3.5: Alexander McGillivray and the U.S.-Creek Treaty of 1790

The Peace of Paris would certainly anger and frustrate the many nations who held the lands that were supposedly now in American possession, and one of the most prominent was the Creek.  The Creek stand out due to the efforts of their de facto leader, Alexander McGillivray, to negotiate a treaty with the young U.S. government, and his successes, and failures, set the tone moving forward for official U.S. government policy regarding Native Americans.  In this episode of History: Beyond the Textbook, the second in our mini-series on “The West,” we’ll explore the U.S.-Creek Treaty of 1790 through the lens of skilled diplomat Alexander McGillivray.

Key People
Alexander McGillivray
Henry Knox
Haudenosaunee
George Washington

Key Events
U.S.-Creek Treaty of 1790
Treaty of Pensacola
Treaty of Augusta

The third season of History: Beyond the Textbook focuses on the stories of individuals who shaped "America's Crucial Years" of 1783-1790, and runs from October 8-December 24. Catch up on Season One, "America's Colonial Era," and Season Two, "America's Revolution," wherever you listen to your podcasts!

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Transcript

It's 1783, and the War for Independence has ended.  We know full-well by this point that all lands between the Atlantic Ocean and Mississippi River, excepting the area known as “Florida,” were to transfer from British control into American hands.  At long last, settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains could begin…the only problem was that even though America now claimed this land on paper, in actuality, the true “owners” of the land were Indigenous.  Not a single Indigenous representative was present in Paris at the signing of the Peace Agreement, which meant that they were completely shut out of making their own claims to their land.  This would certainly anger and frustrate the many nations who held these lands, and one of the most prominent was the Creek.  The Creek stand out due to the efforts of their de facto leader, Alexander McGillivray, to negotiate a treaty with the young U.S. government, and his successes, and failures, set the tone moving forward for official U.S. government policy regarding Native Americans.  In this episode of History: Beyond the Textbook, the second in our mini-series on “The West,” we’ll explore the U.S.-Creek Treaty of 1790 through the lens of skilled diplomat Alexander McGillivray.

Act I: Indigenous Diplomacy

This isn’t the first time we’ve addressed “diplomacy,” or the act of negotiating with foreign nations, this season.  What’s different this time around is that the “negotiations” will take place within the greater borders of the United States, and will address the physical borders of what will come to be known as “sovereign” lands.  Revolutionary War hero and current Secretary of War Henry Knox even stated “the independent tribes of Indians ought to be considered as foreign nations, not as the subjects of any particular state.”  He even stated that he felt that these nations had what was called a “right to soil,” meaning that as they were the inhabitants of the land, it should remain as such…their land.  One of these tribes was the Creeks, now referred to as the Muskogee, whose lands stretched across what are now parts of Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.  In a paternalistic fashion that we saw echoed on the West Coast in our last episode, they were one of five nations that would be called “Civilized Tribes,” including the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Cherokee, since they would write a constitution and take up western-style property ownership.  However, we use this phrase only to provide historical context: it’s problematic for many reasons.  The Creeks were a matrilineal society, similar to the Haudenosaunee that we have learned about throughout the podcast, so one’s clan was inherited through the mother’s side.  Similar to the Pequots of the Connecticut River Valley, women handled agriculture while men hunted and trapped.  Theirs was a way of life that stretched back generations…but like many, they not only adapted to the presence of Europeans, they used them and their goods to their advantage.  If they felt cheated by their colonial neighbors, they weren’t afraid to be assertive to enforce their rights: recall that Georgia didn’t send any delegates to the First Continental Congress because they wanted British military assistance fighting the Creeks.  But the war is over, and the Creeks, like so many others, must live in the new reality of an American nation that they had primarily fought against during the war, and may yet take their land if they weren’t careful.

