The Civil War had a far-reaching impact on Indian land in South Carolina, with devastating consequences for the indigenous peoples of the region. The Catawba tribe, for example, served in Confederate regiments and were honored with a statute in 1900. The Tuscarora War, which took place in the Carolinas, demonstrated the value of cooperation between tribes and colonial forces against the English. Despite this, settlers continued to encroach upon indigenous lands.
In Piedmont, several tribes kept in communication and discussed the war against the colonists. North Carolina's Indians were already consolidating due to disease when the Tuscarora War began. Around 1709, the Saponi, Occaneechee, and other groups moved to northeastern North Carolina from Piedmont to be closer to colonial trade. In 1714, after the worst fighting of the Tuscarora War, they formed the Saponi Nation.
The Nansemonds of southeastern Virginia soon joined them. Governor Alexander Spotswood of Virginia built Fort Christianna in southeastern Virginia to house the Saponi in an effort to convert them to Christianity and protect colonists from attacks by Northern Iroquois. The War of the Spanish Succession also took hold in North America, with English colonists fighting against the French and their Indian allies for territory in New England, South Carolina, and Spanish Florida. The Virginia militia attacked Shawnee Indians of Kentucky who were defending their lands. This led to a battle at Point Pleasant on October 10th, 1774, where the militia defeated the Shawnee and ceded land south of the Ohio River to the British. The Tuscarora War and Yamasee War that followed it in South Carolina transformed the lives of North Carolina's native peoples.
William Tecumseh Sherman attacked up to 700 Indians in Texas before they surrendered and returned to their reservations. In 1758, the Catawba abandoned their last cities in North Carolina and moved entirely to South Carolina. The Catawba protested in South Carolina in 1763 but nothing was done about it. John Lawson had died and his hopes that Europeans and Indians could live together peacefully were dashed with him.
The Chicora Los Chicora were a coastal Native American tribe that lived near Pawley's Island, South Carolina. When settlers began showing up around 1730s they were able to live with Pee Dees with very little trouble. However, South Carolina's gratitude did not extend to restoring land seized in fraudulent Ford Treaty of Nations. At the outbreak of Civil War, Catawba had been closely aligned with South Carolina government and its class of planters for nearly a century and a half. Their relations with whites were generally friendly until 1759 when they refused to hand over two chief chiefs for execution for killing a white man. Both United States and Confederacy's commitment to indigenous nations highlighted failures of previous indigenous policies, revealed alternatives to marginalization of American indigenous peoples, and presaged post-war policies.
The Catawba lived on border between North and South Carolina south of present-day Charlotte and were origin of modern Catawba nation. In war that followed an army of South Carolinians fought against Yamasee, Catawba, Ochese Creek, and other Indians. First Plains Indian War took place west of Missouri River between semi-nomadic Arikara of South Dakota and U. S. Although only very small percentage of American Indians in Indian territory owned slaves (historian Theda Perdue estimated their percentage of population to be 2.3%), slave-owning Indians had disproportionate influence on politics of Five Tribes. The Civil War had a profound impact on Indian land in South Carolina that is still felt today.
The Catawba Nation was forced out of their ancestral lands due to colonial expansionism during this period. The Tuscarora War showed how cooperation between tribes and colonial forces could be beneficial but ultimately did not stop settlers from invading indigenous lands. The War of Spanish Succession saw English colonists fight against French forces for control over New England, South Carolina, and Spanish Florida. William Tecumseh Sherman attacked up to 700 Indians in Texas before they surrendered and returned to their reservations. The Chicora Los Chicora were a coastal Native American tribe that lived near Pawley's Island, South Carolina who were able to live peacefully with settlers until 1759 when they refused to hand over two chief chiefs for execution for killing a white man.
Despite South Carolina's gratitude towards Native Americans for their service during the Civil War no effort was made to restore land seized during fraudulent Ford Treaty of Nations. The legacy of this period is still felt today as Native Americans continue to struggle for recognition and rights over their ancestral lands. It is important that we remember this history so that we can learn from it and ensure that similar injustices are not repeated.
