Interviewees:
-
Stan Deaton
- Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian, Georgia Historical Society
-
Christy Crisp
- Vice President of Education and Programs, Georgia Historical Society
Native Americans in Georgia faced a grim trajectory regardless of the Revolution’s outcome. The Creeks (Upper and Lower), Cherokee, Choctaw, and others sat on land white settlers wanted and received promises from both British and Americans that were almost never kept. Upper Creek leader Alexander McGillivray consistently navigated between Georgia, American, and Spanish interests, seeking whatever leverage was available, but the structural forces were overwhelming. The Revolution simply opened a gate for westward expansion that washed over Indigenous lands: with the British gone, the restraining hand on settler expansion disappeared. For most Native Georgians, the Revolution was not an opportunity, it was the beginning of a slow tragedy, culminating decades later in the forced removal of the Cherokee, which was made possible precisely by the American victory that Georgia had joined.
