A compelling look at relationships between Indigenous people and elite South Carolinians during and after the American Revolution.

Patriots and Indians examines interactions between South Carolina elites and Native Americans across the colonial, Revolutionary, and early national periods. Eighteenth-century South Carolinians engaged Indians in trade and diplomacy—as allies and enemies in war, and at times through scientific, religious, and personal encounters. Jeff W. Dennis explores how these relationships shaped the Revolution, the founding of South Carolina, and the careers and politics of leading patriots.

Dennis shows how intercultural exchange influenced evolving ideas of European American, Native American, and African American identity in a society in transition. For many Whig leaders, especially those distant from Native communities, Indians became a defining enemy of the Revolution. Dennis argues that the stronger a patriot's attachment to the Whig cause, the harsher his views toward Indians. Yet figures such as Andrew Pickens imagined a broader American identity that could include Native peoples, a debate that carried into policies toward Native Americans.

Jeff W. Dennis earned B.A. and M.A. degrees at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, and subsequently taught social studies, chemistry, and mathematics at Spring Valley Academy in Centerville, Ohio. In 2003 Dennis received a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Notre Dame. From 2001 to 2008, he served as a teacher educator and assistant professor of history at Morehead State University in Kentucky and at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. He now teaches history and psychology at Southwestern Michigan College in his hometown of Dowagiac, Michigan

"Jeff Dennis shows, lucidly and vividly, how white South Carolinians and Natives struggled with each other through the Revolutionary era. Jefferson, not Jackson, becomes the prime architect of removal. But it didn't have to happen that way. Impeccable research, a sparkling read, a host of founding fathers and Native leaders."—Walter Nugent, Tackes Professor Emeritus of History, University of Notre Dame, and author of Habits of Empire: A History of American Expansion

"Patriots and Indians narrates compellingly the complex interactions among South Carolina's leading revolutionary patriots and their Indian neighbors. Simultaneously, it presents an energetic and reflective engagement with the meaning of the American Revolution. It's deep and careful research establishes beyond doubt that for the revolutionary generation in South Carolina, Native Americans mattered."—Gregory Dowd, University of Michigan

"In this meticulously researched volume, Jeff Dennis focuses on the Cherokee and South Carolinians to explore the complex relations between Indians and colonists in the Revolutionary era. Dennis provides a valuable new perspective on America's founders, identifying a clear link between Revolutionary radicalism and animosity toward Indians that shaped national policy long after the Revolution."—James Piecuch, author of Three Peoples, One King: Loyalists, Indians, and Slaves in the Revolutionary South, 1775-1782

"Jeff Dennis presents South Carolina as a microcosm of the state of Patriot-Indian relations in the Revolutionary period, especially in the American South. Well researched, carefully documented, and cogently written, Dennis's work lays bare the stark reality of conditions in the Back Country of that colony/state... a new and excellent portrayal of how early Americans treated their native brethren and is a commendable contribution to that field of our nation's history."—The Journal of America's Military Past

"Patriots and Indians provides a cogent and compelling account of the significance of Native people and of whites' interest in Native lands for the revolution in South Carolina among some of the state's leading revolutionaries."—H-Net

"While the author primarily reviews South Carolina revolutionary history, the volume serves as a useful reminder of the significant Native American presence there until forced removal."—Choice

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Patriots and Indians

Shaping Identity in Eighteenth-Century South Carolina

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