The Spread of Firearms among the Indians on the Anglo-French Frontiers

Bibliographic Data

ID4914685
AuthorsDonald E Worcester (corresponding author), Thomas F Schilz
Year1984
Volume8
Issue2
Pages103
Publication date1984-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe American Indian Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0095-182X • E-ISSN: 1534-1828
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/1184207
OpenAlexW2328343837
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited6

T HE INTRODUCTION OF firearms among the Indians of North America drastically altered relationships between rival tribes and resulted in dislocations and forced migrations. Indians had engaged in intertribal warfare long before the arrival of Europeans, but the acquisition of guns intensified traditional animosities as various tribes battled to secure or maintain control over access to firearms. As European nations fought for control of the continent, many tribes found it temporarily advantageous to take sides in the conflicts in order to obtain guns to use against their own traditional enemies. As a consequence, still other tribes were forced into alliances with Europeans simply to obtain the means to protect themselves. Much intertribal warfare thereafter was for the benefit of Europeans and to the detriment of the Indians. Guns proved to be well-suited to Indian warfare, and made it much more deadly and widespread than it had been before the coming of white men. During the colonial era and immediately thereafter, the spread of firearms among the tribes of the Atlantic seaboard and Allegheny region, the Old Northwest, the Old Southwest, the northern Great Plains, and Rupter's Land, was the most important immediate by-product of the fur trade and a key factor in the eventual deterioration of Indian power. The Europeans' desire for furs provided the first opportunity for the North American tribes to obtain firearms. Forfeiting the advantage of their superior weapons, early English and French traders distributed guns to secure Indian allies. These traders, who for the most part were more concerned over increasing the Indians' output of pelts than in helping them make war, supplied guns to improve their hunting abilities. Since tribes that were in danger of attack could not devote themselves to hunting or trapping beaver, traders felt obliged to aid their Indian trading partners to defend themselves. Once Europeans began the cutthroat competition that characterized the fur trade, it was necessary to sell guns to their native allies, for otherwise they would take their furs to those who gratified their needs. After a tribe had been furnished arms, moreover, it was nearly impossible to cut off its supply and maintain peace with it. Sales of guns to the enemies of any tribe was also dangerous, for the Indians considered this an act of war and retaliated

Criminology · Economic geography · Geography · Sociology · Archaeology and Natural History · Canadian Identity and History · History

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