Georgia: Indigenous people

Video

Duration

2:36

Poster Image

Native Americans in Georgia faced a grim trajectory regardless of the Revolution’s outcome. The Creeks (Upper and Lower), Cherokee, Choctaw, and others sat on land white settlers wanted and received promises from both British and Americans that were almost never kept. Upper Creek leader Alexander McGillivray consistently navigated between Georgia, American, and Spanish interests, seeking whatever leverage was available, but the structural forces were overwhelming. The Revolution simply opened a gate for westward expansion that washed over Indigenous lands: with the British gone, the restraining hand on settler expansion disappeared. For most Native Georgians, the Revolution was not an opportunity, it was the beginning of a slow tragedy, culminating decades later in the forced removal of the Cherokee, which was made possible precisely by the American victory that Georgia had joined.

Interviewees

Stan Deaton
- Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian, Georgia Historical Society
Christy Crisp
- Vice President of Education and Programs, Georgia Historical Society

More Native American perspectives

View details

Connecticut

Native Americans
Delaware

Native Americans
Maryland

Native Americans
Massachusetts

Native Americans
New Hampshire

Native Americans
New York

Native Americans
North Carolina

Native Americans
Pennsylvania

Native Americans
Rhode Island

Native Americans
South Carolina

Native Americans
Virginia

Native Americans

Native Americans

More Native American perspectives

Native Americans

Native Americans

Native Americans

Native Americans

Native Americans

Native Americans

Native Americans

Native Americans

Native Americans

Native Americans

Native Americans

More from Georgia

Context

Declaration

Memory

African Americans

Loyalists

Politicians

Women