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Digital Paxton: Digital Collection, Critical Edition, and Teaching Platform Redrawing History Redrawing History: Indigenous Perspectives on Colonial America, a two-year project funded by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, connects Native American artists with the Library Company’s rich collections and far-reaching scholarly community. Partnering with artist Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva), author Lee Francis (Laguna Pueblo), and the indigenous publisher Native Realities Press, the Library Company will publish a graphic novel that reinterprets the Paxton massacre from the perspective of the Conestoga. Dr. Will Fenton, will serve as creative director, connecting the creative team with an advisory board of scholars, local tribal leaders, and educational specialists, and making new archival records accessible via his digital humanities project, Digital Paxton. Published, printed, and distributed by Native American businesses, the graphic novel will include a curriculum to facilitate use in secondary and post-secondary classrooms. Original artwork will be exhibited at the Library Company together with the original collection items that inspired it. And a slate of public programs, including a colloquium and public readings, will engage local audiences; conference presentations will bring the project and its model to academic audiences.

An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies

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1. An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies

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1. A Conference Between the Devil and Doctor Dove
2. The Counter Medley
3. The Election, a Medley A pro-Franklin cartoon depicting a crowd gathered to vote at the Philadelphia courthouse during the Pennsylvania Assembly Election of October 1764. The print advocates Franklin's appointment as provincial agent to Britain despite his election loss which was a result of his double-sided politics in dealing with the "Paxton Boys;" white frontiersmen who murdered peaceful Native Americans. Contains thirty-three verses attributed to Rev. Isaac Hunt to be sung to various tunes. Created as an attack on satirist James Dove, referred to in this title as "Squire Lilliput Professor of Scurrility," in response to his anti-Franklin print, "The Paxton Expedition." The courthouse crowd includes caricatures of James Dove and five African Americans, including a woman stating "Mase Lidiput you puchuss a me;" a reference to a character pursued sexually by Dove in an earlier anti-Dove cartoon, "A Conference between the Devil and Mr. Dove" (1764). Place and date of publication provided by Snyder and Murrell. Possibly after the work of Henry Dawkins. Manuscript note on recto in Watson's hand: Wrote by the Revd. Isaac Hunt at or before 1764 - when Franklin was made agent to London for this "Medley" says "Franklin will be agent." [and] Property of John F. Watson. Manuscript note on verso: Purchased from John F. Watson, Esq. June 14 1860. C.P. [Charles Poulson].
4. The Election, Humbly Inscribed to the Saturday Nights Club
5. Franklin and the Quakers
7. An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies
8. A New Song Suitable to the Season A cartoon supporting the Old Ticket Party of Pennsylvania which advocated a conversion from a proprietary government to a royal colony. Depicts well-to-do Philadelphians in a tavern drinking and singing "Huzza Old ticket, Old Ticket Forever." An African American servant serves the men as he states in patois his support of the Old Ticket. As the devil exits the tavern, he indicates his support for the New Ticket Party which supported the existing proprietary government. Contains an electioneering song of six verses from which the depicted Philadelphians sing verses. The tavern was often used as a place to canvass election support and treat voters. Possibly the work of Henry Dawkins. See also: Evans 10093.
9. The Paxton Expedition
Contents of this path:
1. Account for Maintaining Indians at Lancaster, December 27, 1763
2. Account of the Indian murders, December 27, 1763
3. An Act for Preventing Tumults and Riotous Assemblies
4. The Address of the People Called Quakers In defense of their conduct towards the Indians and settlers. "Signed on behalf and by order of a committee, appointed to represent our religious society in Pennsylvania and New-Jersey, at a meeting held in Philadelphia, the 25th of the second month, 1764. Samuel Emlen, Jun. clerk."--p. 11. Evans, C American bibliography, 9670; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W5867; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 1941.
5. An Address of Thanks to the Wardens of Christ Church and St. Peters An address of thanks to the wardens of Christ Church and St. Peters, : and the Reverend W----S----h. D.D. [i.e. William Smith] provost of the college and tool to the p----r, and J---b D---e A.M. and MV.D. [i.e. Jacob Duche] From F---- A.----n D.D. [i.e. Francis Alison] and J---n E----g [i.e. John Ewing] in their own name and in the name of all the Presbyterian ministers in Pennsylvania. ... Reverend and worthy gentlemen; Permit us to return you ... our most sincere thanks for opening your church doors to dissenters in general, and us on particular ... to carry into execution a scheme of the utmost importance for the advantage of our profession; the down-fall of monarchy; and the support of a republican government ...
