The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650 - 1815

The American revolution resulted in the return of an expansionist power to the pays d’en haut and an increase in violence. The Americans sought revenge for the raids committed by British-backed Algonquians. Algonquians also tried to keep Kentucky out of American control. As a result, the Americans sent invasions into the region to deal with the situation, such as that led by George Rogers Clark in 1778. As a Kentucky land speculator, Clark sought to protect the new settlements threatened by Indigenous raids. However, once in Kaskaskia, he began following the French methods of interaction with the Algonquians because of their prior success in the region. His success in the pays d'en haut largely came from his presentation of the commonalities of life shared by the Algonquians, French, and Americans in the backcountry. His propensity toward using fear and violence aligned him with the Algonquian idea of a war leader but also meant that his position was unstable. Opposing Clark in the colonial struggle for dominance was the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, Henry Hamilton. While Hamilton engaged with the Algonquians and their rituals, his reliance on British protocol caused issues with their alliance.