Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania, and the First Nations: The Treaties of 1736-62

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“Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania, and the First Nations is a fascinating work. Susan Kalter does a thorough job cutting through the thicket of intercultural diplomacy to clearly demonstrate how both Native Americans and EuroAmericans used treaties as propaganda.” — Richard Aquila, professor of history, Pennsylvania State University, Erie “An important contribution to the ongoing reinterpretations of Benjamin Franklin and of Indian and settler relations, Kalter’s new edition of Franklin’s treaties is learned and timely. The volume provides significant insight into colonists’ relations with Indian peoples in eastern North America, even as it reveals Franklin’s central role in attempting to bridge different cultural worlds.” — Carla Mulford, founding president of the Society of Early Americanists and associate professor of English, Pennsylvania State University University of Illinois Press urbana and chicago www.press.uillinois.edu Native American Studies / Colonial History / Language & Linguistics Benjamin Franklin,Pennsylvania, and the First Nations the treaties of 1736–62 Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania, and the First Nations edited by susan kalter the treaties of 1736–62 Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania, and the First Nations the treaties of 1736–62 edited by Susan Kalter This is an annotated edition of the treaties between the British colonies and Indian nations, originally printed and sold by Benjamin Franklin. Last published in 1938, Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania, and the First Nations makes these important treaties available once again, featuring a simpler, easier-to-read format, extensive explanatory notes, and maps. A detailed introduction by Susan Kalter puts the treaties in their proper historical and cultural context. This carefully researched edition shows these treaties to be complex intercultural documents, and provides significant insight into the British colonists ’ relationship with native peoples of North America. They also reveal the complexity of Benjamin Franklin’s perceptions of Native Americans, showing him in some negotiations as a promoter of Indian perspectives against colonial ones. Finally, the treaties offer an enormous wealth of linguistic, aesthetic, and cultural information about the Iroquois, the Lenapes, and their allies and neighbors. susan kalter is an associate professusan kalter susan kalter sor of U.S. and Native American literature at Illinois State University, Normal. jacket illustration: Detail from an original treaty, dated July 19, 1748, printed by Benjamin Franklin. Reproduced by permission of the Huntington Library, San Marino, California. kalter illinois isbn 0-252-03035-4 benjamin franklin, pennsylvania, and the first nations ∂ ...