In the American Revolution, Native Americans were used by both sides, but in the end they were abandoned.
The Declaration of Independence accused the British government of encouraging Indian tribes to rebel against the colonies in an effort to curtail their drive for political autonomy. This accusation, however, is both factually inaccurate and hypocritical considering the previous actions of the colonial leaders. Beginning in March of 1775, the colonies had already sent their agents to neighboring tribes as a means of determining their standing regarding a possible war. The Massachusetts Legislature organized and armed a regiment of Stockbridge Indians to serve as Minutemen in defense of the colony; also a symbolic deterrent meant for the British. Though this regiment was soon disbanded, other colonies made similar offers to the tribes along their own borders. In May of 1775, the Continental Congress dispatched agents to the Iroquois and the Cherokee whose express mission was to purchase the neutrality of these nations. Presenting close to $17,000 worth of gifts to tribal leaders, the agents warned that the coming storm was, "a family quarrel...you Indians are not concerned in it." Ironically, Sir William Johnson, the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, had already made that same plea to the Iroquois; they were more apt to listen to his words as Johnson was beloved by the Iroquois.
In contrast, the British government had made considerable efforts to keep the colonies away from Indian tribes in the years prior to the American Revolution. The Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited colonial settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains, was meant to prevent altercations and border skirmishes between the colonists and Indian states in that region. Violation of this demarcation line had been the source of numerous mini-wars; wars that formed the basis of the general sense of uneasiness regarding Indians that had permeated throughout the colonies. The royal decree was the most expedient means of placating the tribes and curtailing the raids and counter-raids that had made life in North America difficult. The British government even considered ending its policy of rewarding Indian loyalty with a tribute of guns and valuable cloth. These actions stand in stark contrast to the accusations made by the gathered revolutionaries in Philadelphia. In fact, until 1776, the year of the Declaration, it was the colonists who had made the provocative moves in arming Native American tribes for the possibility of war. Only after the war had begun, only after the Americans had made the first move, did the British once again seek out their old allies in an effort to quell the rebellion.
As fighting began in earnest, both sides employed Indian troops; both sides would subsequently throw accusations as to the other side’s conduct (and honor) in employing them. In the American Revolution, much like in every conflict on North America, Indians were tools that both sides used to carry out their dirty work. Though they fought in hopes of preserving their lands and their way of life, Indians were eventually betrayed by those they had fought for. Abandoned by the British and rebuked by the Americans, they lost much more than was immediately apparent.
