The Invention of the Creek Nation, 16701763 by Steven C. Hahn


The Invention of the Creek Nation, 16701763
Title : The Invention of the Creek Nation, 16701763
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0803224141
ISBN-10 : 9780803224148
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 340
Publication : First published January 3, 2004

Drawing on archaeological evidence and utilizing often neglected Spanish source material, The Invention of the Creek Nation, 1670–1763, explores the political history of the Creek Indians of Georgia and Alabama and the emergence of the Creek Nation during the colonial era in the American Southeast. In part a study of Creek foreign relations, this book examines the creation and application of the “neutrality” policy—defined here as the Coweta Resolution of 1718—for which the Creeks have long been famous, in an era marked by the imperial struggle for the American South. Also a study of the culture of internal Creek politics, this work shows the persistence of a “traditional” kinship-based political system in which town and clan affiliation remained supremely important. These traditions, coupled with political intrusions of the region’s three European powers, promoted the spread of Creek factionalism and mitigated the development of a regional Creek Confederacy. But while traditions persisted, the struggle to maintain territorial integrity against Britain also promoted political innovation. In this context, the territorially defined Creek Nation emerged as a legal concept in the era of the French and Indian War, as imperial policies of an earlier era gave way to the territorial politics that marked the beginning of a new one.

The Invention of the Creek Nation, 16701763 Reviews

  • Luke

    Account of Creek/Muscogee villages and leaders balancing and negotiating between three colonial powers in and around central Georgia and Alabama. Gives reasonable agency and complexity to groups portrayed by colonial records as legible nations with clear hierarchy and allegiance. Already dependent on European trade, squeezed and transplanted and resettling on town sites previously wiped out by DeSoto's visits, the population pursues their own diverse political ends in the space between over the few generations covered, a bit narrower than I hoped even while it says it right there.

  • Emily Jennings

    If you want a history of the Southeastern Creeks pre-1763 in order to fully understand what happened as British imperialists invaded their homelands, this is the one to read.

  • Brian

    The Invention of the Creek Nation by Steven Hahn is an excellent look into what has traditionally been defined as the Creek Confederacy. Hahn takes issue with this gross misnomer and tries to sort out to the extent that the Creek nation as defined by the British ever existed. It is a superb look at the internal politics and international relations of the time through the eyes of colonial records of the three European powers. The end result of this investigations shows a fractured political unit comprised of many tribes. At best there can be seen two competing states of the Upper Creek and Lower Creek however their often existed many more. Hahn summarizes much of the recent literature making this an excellent overview for those who wish to learn about the Creek. The book does an excellent job of showing the Creek perspective on politics and showing how Creek leaders tried to keep a neutralist stance in war. Overall an excellent book on this tribe and one that will be immensely valuable for not only those looking at Native American history but colonial history.