Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. -- James Madison
Amy H. Sturgis came to my attention when Tim O'Shea interviewed her for PopThought. I found her to be erudite, very smart and interested in all the things I like. So of course I invited her to write for PopThought. Now a couple years since her column went into hiatus I chatted her about her upcoming book, and I think you can see why she is such an interesting person...
What made you choose Tecumseh as your subject?
I just had finished writing The Trail of Tears and Indian Removal (published in 2006) for Greenwood Press, when my editor told me that the press was expanding its Greenwood Biographies series to include books specifically focused on great Native Americans. She asked if I would be interested in writing one, and if so, which individual I would want as my subject. I had never written a biography before, so I jumped at the chance. Tecumseh immediately came to my mind as an ideal focus for several reasons. First, his life and work represent a vision of Native America that is still highly relevant - and, if I may say so, highly desirable - today: pan-tribal, unified, and sovereign. Second, his story is a crucial one for grasping the history not only of Native America, but also of the United States and Canada. He influenced the fate of many nations, and his name made and broke the careers of powerful men on the world stage. Third, scholars and historians have recently put out exceptional work on Tecumseh the man and the myth, books such as John Sugden's Tecumseh: A Life and Guy St-Denis's Tecumseh's Bones, that have not yet had the opportunity to influence the understanding of advanced students and interested audiences. I saw this as an opportunity for me to try to consolidate and disseminate the latest thoughts and findings on Tecumseh in one accessible volume. It would be difficult to find an individual of any background or era whose sagacity and ability were more remarkable, or whose legend is longer lived, and I was thrilled to be able to tell his story.
Were the Shawnee people prior to Tecumseh known as rebellious or did he raise them up to be so while he lived?
This is an excellent question! Before the rise of Tecumseh's pan-tribal confederacy in the early nineteenth century, members of the Shawnee Nation had participated in earlier resistance movements. Shawnee leaders such as Blue Jacket and Captain Johnny, for example, had sought to unify northwestern native nations to defend the Ohio region against U.S. encroachment before Tecumseh. This raises two important issues. First, Tecumseh was did not single-handedly pioneer the idea of American Indian unity or resistance against Anglo expansionism. He worked within a tradition that dates back at least as far as Ottawa leader Pontiac’s rebellion against British occupation of the Great Lakes region after the French and Indian War, and Mohawk leader Joseph Brant’s efforts to create a confederation to oppose U.S. growth in the Northwest Territory at the end of the colonies’ War of Independence. Second, Tecumseh was not merely a leader of Shawnees. He created a truly multinational Native American confederacy. For instance, at his final fight, the Battle of the Thames during the War of 1812, he led a coalition of Creeks, Delawares, Foxes, Kickapoos, Ojibwes, Ottawas, Potawatomis, Sacs, Shawnees, Winnebagos, Wyandots, and so-called "white Indians" against the U.S. Army of the Northwest. These two factors together help to explain why Tecumseh is so important: he was not the first to unite Native peoples in resistance, but he did so with more energy, consistent vision, and geographic diversity than any leader before him. His message reached from British Canada to Spanish Florida and across the United States from New York to Nevada and Ohio to Alabama. He wa