6. An Address to the Rev. Dr. Alison Relates to the dissensions caused by the Indians. Possibly written by Joseph Galloway. Half-title: An address to the Rev. Dr. Alison, the Rev. Mr. Ewing, &c. being a vindication of the Quakers. Place of publication and printer's name supplied by Evans. Signatures: pi_ A-C? D_ (D2 verso blank). Errata note, p. 47. Evans, C. American bibliography, 9892; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W6245; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 2098; Sabin, J. Dictionary of books relating to America from its discovery to the present time, 66908.
7. The Addition to the Epitaph "A burlesque in the form of a prayer to the Devil."--Hildeburn. Text begins: Thou great Prince of Darkness! Thou author of all rebellions and insurrections, whether Paxtonian or others! Thou Father of my friend the Kirk. Concerns the Paxton Boys' march on Philadelphia. The target of this satirical piece sided with the Paxton Boys, and opposed Benjamin Franklin's negotiations. At head of title, within an ornament (Reilly 120): The authentic one. Attributed by Evans to David James Dove. Imprint supplied by Evans.
8. An Answer to the Pamphlet Entitled "The Conduct of the Paxton Men"
9. Apology of the Paxton Volunteers
10. A Battle! A Battle!
11. A Battle! A Battle! (Extended)
12. Benjamin Franklin to Richard Jackson, June 27, 1763
13. Benjamin Franklin to Richard Jackson, February 11, 1764
14. By the Honourable John Penn By the Honourable John Penn, Esq; lieutenant-governor and commander in chief of the province of Pennsylvania, and counties of New-Castle, Kent and Sussex, on Delaware, a proclamation. : Whereas on the twenty-second day of December last I issued a proclamation, for the apprehending and bringing to justice a number of persons, who ... had inhumanely killed six of the Indians, who had lived in Conestogoe Manor ... Given under my hand, and the great seal of the said province, at Philadelphia, the second day of January ... one thousand seven hundred and sixty-four.
15. Christopher Schultze to Israel Pemberton, August 29, 1760
16. Christopher Towne to Israel Pemberton, April 25, 1756
17. A Letter from Batista Angeloni Extracted from Shebbeare's Letters on the English nation, also published pseudonymously. Cf. the Dictionary of national biography. Probable place and date of publication suggested by Hildeburn. "The Cloven-Foot discovered."--p. 7-8, in verse. An attack on the Quakers for their dealings with and support of the Indians. Evans, C. American bibliography, 9838; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W13438; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 2013.
18. A Letter From Batista Angeloni (Reprinted) Extracted from Shebbeare's Letters on the English nation, also published pseudonymously. Cf. the Dictionary of national biography. Probable place and date of publication suggested by Hildeburn. "The Cloven-Foot discovered."--p. 7-8, in verse. An attack on the Quakers for their dealings with and support of the Indians. Evans, C. American bibliography, 9838; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W13438; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 2013.
