From Pirates to Patriots: Constructing the Oppositional Indian on the Road to the American Revolution
Abstract
Reducing American Indian violence against colonizers to "resistance" is longstanding in the historiography of Indian-European encounter. This paper locates a formative juncture in the development of the Oppositional Indian trope in three acts of colonial rebellion on the eve of the American Revolution where spirited crowds of New England men defied British authority by storming ships, overpowering crews, and seizing cargos, all under the disguise of Indians. Rather than situating this maritime crowd action at the beginning of a revolutionary movement, as founding moments in a national narrative, this essay considers them as the aftermath of an older traumatic contest for Indigenous sovereignty and dominion.
Repository Citation
Bahar, Matthew R. 2023. “From Pirates to Patriots: Constructing the Oppositional Indian on the Road to the American Revolution.” Eighteenth-Century Studies 56(2): 221-228.
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication Date
Winter 11-1-2023
Publication Title
Eighteenth-Century Studies
Department
History
Document Type
Article
DOI
https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/ecs.2023.0008
Keywords
Pirate, Wabanaki, Maine, Gaspee, American Revolution, Boston Tea Party, Playing Indian
Language
English
Format
text
