Contested Territories: Native Americans and Non-Natives in the Lower Great Lakes, 1700-1850

Old Friends in New Territories: Delawares and Quakers in the Old Northwest Territory

81 old Friends in new territories: delawares and Quakers in the old northwest territory dAWn MArsH the delawares and Quakers shared a unique history of alliance and mutual acceptance that began from their earliest diplomatic exchanges in the delaware river valley at the end of the seventeenth century and remained intertwined throughout the eighteenth century in the Lower Great Lakes region.1 the delawares, Algonquian-speaking peoples, lived throughout the drainages and tributaries of the delaware and lower Hudson rivers. the Quakers, a Protestant sect, were largely responsible for the english colonization of the delaware peoples’ ancestral lands.2 delaware leadership throughout southeastern Pennsylvania successfully negotiated and protected their homelands as susquehannock, dutch, swedish, and english interests all sought to dislodge them from the rich lands of the delaware river valley throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. the diplomatic skills employed by their leaders allowed the fairly autonomous delaware towns to thrive within the expanding web of european colonization. Providing food, alliances and loyalty, and a variety of diplomatic and communication services allowed the delawares to create a successful political, cultural, and economic niche in their rapidly changing homelands.3 William Penn was the last in a long list of foreign concerns to seek out the cooperation of delaware leaders. Penn’s well-known interest in establishing a “peaceable kingdom” was not a new idea for the delawares. their own diplomacy had already proved reasonably successful in that effort. What was new to the delawares were Penn’s methods and sincere offers of friendship, respect, and fairness. the confluence of their mutual objectives provided the foundation of a shared history 82| Dawn Marsh that both groups evoked throughout the tumultuous changes and challenges each faced throughout the eighteenth century. delaware and Quaker towns peacefully coexisted in the delaware river valley until the 1730s, when the explosion of the english population and the changes in the economic and political vision of Penn’s successors forced most delaware communities to move incrementally further north and west.4 Under these combined pressures, the unique Quaker and delaware alliance frayed and fell apart under the concurrent pressures of colonial expansion and warfare. Both would experience spiritual crises in the mid-eighteenth century brought on by both internal and external pressures. delaware and Quaker leaders sought solutions to the trials facing their peoples by returning to the traditions of their grandfathers and grandmothers, but in so doing they did not turn to the old alliances their ancestors once shared in southeastern Pennsylvania. the delawares sought to reinvigorate and renew their roles as peacemakers and negotiators, ultimately turning away from a prophetic message of militant resistance to colonial expansion. in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, most delaware communities wanted nothing more than the right to live peacefully in their new homelands in the western territories. they did not turn to the Quakers during this period, but most often found friendship and community with another religious family , the Moravians, whose basic tenets advocated pacifism and their mission to the indian peoples. Facing their own spiritual crisis brought on by the worldly interests of new generations of Quakers, outspoken leaders began to advocate a return to the teachings of their founders and renewal of their dedication to pacifism and living in “the Light.”5 they chose to exhibit their new commitment by working for peace between colonials and indians on the frontier, and as missionaries to the indian communities. From the 1750s until the era of the new republic, Quakers stepped forward as de facto diplomats in treaty negotiations in order to encourage fairness for the indians. However, they did not turn to their old neighbors the delawares in their new missionary efforts. instead they offered their agricultural expertise and instruction to the delawares’ new neighbors living throughout the Lower Great Lakes region: the Miamis and shawnees. Both delawares and Quakers responded to the challenges and crises of this period by building on the experience of their earlier alliance. this essay demonstrates that the delawares and the Quakers both valued and commemorated their historic alliance, but did not renew it. instead they both constructed new roles and alliances in the western territories. throughout the French and indian War and the American revolution, both faced numerous tests of their spiritual and political identities. But, despite their Delawares and Quakers| 83 shared histories, interests, and objectives, neither group turned to the other to renew their old...