19. Commission for Timothy Horsfield, July 11, 1763
20. The Conduct of the Paxton Men Impartially Represented A defense of the Paxton boys, in reply to Benjamin Franklin's "A narrative of the late massacres, in Lancaster County, of a number of Indians." Attributed to Thomas Barton by Hildeburn and Evans. Also attributed to the Rev. John Ewing. Cf. Egle, W.H. History of the counties of Dauphin and Lebanon, 1883, p. 68. An added title page identifies John Creaig of Lancaster as bookseller. Signatures: pi [A]? B-D? E1. Evans, C. American bibliography, 9594; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W37505; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 1957
22. A Conference Between the Devil and Doctor Dove
23. The Congregational Diary of Lancaster Moravian Church, December 27-28 , 1763
24. Conversation with the Indians, April 19, 1756
25. Cool Thoughts on the Present Situation of Our Public Affairs Caption title: A letter to a friend in the country. With a half-title. Signed on p. 22: A.B. Attributed to Benjamin Franklin by Evans. First published as a supplement to the Pennsylvania journal, Apr. 26, 1764. Dated on p. 5: Philadelphia, April 12, 1764. Signatures: [A]? B? (B4 blank). Evans, C. American bibliography, 9663; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W16998; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 1990; Howes, W. U.S.iana (2nd ed.), F319
27. The Counter Medley
28. A Declaration and Remonstrance On the massacre of the Conestoga Indians by the "Paxton Boys" and the Indian policy of the Pennsylvania authorities. "Signed on behalf of ourselves, and by appointment of a great number of the frontier inhabitants. Matthew Smith. James Gibson. February 13th, 1764."--p. 18. Printer's name and place of publication supplied by Evans. Evans, C. American bibliography, 9630; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W37880; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 1969
29. A Dialogue Between Andrew Trueman and Thomas Zealot
30. A Dialogue, Containing Some Reflections on the Late "Declaration and Remonstrance"
31. Diary of the Indian Gemeine in the Barracks in Philadelphia (January 5 - April 3, 1765) Excerpt from Julia Maynard Maserjian, "Moravian Indians: A Brief Introduction." Bethlehem Digital History Project, 2000-2009. bdhp.moravian.edu/community_records/christianindians/narrative.html The Pennsylvania frontier recalled the violence visited upon it during the Seven Years' War. The new bloodshed brought about by Pontiac's War bore down on the western backcountry and bred a new contempt among frontiersmen toward Indians and the government to the east. These individuals saw no distinction between hostile, friendly and Christian Indians. In an attempt to protect the Moravian Indians, the government moved them from the villages of Nain and Wechquetank to Philadelphia in November of 1763. Angered by the government's protection of the Moravian Indians, while it seemed to ignore the defense of the Pennsylvania frontier, an angry band of men called the Paxton Boys visited their rage upon a small group of Conestoga Indians near Lancaster. On December 14, 1763, fifty armed men murdered six Conestoga Indians at their settlement. The remaining fourteen Indians were taken into protective custody only to be brutally murdered by the Paxtonians on December 27. Fortunately, through negotiations, attempts to make the Moravian Indians housed near Philadelphia their next target were thwarted. The dispersing of the Paxton Boys did not, however, alleviate the threat to the Moravian Indians. The Pennsylvania government tried to transfer the refugees to New York or New Jersey, but the Moravian Indians were rejected by both governments and were returned to Philadelphia where they remained confined in barracks until 1765. After their release from the barracks in Philadelphia, the missionaries and their converts, in an effort to place themselves as far away as possible from any future threats posed by white settlements, moved to the Wyalusing valley. There the second Friedenshutten was founded and would flourish until 1771. Although the Iroquois granted the land for Friedenshutten to the mission Indians in 1768, they sold the Wyalusing land to Pennsylvania in 1771. Land disputes were avoided when the Delawares of the Tuscarawas Valley offered the Christian Indians a home in Ohio. By 1773, virtually all of the Moravian Indians had moved from their various settlements to Ohio bringing an end to Moravian missions in Pennsylvania. The events of 1763 through 1765 drastically altered not only the Moravian Mission effort but also the face of Pennsylvania colonial politics. The challenges faced by the Moravian Indians during this period speak to these regional events. Like their unconverted counterparts, the Christianized Indians suffered attack, betrayal, persecution, and forced migration."
