifth chapter of Berger’s book A Long and Terrible Shadow is entitled “Indians as Allies: The Iroquois.” Whereas the previous chapter had focused on Indian slavery and mostly coastal tribes this chapter focuses on the military power of the Indians, specifically in regards to the Iroquois on the Great Lakes whose land was sought by the English, French, and later the United States.
This chapter provides a stark contrast to the preceding chapter on Indian slavery. The coastal tribes in the Carolinas and in South America despite occasional uprising were mostly defenseless against the European aggressors. The coastal tribes were divided, killed, captured, and wiped out very quickly and efficiently. In his discussion of the Iroquois however Berger reveals to us a united Indian military power that even the mighty English and French could not stand against. He also begins and ends the chapter by discussing a “stand-off” between Mohawk warriors and the Canadian Army in the summer of 1990 just outside of Montreal. This event is used to show us that even today the Iroquois remain a proud people.
Berger begins by explaining to us that the term Iroquois actually denotes a “Confederacy” or league of Indian nations and there really is no single Iroquois tribe. Rather the Iroquois originally consisted of five tribes and later when the Tuscarora tribe was driven from the Carolinas by slavers they joined the confederacy creating the sixth Iroquois nation. The Iroquois were a very organized and powerful people. Berger explains how they lived in “stockade villages” and how the Iroquois were actively involved in alliances and wars with the Europeans powers.
However, according to Berger what is most striking about the Iroquois was their “political organization.” Berger points out how the Iroquois unlike the major empires of South America were a democratic society. Berger also speculates as have many others before him that the framers of our own constitution, Benjamin Franklin in particular, borrowed heavily from the Iroquois system. The Iroquois were a surprisingly powerful and advanced civilization for their time.
The French who were advancing into Iroquois territory and who had formed alliances with the Huron soon came to know the extent of the Iroquois’ military might. The Iroquois conducted swift and deadly raids against the French posts and according to Berger were actually able to “check the advance of French settlement.” In a feat of diplomatic brilliance in 1701 the Iroquois signed peace treaties with both the English and the French thus securing their own position and providing their people a respite from war.
Berger explains how form 1756 to 1763 during the French and Indian War the Iroquois were mostly able to remain neutral. Near the end of the war as an English victory became apparent the Iroquois chose to join the side of the English against the French. This alliance resulted in an English proclamation which forbade the sale of Indian land except to the crown. This greatly protected the Iroquois territory.
Berger goes on to tell us that during the Revolutionary War and during the War of 1812 the Iroquois continued to support their English allies. By the end of the Revolutionary War with the defeat of England the Iroquois in the United States were forced to give up their lands to the new country and migrate north into Canada. The United States also negotiated the purchase of additional lands with individual tribes further fragmenting the once powerful League of Nations. After their subsequent defeat in the War of 1812 the Iroquois were all but destroyed as a military power.
In many ways the Iroquois enjoyed the same advantages the Europeans had enjoyed in South America and the Carolinas. Being positioned between the constantly warring English and French the Iroquois were able to adeptly establish alliances that protected them and kept them powerful for over two hundred years. However, diplomacy finally failed them in the defeat of the British by the United States during both the Revolution and the War of 1812. Berger writes this chapter in a very reverent tone. Even today the legendary strength of Iroquois is admirable. They were in their time the “linchpin”, as Berger puts it, between English and French diplomatic relations. They were also a military power that the English were so impressed by they sought out Iroquois alliances in almost all of their major North American wars. It was I think their organization and political cohesion that made them so powerful. Where other Indian nations tried to fight the settlers independently the Iroquois banded together, organized their forces, and presented a unified front against which, at is height, even the most powerful nations in the world could not stand.
Date created: June, 2002
Last modified: February, 2008
Copyright ©2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 George R. Spangler