Georgia Historical Society

A New Theory to Consider: Ecological Imperialism

Many historians now recognize the impact of much more than European weapons and settlement patterns on the North American environment and native cultures. The natural devastation caused by European diseases have long been known to have wiped out Native Americans all over the New World, but to that researchers have added the destructive power of European weeds, domesticated plants, and domesticated and undomesticated animals.

Teaching tip

Consider holding a joint class between the History and Science Departments to discuss the ways in which these lesser known European travelers affected their newly encountered environments. While doing so, stress the importance of a multidiscipline approach to both History and Science.

The Debatable Land: Early English Encounters with Georgia's Indians

Before the English colonized Georgia, the area became a "debatable land" between England's Carolina claims and Spanish Florida. Neither nation had a strong presence in what is now Georgia until Oglethorpe's arrival in 1733, and so creating alliances with Indians offered a way to gain and hold a buffer area and maintain trade in skins and Indian slaves. As the English presence grew, however, the Spanish lost their toehold in Georgia.
 
Indian slave traders from Virginia and Carolina often armed tribes such as the Westoes on the Savannah River in exchange for Indian slaves and skins. The settlement of Charles Town (Charleston, SC) in 1670 sped up the process of Spanish removal from the Georgia territory, and settlers here too set one Indian tribe against another. In one agreement, the Savannahs were armed and set against the Westoes who were largely annihilated or enslaved. The Guale, because they had been introduced to Christianity and European ways, were a prized commodity for slave owners, and the Spanish missions suffered heavy losses as a result of slave raids. Some Indians on the Spanish missions chose to voluntarily relocate to areas near Charles Town in order to establish a trade relationship with the seemingly more powerful English. Some went into the western interior where they were absorbed by the Creek nation. Spanish missions closed one-by-one, each time consolidating southward, and by the early eighteenth century, the Spanish found themselves behind the walls of St. Augustine, Florida.
 

From Harper’s Weekly, February 24, 1883, GHS Print Collection 1361 PR 4:10

 
The results of English encounters with Native Americans during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries were drastic. Tribes disappeared, moved, or realigned themselves with other communities due to English enslaving practices, trade with European powers, and disease epidemics. Indians learned the importance of making alliances with any European power - English, Spanish, or French - vying for a place in the southeastern regions in order to reap the benefits of their favor. These encounters led to the conditions under which James Oglethorpe established Georgia. When he and the settlers stepped foot on Georgia soil, the new colony contained only a fraction of the area's original natives and those who greeted him were already well experienced in European ways.

Teaching Tip

Take a field trip to Ft. King George, Ft. Frederica, or Saint Augustine to give students an idea of what life in the "debatable land" was like. These sites offer educational demonstrations and/or tours, so try to coordinate your trip with one.

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