32. Diary of the Indian Gemeine in the Barracks in Philadelphia, Final Draft (January 24 - December 31, 1764) Excerpt from Julia Maynard Maserjian, "Moravian Indians: A Brief Introduction." Bethlehem Digital History Project, 2000-2009. bdhp.moravian.edu/community_records/christianindians/narrative.html The Pennsylvania frontier recalled the violence visited upon it during the Seven Years' War. The new bloodshed brought about by Pontiac's War bore down on the western backcountry and bred a new contempt among frontiersmen toward Indians and the government to the east. These individuals saw no distinction between hostile, friendly and Christian Indians. In an attempt to protect the Moravian Indians, the government moved them from the villages of Nain and Wechquetank to Philadelphia in November of 1763. Angered by the government's protection of the Moravian Indians, while it seemed to ignore the defense of the Pennsylvania frontier, an angry band of men called the Paxton Boys visited their rage upon a small group of Conestoga Indians near Lancaster. On December 14, 1763, fifty armed men murdered six Conestoga Indians at their settlement. The remaining fourteen Indians were taken into protective custody only to be brutally murdered by the Paxtonians on December 27. Fortunately, through negotiations, attempts to make the Moravian Indians housed near Philadelphia their next target were thwarted. The dispersing of the Paxton Boys did not, however, alleviate the threat to the Moravian Indians. The Pennsylvania government tried to transfer the refugees to New York or New Jersey, but the Moravian Indians were rejected by both governments and were returned to Philadelphia where they remained confined in barracks until 1765. After their release from the barracks in Philadelphia, the missionaries and their converts, in an effort to place themselves as far away as possible from any future threats posed by white settlements, moved to the Wyalusing valley. There the second Friedenshutten was founded and would flourish until 1771. Although the Iroquois granted the land for Friedenshutten to the mission Indians in 1768, they sold the Wyalusing land to Pennsylvania in 1771. Land disputes were avoided when the Delawares of the Tuscarawas Valley offered the Christian Indians a home in Ohio. By 1773, virtually all of the Moravian Indians had moved from their various settlements to Ohio bringing an end to Moravian missions in Pennsylvania. The events of 1763 through 1765 drastically altered not only the Moravian Mission effort but also the face of Pennsylvania colonial politics. The challenges faced by the Moravian Indians during this period speak to these regional events. Like their unconverted counterparts, the Christianized Indians suffered attack, betrayal, persecution, and forced migration."
33. Diary of the Indian Gemeine in the Barracks in Philadelphia, Original Draft (March 1 - October 27, 1764) Excerpt from Julia Maynard Maserjian, "Moravian Indians: A Brief Introduction." Bethlehem Digital History Project, 2000-2009. bdhp.moravian.edu/community_records/christianindians/narrative.html The Pennsylvania frontier recalled the violence visited upon it during the Seven Years' War. The new bloodshed brought about by Pontiac's War bore down on the western backcountry and bred a new contempt among frontiersmen toward Indians and the government to the east. These individuals saw no distinction between hostile, friendly and Christian Indians. In an attempt to protect the Moravian Indians, the government moved them from the villages of Nain and Wechquetank to Philadelphia in November of 1763. Angered by the government's protection of the Moravian Indians, while it seemed to ignore the defense of the Pennsylvania frontier, an angry band of men called the Paxton Boys visited their rage upon a small group of Conestoga Indians near Lancaster. On December 14, 1763, fifty armed men murdered six Conestoga Indians at their settlement. The remaining fourteen Indians were taken into protective custody only to be brutally murdered by the Paxtonians on December 27. Fortunately, through negotiations, attempts to make the Moravian Indians housed near Philadelphia their next target were thwarted. The dispersing of the Paxton Boys did not, however, alleviate the threat to the Moravian Indians. The Pennsylvania government tried to transfer the refugees to New York or New Jersey, but the Moravian Indians were rejected by both governments and were returned to Philadelphia where they remained confined in barracks until 1765. After their release from the barracks in Philadelphia, the missionaries and their converts, in an effort to place themselves as far away as possible from any future threats posed by white settlements, moved to the Wyalusing valley. There the second Friedenshutten was founded and would flourish until 1771. Although the Iroquois granted the land for Friedenshutten to the mission Indians in 1768, they sold the Wyalusing land to Pennsylvania in 1771. Land disputes were avoided when the Delawares of the Tuscarawas Valley offered the Christian Indians a home in Ohio. By 1773, virtually all of the Moravian Indians had moved from their various settlements to Ohio bringing an end to Moravian missions in Pennsylvania. The events of 1763 through 1765 drastically altered not only the Moravian Mission effort but also the face of Pennsylvania colonial politics. The challenges faced by the Moravian Indians during this period speak to these regional events. Like their unconverted counterparts, the Christianized Indians suffered attack, betrayal, persecution, and forced migration."
