Choctaw Civil War

Chocktaw Civil War

French depiction of Choctaw warriors and children, circa 1730
Date1747-1750
LocationAmerican South
Result

Decisive eastern division victory

  • Trade relations between Choctaw nation and Great Britain severed
  • Choctaw relations with France strengthend
  • Choctaw political and economic power remains in eastern Choctaw territory
Belligerents
Choctaw eastern division
Military Support:
 France		 Choctaw western division
Military Support:
 Great Britain
Chakchiuma
Chickasaw

The Choctaw Civil War was a period of economic and social unrest among the Choctaw people that degenerated into a civil war between 1747 and 1750. The war was fought between two different factions within the Choctaw over what the native people's trade relations with Great Britain and France should be. The war resulted in the deaths of over a thousand Choctaw and the pro-French leaders of the Choctaw retaining their influence within the nation.

History

Background

Located in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama, by the early 18th century the Choctaw people were under threat from a number of regional rivals. The Choctaw warred intermittently the Chickasaw to the north, while the Muscogee-Creek frequently raided the western Choctaw territories, enslaving thousands of Choctaws for use as laborers in the West Indies.[1] Both of the rival tribes were armed with British-provided firearms, often bought using proceeds from slave raids. Faced with these threats, the Choctaw themselves began to militarize, and, using money brought in from the growing fur trade, began to buy firearms from French colonists who had settled in Louisiana.[2] The Choctaw also organized themselves into rough political units described as "divisions". Each division was headed by a powerful chief who commanded numerous sub-chiefs during times of war.[3] Two divisions eventually rose to dominate Choctaw politics, the eastern division and the western division.[4][3]

By the 1830s the Choctaw military situation had stabilized, and the fur trade continued to increase the wealth of the Choctaw people. The various tribes remained on friendly terms with the French, while the British were distrusted but tolerated.[4]

Civil War

During the wars with the Chickasaw, a Choctaw warrior known as Red Shoes rose to prominence. Although he was not born into one of the hereditary chiefdoms that made up the Choctaw nation, Red Shoes was able to rise to the position of war-captain due to his war-won fame. He eventually declared himself chief of the town of Couechitto, which soon grew wealthy due to its involvement with the fur trade. However, after several years of lackluster trading with the French, Red Shoes decided to offer an invitation to trade to the British. The British were willing to sell guns and other goods to the Choctaw at lower prices than the French were, and soon Red Shoes (who was affiliated with the western division) was able to further increase his political power. He also considered allying his large tribe with British colonists in the Carolinas.[4]

Red Shoe's change in trading partners worried the French, who were longtime competitors of the British in the fur trade. When some of Red Shoe's warriors executed a French colonist (possibly in retaliation for a rape[2]), the French conspired to assassinate the chief. A trader traveling with a British trade delegation was paid to kill Red Shoes as he slept. The assassin succeeded in killing the chief on the night of 23 June 1747, after which Red Shoe's tribe was plunged into chaos.[2] French complicity with the murder was later discovered, and many tribes affiliated with the western division demanded revenge. However, when some of Red Shoe's former followers began to renege on his choice to open trade to the British, the dead chief's loyal supporters began to attack them. This infighting spurred the eastern division (which had remained supportive of the French) to intervene and begin attacking villages loyal to the western division, beginning the civil war.[4][2]

The war itself was bloody and chaotic, with both sides attacking each other's villages and towns.[5] Raids were common, and due to the dispersed nature of Choctaw settlements, entire villages were often slaughtered before their respective division could arrive to aid them. Many hundreds of Choctaws were killed, and hundreds more were captured and enslaved. Both sides were armed by their respective European allies, with the British backing the western division and the French supporting the eastern division. The eastern division possessed a numerical advantage over the western division, and this allowed the former faction to wear down their opponent through a brutal war of attrition.[6] The western division allied themselves with the Chakchiuma and the Chickasaw.[2] With British support, the western division launched an unsuccessful attack on the key eastern-aligned town of Oulitacha that cost the lives of nearly 200 warriors from both sides.[6] The western division won a few minor victories, but by 1850 a number of devastating raids (notably one that destroyed Couechitto in summer of 1748[6]) had sapped the ability of the western division to wage war, and the disruption caused to the fur trade by the conflict had collapsed the economies of both factions.[4] The civil war came to an end in 1850, with the member villages of the eastern division being victorious.[3][7]

Aftermath

The war left over a thousand Choctaws dead, including over 800 warriors from both sides. Dozens of villages were destroyed, and many more were damaged or depopulated.[7] With the eastern division established as the dominant force among the Choctaw people, the faction ended trade with Britain and returned to the pre-war trade with the French. However, the war also caused the Choctaw to re-evaluate their relations with the European powers; in the postwar years, the Choctaw adopted a flexible, pragmatic stance towards Britain and France, eventually resulting the Choctaw supporting Britain in the Seven Years' War.[7][4][8]

References

  1. ā†‘ Brescia, William (Bill) (1982). "Chapter 2, French-Choctaw Contact, 1680sā€“1763". Tribal Government, A New Era. Philadelphia, Mississippi: Choctaw Heritage Press.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Struggle and Survival in Colonial America By David G. Sweet, Gary B. Nash Edition: illustrated Published by University of California Press, 1982 ISBN 0-520-04501-7, ISBN 978-0-520-04501-9
  3. 1 2 3 "Early political structure - School of Choctaw Language". choctawschool.com. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Galloway, Patricia (2008) "Choctaw Factionalism and Civil War, 1746-1750". in Pre-Removal Choctaw History: Exploring New Paths, edited by Greg O'Brien, pp. 70-102. The Civilization of the American Indian Series. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
  5. ā†‘ "Choctaws in Alabama". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
  6. 1 2 3 O'Brien, Greg (2008). Pre-removal Choctaw History: Exploring New Paths. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806139166.
  7. 1 2 3 "Choctaws - Choctaw sovereignty, The first choctaws in america". www.everyculture.com. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
  8. ā†‘ O'Brien, Greg (February 2001). "The Conqueror Meets the Unconquered: Negotiating Cultural Boundaries on the Post-Revolutionary Southern Frontier". The Journal of Southern History. 67 (1): 39. doi:10.2307/3070084. ISSN 0022-4642.
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