Act II: The Rising Star

Alexander McGillivray was born to a Scottish father and a mother of mixed French and Creek parentage sometime in the 1750’s; as the Creek are matrilineal, McGillivray was born into his mother’s Wind Clan, which meant that he was considered Indigenous when viewed by the greater colonial world.  This was exceptionally common at the time, as we saw back in Season 1 with Chief Canaqueese: individuals with mixed parentage were forced to, and often able to, walk within and understand multiple worlds, but were usually considered to be of a singular background by the outside world.  His early years were spent with his father Lachlan, a successful trader who established multiple trading posts, so he would spend this time receiving a liberal education from his Presbyterian minister cousin.  His father returned to England when the American Revolution broke out, so Alexander lived with his mother, Sehoy Marchand, at Little Tallassie, and her clan enjoyed political power and prestige among the Creeks.  His rise to prominence during the war years is often attributed to his appointment as an agent who dealt with relations between the British and Indigenous nations: his formal education and proficiency in the English language helps explain his appointment.  Rumors also persist that he received this appointment because he held the position of a lesser chief, but this, along with rumors that he served the British in combat as an officer, are unsubstantiated, and can’t necessarily be taken as fact.  It doesn’t help that much of the information we have on McGillivray comes from his own correspondence, which is helpful, but like all one-sided sources, we need to be careful with how much we accept as unquestioned fact.

We do know that Alexander McGillivray would spend the duration of the Revolution working for the British in varying capacities.  He sought to use diplomacy to convince the leaders of Creek towns to reaffirm their loyalty to the British, a task at which he enjoyed a significant amount of success.  McGillivray also spent the mid-late 1770’s working in intelligence; well, not officially, but he nevertheless collected intelligence on American actions and movements as they pertained to the safety of towns belonging to the Creeks.  Apparently, the chances of American attacks on Creek territory were remote, but the late 1770’s would be when England employed the “Southern Strategy” we addressed at the end of last season, so whatever action occurred on North American soil would occur in this region.  In late 1779, word arrived that Britain would be altering the administrative structure of the British Indian Department: Loyalist Thomas Brown would now be the in charge of what was called the Atlantic District, and included the Cherokee and the Creeks: his deputy of the Upper Creeks, was now held by Alexander McGillivray.  The remainder of his war would be spent predominantly in the two Floridas, West and East, and these years taught Alexander McGillivray much about dealing with multiple European nations, how to represent the Creeks, and more importantly, how to lead.  The death of the prominent Creek leader Emistisguo in combat as the war drew to a close opened the door for new leadership, and even though the Creeks were generally led by an individual from each village, Alexander McGillivray was elected “Head Warrior of all the Nation” in 1783.  East Florida was now in Spanish hands, and the new state of Georgia was demanding the cessation of Creek land, so what better leader than the man who understood how to deal with both ways of life?

Act III: Spain and Georgia

Episode 3.3 highlighted the struggles John Jay faced when he attempted to negotiate a treaty with Spain during the Confederation period.  As far as the young nation was concerned, we know that each Indigenous tribe was considered their own entity.  Therefore, separate treaties would have to be the order of the day.  The Legislative Branch of the nation was more concerned with removal than anything else to allow East Coast Americans to stream onto these lands, so the mid-1780’s saw a series of unequal treaties in which not even the Six Nations, including the Oneida and Tuscarora, were spared.  This scenario certainly came as a shock to the leaders of the individual nations and tribes within the borders of the United States.  They understood that the British Army had been defeated by the upstart Americans and would now be leaving.  Most would be surprised to discover that a piece of paper written and signed thousands of miles away now meant that these same Americans would lay claim to the stretch of land between the Atlantic Ocean and Mississippi River…Indigenous lands.  And those who had a chance to do something about it did just that, and Alexander McGillivray was the most prominent of these voices.

The Creeks were in an especially tough situation because they traded extensively with the British and were about to lose their military alliance with them as well.  They also found themselves in an awkward position regarding their boundaries because their lands were now claimed by both the new United States and the fading Spanish Empire.  McGillivray began by composing a letter to the Spanish Governor of West Florida in which he expressed his dismay at Britain’s actions, insisting that the land was never theirs to begin with, so ceding it should never have been an option.  Part of his anger stemmed from the Treaty of Augusta, signed by representatives of the state of Georgia and Creeks who were considered to be pro-American.  Bear in mind that this will be a recurring theme through American history, one we alluded to in season one: federal or state officials will often find a member of a tribe or nation whose interests align with their own and ensure that those signatures are what end up on the final copy.  Or, as was claimed by McGillivray, sometimes these individuals felt pressured into placing their mark on these treaties, and did so unwillingly.  McGillivray asserted that this was the case, so he concluded that the Treaty of Augusta was, therefore, invalid.  McGillivray certainly had cause for concern: this agreement would double the size of the state of Georgia and deprive the Creeks of valuable hunting lands.  Plus, the Articles of Confederation explicitly forbade actions such as this: states weren’t allowed to enter into any treaties with states or nations, so Georgia was off-base.  The peace of Paris might have stipulated the exchange in ownership of lands belonging to the Creeks, but the Americans appeared to approach relations with them, and other Indigenous nations, with much more aggression than their British counterparts.  Much like the Haudenosaunee of the Great Lakes, the Creeks, and Alexander McGillivray in particular, seemed to recognize that playing Europeans off against one another would lead to successful trade and peace for themselves.  The Brits were hypothetically out of the picture, as were the French: the only possible counterbalance to the Americans were the Spanish.