34. Diary of the Indian Gemeinlein on Pilgrimage (January 4-17, 1764) Excerpt from Julia Maynard Maserjian, "Moravian Indians: A Brief Introduction." Bethlehem Digital History Project, 2000-2009. bdhp.moravian.edu/community_records/christianindians/narrative.html The Pennsylvania frontier recalled the violence visited upon it during the Seven Years' War. The new bloodshed brought about by Pontiac's War bore down on the western backcountry and bred a new contempt among frontiersmen toward Indians and the government to the east. These individuals saw no distinction between hostile, friendly and Christian Indians. In an attempt to protect the Moravian Indians, the government moved them from the villages of Nain and Wechquetank to Philadelphia in November of 1763. Angered by the government's protection of the Moravian Indians, while it seemed to ignore the defense of the Pennsylvania frontier, an angry band of men called the Paxton Boys visited their rage upon a small group of Conestoga Indians near Lancaster. On December 14, 1763, fifty armed men murdered six Conestoga Indians at their settlement. The remaining fourteen Indians were taken into protective custody only to be brutally murdered by the Paxtonians on December 27. Fortunately, through negotiations, attempts to make the Moravian Indians housed near Philadelphia their next target were thwarted. The dispersing of the Paxton Boys did not, however, alleviate the threat to the Moravian Indians. The Pennsylvania government tried to transfer the refugees to New York or New Jersey, but the Moravian Indians were rejected by both governments and were returned to Philadelphia where they remained confined in barracks until 1765. After their release from the barracks in Philadelphia, the missionaries and their converts, in an effort to place themselves as far away as possible from any future threats posed by white settlements, moved to the Wyalusing valley. There the second Friedenshutten was founded and would flourish until 1771. Although the Iroquois granted the land for Friedenshutten to the mission Indians in 1768, they sold the Wyalusing land to Pennsylvania in 1771. Land disputes were avoided when the Delawares of the Tuscarawas Valley offered the Christian Indians a home in Ohio. By 1773, virtually all of the Moravian Indians had moved from their various settlements to Ohio bringing an end to Moravian missions in Pennsylvania. The events of 1763 through 1765 drastically altered not only the Moravian Mission effort but also the face of Pennsylvania colonial politics. The challenges faced by the Moravian Indians during this period speak to these regional events. Like their unconverted counterparts, the Christianized Indians suffered attack, betrayal, persecution, and forced migration."
35. Edward Shippen to John Elder, December 16, 1763
36. Edward Shippen to James Burd, January 19, 1768
37. The Election, a Medley A pro-Franklin cartoon depicting a crowd gathered to vote at the Philadelphia courthouse during the Pennsylvania Assembly Election of October 1764. The print advocates Franklin's appointment as provincial agent to Britain despite his election loss which was a result of his double-sided politics in dealing with the "Paxton Boys;" white frontiersmen who murdered peaceful Native Americans. Contains thirty-three verses attributed to Rev. Isaac Hunt to be sung to various tunes. Created as an attack on satirist James Dove, referred to in this title as "Squire Lilliput Professor of Scurrility," in response to his anti-Franklin print, "The Paxton Expedition." The courthouse crowd includes caricatures of James Dove and five African Americans, including a woman stating "Mase Lidiput you puchuss a me;" a reference to a character pursued sexually by Dove in an earlier anti-Dove cartoon, "A Conference between the Devil and Mr. Dove" (1764). Place and date of publication provided by Snyder and Murrell. Possibly after the work of Henry Dawkins. Manuscript note on recto in Watson's hand: Wrote by the Revd. Isaac Hunt at or before 1764 - when Franklin was made agent to London for this "Medley" says "Franklin will be agent." [and] Property of John F. Watson. Manuscript note on verso: Purchased from John F. Watson, Esq. June 14 1860. C.P. [Charles Poulson].
38. Explanatory Remarks on the Assembly's Resolves
39. Franklin and the Quakers
40. Friends' Address to the Governor, April 1756
41. General Forbes to Israel Pemberton, January 15, 1759
43. Governor Hamilton to Papunehan, October 12, 1761
44. An Historical Account of the Late Disturbance Signed on p. 8: From a true countryman. A subsequent impression (Evans 9697, Hildeburn 2003) has imprint: "Printed by Anthony Armbruster, in Moravian-Alley." That impression notes on the title page: "[Fist] The second edition, may be called a piracy. I said printed at Rome: I meant nothing but [cross] Printed in Second-Street, by Andrew Steuars-Stockfish." A.S. and Andrew Steuars-Stockfish evidently refer to Andrew Steuart, who also printed an edition of the work (not in Evans or Bristol). Evans, C. American bibliography, 9696; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W39302; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 2002.
