Overview

Re-examines the European invasion of North America in the 17th- and 18th- centuries. Challenging the historical tradition that has denigrated Indians as "savages" and celebrated the triumph of European "civilization", the author of this text presents military history as only one dimension of a more fundamental conflict of cultures. Combining the perpsectives of ethnohistory and military history, the text provides an evaluation of the evolution and influence of both Indian and European ways of war during the period. Significant conflicts such as King Philip's war in New England, 1675-1676 notable due to the number of armend Indians, the French and Indian wars, the Amercian War of Independance and their conquest of the old Northwestbetween 1783-1815 are analyzed.