Yes, the Spanish.  They’ve come up quite a bit this season, mainly because they still laid claim to a large portion of North America in the 1780’s.  As a result of the Peace of Paris, they were also back in control of West and East Florida, lands that included Lower Creek territory.  Alexander McGillivray reached out to officials in each, although he had to account for the uncomfortable fact that the Spanish and his Creeks were de facto enemies during the American Revolution.  In the end, McGillivray decided, as he made clear in his correspondence, that “the protection of a great monarch is to be preferred to that of a distracted Republic.”  Spain was intrigued by the possibility of using Creek Territory as a buffer zone between themselves and the Americans, so they warmly greeted McGillivray’s overtures.  Granted, his reputation preceded him to the degree that most non-Creeks assumed that he spoke for the entire nation, but he used his formal education and life experiences to his advantage in this endeavor.  He appealed to the common European understanding of sovereignty in stating that the Creeks were a “nation” that controlled a “country,” as that “as a free nation,” that had a right to choose our protector…”  That is, to enter into their own alliances.  This was consistent with how Henry Knox would come to view Indigenous nations: sovereign entities worthy of, and fully capable of, self-government.  This, among other arguments, persuaded the Spanish, so the Treaty of Pensacola went into effect on June 1, 1784.  This treaty signaled an economic relationship between the two sides, and Spain also pledged military protection to Creeks living within territory claimed by Spain.  This treaty stands out because, unlike the innumerable unequal treaties dotting American history, the Creeks played an equal role in negotiating it: specifically, Alexander McGillivray led the charge in advocating for his people.  And there was much more to come.

Act IV: New York, New York

Our main event officially occurred in 1790, six years after the Treaty of Pensacola, and there were a lot of loose ends for McGillivray to tie up before this happened.  Georgia kept pressing for more Creek land, and received it in 1785.  To their end, the Creeks convened a war council and came away determined to drive the Americans off of Creek land.  Raids were conducted in which backcountry farms and homesteads were burned, along with attacks on those living there.  McGillivray wrote to a Spanish official requesting ammunition…which he would receive.  His reasoning?  “it was our duty to check the Americans in time before they got too strong for us to contest them.”  On their end, the state of Georgia called a meeting at Shoulderbone Creek to peacefully solve the matter: in effect, they strong-armed the Creek faction, again made up of pro-Americans, into reaffirming the previous treaties.  McGillivray was furious and fervently believed that his life was in danger because he assumed he was marked for execution as a means of keeping the peace.  This issue was somewhat resolved, although delayed might be a better choice of words, in spring of 1787 when he met with Dr. James White, the new southern Superintendent of Indian Affairs.  McGillivray confided in Dr. White that the real enemy of the Creeks was Georgia, and that the United States was to be considered their “most natural” ally.  This could have been from the heart, or a poker-faced bluff, but the truce that followed lasted only four months and then the Creeks resumed their raids.  The Spanish also began to waiver in their agreement to send arms to the Creeks if the possibility of American military involvement occurred, and McGillivray understood that the currently bankrupt Georgians may soon find supplies to defend against Creek attacks, and even go on the offensive. 