45. An Historical Account of the Late Disturbance (Reprinted)
46. A Humble Attempt at Scurrility In reply to an attack on Benjamin Franklin by John Hughes. Attributed to Isaac Hunt in the Dictionary of American biography. Ascribed to the press of Anthony Armbruster by Evans. "Prologue to the coffee-house politician, or The justice caught in his own trap."--p. vii-viii. "Thirteen descriptions of the great A. drawn from the life by that celebrated master D---d J--s D-ve, poet laureat to the Pr---ry Party."--p. 38-42. Signatures: [A]? B-E? F_ (F2 verso blank). "Errata."--p. [43]. Evans, C. American bibliography, 10014; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W12797; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 2134; Sabin, J. Dictionary of books relating to America from its discovery to the present time, 25637.
47. An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies
49. Israel Pemberton, Captive Inquiry As the French and Indian Wars wind down, The Commissioners for Indian Affairs are negotiating to secure the release of the white settlers that are still being held prisoners by the Indians. However even before a general Treaty, Trustees of the Mennonite Church are attempting to accelerate this release by offering the Indians 'presents' if they would escort the white prisoners from their lands to Pittsburgh. This gesture is to be considered payment for the cost and inconvenience to the Indians for this journey, and not as a ransom for releasing the white prisoners...Letter written by Israel Pemberton addressed to the Indian Affairs Commission inquiring about an agreement to instruct agents in Indian towns along the frontier to look into how many captives are in each town, and their physical descriptions. He also implores the commission to ask the agents to make inquiries to the "dispositions" of the Indians holding captives, as well as their readiness to accept ransom in exchange for release of captives.
50. John and Richard Penn to the Friendly Association, September 5, 1760
51. Journal of Christian Frederick Post, June 20, 1758
52. A Letter From a Clergyman in Town
53. A Letter From a Gentleman at Elizabeth Town to his Friend in New York
54. A Letter From a Gentleman in Transilvania to his Friend in America
55. Letter from Albrecht Ludolph Russmeyer to Nathanael Seidel, January 2, 1764
56. Letter from Matthaus Hehl to the Church Leadership, December 29, 1763
57. The Life and Adventures of a Certain Quaker Presbyterian Indian Colonel
58. A Looking-Glass for Presbyterians (Inscribed: J. Arbo) Inscribed: J. Arbo (Expanded). "To the friends of Pennsylvania and lovers of liberty. This Looking-glass is with much affection and great respect inscribed by a Pennsylvanian."--p. 3. Attributed to Isaac Hunt by Evans. Ascribed to the press of Anthony Armbruster by Evans. "Appendix. The substance, of a council held at Lancaster August the 28th 1764, by a committee of Presbyterian ministers .."--p. [25]-34. "A dialogue between a churchman in the country, and a Presbyterian in the city of Philadelphia."--p. 35-38. "A letter from a gentleman in Transilvania"--p. 38-43, signed: Jack Traveller, Weissenburgh in Transilvania, August 1st, 1764. Attributed to Isaac Hunt in the Dictionary of American biography. Signatures [A]? B-E? [F]1 ([F]1 verso blank). Evans, C. American bibliography, 9703; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W1775.
59. A Looking-Glass for Presbyterians (Numb. I)
60. Manuscript Copy of Remonstrance, February 13, 1764 Manuscript copy of remonstrance from Matthew Smith and James Gibson to Governor John Penn. They position themselves as representatives of public opinion, submit nine points that decry the perceived underrepresentation of the western counties in the Assembly and bill changing trial location of persons charged with killing Indians, allege that Indians under government protection conspired with others to plan attacks, lament lack of public funds for the care of wounded frontier residents, request new bounties for Indian scalps, request embargo to effect return of captives, accuse private individuals of trading and treating with enemies of the province, and requests Fort Augusta garrison be ordered to take more proactive measures. Handwritten copy, perhaps draft. 13 February 1764. Gift of Paul and Judy Ware, 2009.
