Peter Oliver Quotes

This argument, condemned by many Englishmen, was essentially, it is moral to do whatever you God made you able to do a principle that was refuted in Christianity, Judiasm and most other religions. See {620562} for Clinton’s history of white encouragement of Indian scalping.

The purpose was to persuade the Iroquois Indians to stay neutral in the coming conflict with England. Iroquois had traditionally traded peaceably & on many occasions the colonists & Iroquois had fought against the French and other Indians. The colonists appealed to their strong sense of fairness--{610960}. A Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant, had traveled to England and been educated there. He persuaded 5 of the Iroquois tribes to join the obvious winner—England. Only the Oneida joined the revolutionists. The result was a civil, fratricidal war of not only white, but also of Iroquois who had been at peace with each other since any could remember. When the colonists won, the Oneida were warmly embraced and participated in colonial life and activities. (A little over 200 years later the average earnings of the Indian in New York State exceeded that of the average white.) The other 5 Iroquois tribes however were driven from their traditional lands. They fled with Joseph Brant to English Canada.

The Indian allies of the French scalped some American colonists which for some whites was akin to the modern reaction to terrorist atrocities. The British and Americans then justified the scalping of their Indian allies as simple retaliation. While Indians had scalped before the whites ever came, the whites accelerated the practice. There was an economic element to scalping. The French “paid” their Indian allies in arms, blankets, trinkets and alcohol by the scalp as it was a crude way of “performance measurement.” Not to be outdone, the English adopted the same custom with the French allied Indians as targets. In North Carolina, for example, the “volunteer” rangers were paid the enormous rate of 10 pounds a scalp.

As an educational and military leader, he saw the importance of each in a nation’s welfare.

Oliver was the judge who tried the British Soldiers after the Boston Massacre. Most Americans believe that scalping was an Indian barbarity. Although it was new to the European colonists who came to America, they quickly adopted the practice and had similar cultural and macho symbols associated with scalps. This is one of the many eyewitness descriptions of the Whites and their scalping. The barbarity was practiced by White and Indian alike.

This speech was officially prepared and read to the six Indian tribes of the Iroquois Nation. The purpose was to persuade the Iroquois Indians to stay neutral (see {583726}) in the coming conflict with England. The Iroquois had traditionally traded peaceably with the colonists and on many occasions the colonists and the Iroquois had fought against the French and other Indians. Unfortunately, a Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant, had traveled to England and been educated there. He, following the conventional wisdom of the day persuaded most of the Iroquois tribes to join the obvious winner—England—and fight on their side. Only the Oneida tribe resisted Brant’s advice, and joined the revolutionists. The result was a civil, fratricidal war of not only white, but also the Iroquois Indians who had been at peace with each other since any could remember. When the colonists won, the Oneida were warmly embraced and participated in New York and other colonial life and activities. The relationship was so good that a little over 200 years later the average earnings of the Indian in New York State exceeded that of the average white man. The other 5 Iroquois tribes however were attacked and driven out of their traditional territories and they fled with Joseph Brant to English Canada where they have not yet fully recovered their important place in the society.

Mad Anthony Wayne. The quotation may be apocryphal, as solid, multiple confirmation has never been found.

Enemy captives were sometimes adopted by Indian families to replace a lost loved one.

Clinton was a founder of the society and considered an excellent historian. When giving this presentation he had documentation and academic references for each of the statements.

Clark’s men had English Colonel Hamilton under siege by making him think there were many more Americans in Clarks army than the real 180 or so. He tried to get Hamilton to surrender by threatening if they had to take the fort they would treat Hamilton and the British as murderers—Hamilton had paid hostile Indians for American scalps. At that point a party of Clark’s men arrived with 4 or 5 Indian prisoners who had been captured raiding
civilian farms. After the Indians were executed, Hamilton agreed to surrender.

Very few societies ever had the wealth accumulated so that they could afford prolonged military operations. In addition, long, prolonged conflicts erode morale, both civilian and military. The Afghanistan War that went on for over a decade caused both and put a great strain on the U. S. national budget.

Washington was describing the British strategy at the start of the war. The expectation was not only that of the British high command in America but was the prevailing expectation in the Court, Parliament, and the media in London. British critics of the military strategy point to this as a key reason the British lost the war in the end. Instead of waiting for the American troops to fall apart during the hard winter and gain a cheap and easy victory, the critics argue that the British should have initiated full scale attacks on the weakened and ill provisioned American soldiers.

Washington’s strategy was brilliant in that he wanted to avoid open, fixed position, European style battle. Instead, he fought a defensive war where he moved his troops and had them dig in by constructing defensive works that would be easier to defend against experienced European troops. It was only when the French forces combined with his that Washington went on the attack in the open.