This brings us to the presidency of George Washington, which began in Spring 1789.  Remember that Secretary of War Henry Knox sought a clean break from the “conquest theory” as a method of Indigenous diplomacy.  AS these nations were to be considered “sovereign,” Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson should have taken the lead but he wouldn’t arrive in the temporary national capital of New York City until 1790, and Knox felt compelled to open up channels of communication now.  The issues surrounding the Creeks and the state of Georgia made them the ideal nation with which to forge a new policy.  Plus, the Creeks were viewed to hold significant sway over the other nations in the area, and Alexander McGillivray was seen as a singular individual who could claim to speak on behalf of the entire nation.  Benjamin Lincoln, a Revolutionary War general who was present at Yorktown, and former Washington aide-de-camp David Humphreys headed up the American delegation at Rock Landing in fall 1789.  They were instructed to offer military protection to the Creeks to prevent further land encroachment and gain McGillivray’s loyalty; McGillivray arrived with 900 Creeks, and by this time was suffering from severe migraines and other physical ailments.  He was also extremely wealthy by this point: he controlled trade with other tribes and collected a handsome fee for doing so.  He held between 50-60 slaves, owned hundreds of livestock, and possessed two separate residences, one a plantation.  He had the power and influence, a deep-seated suspicion of American intentions, and a Spanish alliance that made it clear he needed to treat with the Americans to avoid a potential war.  In the negotiations, Humphreys offered the aforementioned American protection against encroachment and a guarantee of Creek land claims…with the exception of land between the Ogeeche and Oconee Rivers.  McGillivray refused, and even cited American refusal to adhere to their treaties with the northern Haudenosaunee as evidence of the young nation’s unreliability.  The negotiators had to report back to Washington that the proposed treaty failed, and they blamed the stubbornness of McGillivray; however, Alexander McGillivray could confidently return home emboldened with the knowledge that he alone had stood up to a growing imperial power…and won.

The stage is now set for the Creek-American Treaty of 1790, or the Treaty of New York; Georgia was in the process of attempting to transfer Creek land, almost all of it, to three private companies.  Meanwhile, the Creek were building a Pan-Indigenous alliance of their own, which was necessary since Spain’s aforementioned hesitation at providing arms and ammunition was kicking into gear.  Against this backdrop, the United States pulled out all the stops: McGillivray would allegedly be bargaining with none other than President George Washington.  No low-level bureaucrats this time.  The 700-mile journey to New York, in which he was accompanied by nearly 30 Creek chiefs, took three weeks and was complete with lavish stops and dinners along the way.  His party was greeted in New York as legitimate royalty, which was a facade that worked both ways: McGillivray hoped to demonstrate that he could outpower any American military force, and Washington sought to display the grandeur of America and prove that the nation was here to stay.  And it wouldn’t just be the Creeks and the Americans in New York…the Spanish, who had grown suspicious of McGillivray’s intentions, sent an agent of their own, as did the Canadians.  McGillivray and Knox, who actually handled most of the negotiations along with Jefferson, nearly stalemated over McGillivray’s refusal to acknowledge American sovereignty over the Creeks.  This was eventually settled, and the Americans thus declared the Creeks a sovereign nation, along with stressing the illegality of the Georgia land sales to private companies.  On the surface, McGillivray scored a major victory in the month-long negotiations: the Treaty of New York was ratified by a 15-4 vote in the Senate in August 1790.  Its provisions included the granting of disputed Oconee lands to Georgia in exchange for annual payments to the Creeks, who retained the rest of their lands.  Tucked into the treaty were two secret provisions: one related to trade, which the Creeks could conduct tax-free if war arose with Spain.  The other commissioned McGillivray as a Brigadier-General and provided him with a $1,200/year pension; for context, Georgia would pay the Creeks $1,500/year for the disputed Oconee lands.  So it was that McGillivray successfully retained the land of his people…and secured greater wealth and prestige for himself.  And his fate?  He would travel to New Orleans in 1792 to renegotiate his deal with the Spanish and disavow his association with the Americans.  This, along with the Treaty of New York, would soon go up in smoke, and Alexander McGillivray would die shortly thereafter in February 1793.  He suffered from a mixture of various ailments, including syphilis, and was only in his mid-30’s.  The treaty may have failed, but at minimum, he provided a template of how to deal with American attempts at grabbing Indigenous lands…and demonstrated that diplomacy, no matter how skilled the diplomat, may not be the way forward.

Next week on History: beyond the Textbook, we conclude our arc on the west by visiting the northwest…the Northwest Territory, to be exact.  We’ll witness the implications of American efforts to settle the west using two individuals: Shawnee leader Blue Jacket, and American military engineer Rufus Putnam.