Series 2 Episode 2 – Tecumseh & the Epic Conflict for the Heart of America
Today we talk with eminent War of 1812 historian Donald R Hickey about his latest book. Tecumseh & the Epic Conflict for the Heart of America.
Tecumseh ( c. 1768 – October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. Even though his efforts to unite Native Americans ended with his death in the War of 1812, he became an iconic folk hero in American, Indigenous, and Canadian popular history.
Tecumseh’s war by contrast is commonly lost in the story of the War of 1812. Tecumseh’s war began seven months beforehand with the Battle of Tippecanoe in West Central Indian and ended 10 months the Treaty of Ghent closed out the war of 1812. It took 20 treaties with 30 different bands to end Tecumseh’s War.
There are several reasons for treating Tecumseh’s war as distinct from the war of 1812: 1. the cast of characters was overlapping but not identical; 2. Tecumseh’s war was brought on by land session treaties imposed by the United States while the war 1812 by maritime issues (i.e. neutral rights); 3. the stakes were different (i.e. the settlement of lands in the Old Northwest); 4. the end to the British policy of cultivating Indians as a counter weight to the growing insurgency in the south.
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Donald R Hickey is an award-winning author and historian. Called the Dean of 1812 scholarship by the New Yorker, Don has written 12 books, including the highly acclaimed The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict. He received the Samuel Elliott Morrison Award from the USS Constitution Museum and has done extensive consulting for historical parks, museums, and government agencies. His Website is hickeyhistory.com