61. Message to the Governor, October 12, 1761
62. A Narrative of the Late Massacres Generally attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Ascribed to the press of Franklin and Hall by Miller on the basis of the typeface used. Evans, Hildeburn, and P.L. Ford suggest Anthony Armbruster as printer. Sabin says "Written and printed by Franklin." Signatures: A-B? (B8 verso blank). Evans, C. American bibliography, 9667; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W17009; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 1992; Miller, C.W. Franklin, 807; Sabin, J. Dictionary of books relating to America from its discovery to the present time, 25557.
63. A Narrative of the Late Massacres (Inscribed: From James Pemberton to William Cobbett) Inscribed: From James Pemberton to William Cobbett. Generally attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Ascribed to the press of Franklin and Hall by Miller on the basis of the typeface used. Evans, Hildeburn, and P.L. Ford suggest Anthony Armbruster as printer. Sabin says "Written and printed by Franklin." Signatures: A-B? (B8 verso blank). Evans, C. American bibliography, 9667; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W17009; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 1992; Ford, P.L. Franklin bibliography, 272; Miller, C.W. Franklin, 807; Howes, W. U.S.iana (2nd ed.), F327; Sabin 25557.
64. Nathaniel Holland to Israel Pemberton, September 17, 1760
65. Nathaniel Holland to Israel Pemberton, December 20, 1761
66. A New Song in High Vogue in Northampton County
67. Observations on a Late "Epitaph"
68. The Paxton Boys: a Farce
69. The Paxton Expedition
70. The Paxtoniade
71. Petition of the Inhabitants of Lancaster County
72. The Plain Dealer, Numb. I
73. The Plain Dealer, Numb. II Numb. II. Mistakenly attributed by Evans to Hugh Williamson, author of numbers 1 and 3. Cf. the Advertisement in number 3, where it is stated: The author of this is obliged to the gentleman, who wrote the piece which was published on Teusday [sic], by the title of Plain dealer, no. 2. As his endeavours to prevent the people from being deceived by the chicane of a faction, prove him to be a friend to the oppress'd inhabitants of this province. Dated May 7, 1764. Imprint supplied by Evans. Evans, C. American bibliography, 9877; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W15609; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 2086.
74. The Plain Dealer, Numb. III
75. Province Island Diary (December 1, 1763 - January 4, 1764) Excerpt from Julia Maynard Maserjian, "Moravian Indians: A Brief Introduction." Bethlehem Digital History Project, 2000-2009. bdhp.moravian.edu/community_records/christianindians/narrative.html The Pennsylvania frontier recalled the violence visited upon it during the Seven Years' War. The new bloodshed brought about by Pontiac's War bore down on the western backcountry and bred a new contempt among frontiersmen toward Indians and the government to the east. These individuals saw no distinction between hostile, friendly and Christian Indians. In an attempt to protect the Moravian Indians, the government moved them from the villages of Nain and Wechquetank to Philadelphia in November of 1763. Angered by the government's protection of the Moravian Indians, while it seemed to ignore the defense of the Pennsylvania frontier, an angry band of men called the Paxton Boys visited their rage upon a small group of Conestoga Indians near Lancaster. On December 14, 1763, fifty armed men murdered six Conestoga Indians at their settlement. The remaining fourteen Indians were taken into protective custody only to be brutally murdered by the Paxtonians on December 27. Fortunately, through negotiations, attempts to make the Moravian Indians housed near Philadelphia their next target were thwarted. The dispersing of the Paxton Boys did not, however, alleviate the threat to the Moravian Indians. The Pennsylvania government tried to transfer the refugees to New York or New Jersey, but the Moravian Indians were rejected by both governments and were returned to Philadelphia where they remained confined in barracks until 1765. After their release from the barracks in Philadelphia, the missionaries and their converts, in an effort to place themselves as far away as possible from any future threats posed by white settlements, moved to the Wyalusing valley. There the second Friedenshutten was founded and would flourish until 1771. Although the Iroquois granted the land for Friedenshutten to the mission Indians in 1768, they sold the Wyalusing land to Pennsylvania in 1771. Land disputes were avoided when the Delawares of the Tuscarawas Valley offered the Christian Indians a home in Ohio. By 1773, virtually all of the Moravian Indians had moved from their various settlements to Ohio bringing an end to Moravian missions in Pennsylvania. The events of 1763 through 1765 drastically altered not only the Moravian Mission effort but also the face of Pennsylvania colonial politics. The challenges faced by the Moravian Indians during this period speak to these regional events. Like their unconverted counterparts, the Christianized Indians suffered attack, betrayal, persecution, and forced migration."
