The French & Indian War, or the Seven Years' War
I have always been drawn to the first world war, the one that began in a remote glen in southwestern Pennsylvania in 1754 and by its end changed the look of the world in 1763. It sets up the American War of Independence, the decades of war between Britain and France -- in many ways, the modern age itself. For twenty years I attended as a vendor the annual seminar of the Braddock Road Preservation Association, and it educated and entertained me with some of the best scholars in the field. On this page I will offer new books and classics, dvds and audiobooks, and any other worthy items of the 18th century that relate to the "wilderness war."
Diplomacy and Indian Gifts: The French-English Rivalry for Indian Loyalties during the French & Indian War Years 1748-1763
Diplomacy and Indian Gifts: The French-English Rivalry for Indian Loyalties during the French & Indian War Years 1748-1763
It seems only once in a lifetime that a book comes along that really unlocks many of the mysteries of a subject you have been studying for as long as you can remember. Diplomacy and Indian Gifts is just such a book! From the beginning, I was always intrigued by the old Indian custom of giving and receiving gifts and how this practice was used both for and against them! During the course of the French and Indian War years, thousands of pounds sterling was expended by both the French and the British in their diplomatic competition to buy Indian friendship and loyalty through gift giving. Indian gifts and their givers indeed made diplomatic history. To say diplomacy and Indian gifts was a high stakes game would not do justice to everything that was really involved. It was a war for empire, but also was a war for profit, and the Indians were pawns to be bought by whatever means necessary to affect the outcome. These diplomatic missions along with this showering of gifts helped decide the war that inspired a melting pot of people to form a nation. The details of these transactions along with there hoped for results are detailed magnificently here by Dr. Jacobs' book and come with complete documentation. The story makes fascinating reading and Dr. Jacob's book is the final authority.
This history of Indian gifts and how it affected the outcome of the early history of our country was hitherto an unexplored area in the records of the Colonial westward movement and Dr. Jacobs spent seven years in historically sleuthing through old manuscripts, journals and various other printed material in putting together this magnificent record of how the Indians were paid off and how the "West was won." Describing the various gifts like vermilion war paint, liquor and trinkets, and even guns for which young warriors would "tear the heart out of a trader", the author gives page after page of specific examples of how these coveted treasures were used to buy friendship and loyalty. This never before published book is an exciting, insightful and informative collection of information about the part Indian gifts played in changing the course of American history. Seekers of Indian lore will find much to intrigue them in these pages.
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