76. The Quaker Unmasked Defending the Paxton Boys; also suggesting that the Quakers were enamored of both Indian squaws and Indian trade. Cf. Dictionary of American biography. Signed on p. 13: Philopatrius. Second-Street, Philadelphia, February 18, 1764. Attributed to David James Dove in the Dictionary of American biography. "Postscript."--p. 14-15. Bookseller's advertisement, p. 16. Evans, C. American bibliography, 9647; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W32375; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 1982 1982.
77. The Quaker Vindicated
78. The Quakers Assisting to Preserve the Lives of the Indians
79. The Quakers Assisting to Preserve the Lives of the Indians (No. II)
80. The Quakers Grace, Prayer, and Thanksgiving
81. Remarks on the Quaker Unmasked
82. Remarks upon "The Delineated Presbyterian Played Hob With"
83. A Scene in the First Act of the New Farce
84. A Serious Address (First Edition)
85. A Serious Address (Second Edition)
86. A Serious Address (Fourth Edition) A Serious address, to such of the inhabitants of Pennsylvania, as have connived at, or do approve of, the late massacre of the Indians at Lancaster; or the design of killing those who are now in the barracks at Philadelphia. : The demand for this piece has been so great, that this fourth edition is call'd for in a few days! To which is now added, a dialogue between Andrew Trueman and Thomas Zealot, about the killing the Indians at Connestogoe and Lancaster. (An excellent piece!)
87. The Squabble (First Edition) A political satire on affairs in Pennsylvania. Ascribed to the press of Anthony Armbruster by Evans. English short title catalogue (ESTC), W29925; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 2065; Sabin, J. Dictionary of books relating to America from its discovery to the present time,, 89940; Stoddard, R.E. A bibliographical description of books and pamphlets of American verse printed from 1610 through 1820, 159; Wegelin, O. Early American poetry, 789.
88. The Squabble (Second Edition) Second Edition. A political satire on affairs in Pennsylvania. The second edition is ascribed to the press of Anthony Armbruster by Evans 9564 and 9565. Signatures: A?. Not in: Evans, C. American bibliography. English short title catalogue (ESTC), W41575; Sabin, J. Dictionary of books relating to America from its discovery to the present time, 89940; Stoddard, R.E. A bibliographical description of books and pamphlets of American verse printed from 1610 through 1820, 158.
89. The Squabble (Third Edition) Printed from the First Edition (Third Edition Inferred). A political satire on affairs in Pennsylvania. Parentheses substituted for square brackets in imprint transcription. Date of publication supplied by Evans 9564 and 9565. "Frontispiece" on p. [4] is of "Thyrsis, with a Pr*sb*t*rian nose. Corin, with a Q**k*ronian nose." Evans, C. American bibliography, 9565; English short title catalogue (ESTC), W29926; Hildeburn, C.R. Pennsylvania, 2066 2066; Sabin, J. Dictionary of books relating to America from its discovery to the present time,, 89940; Stoddard, R.E. A bibliographical description of books and pamphlets of American verse printed from 1610 through 1820, 160; Wegelin, O. Early American poetry, 790.
90. The Substance of a Council Held at Lancaster
92. Travel Diary of the little Indian Gemeine (January 18 - 24, 1764) Excerpt from Julia Maynard Maserjian, "Moravian Indians: A Brief Introduction." Bethlehem Digital History Project, 2000-2009. bdhp.moravian.edu/community_records/christianindians/narrative.html The Pennsylvania frontier recalled the violence visited upon it during the Seven Years' War. The new bloodshed brought about by Pontiac's War bore down on the western backcountry and bred a new contempt among frontiersmen toward Indians and the government to the east. These individuals saw no distinction between hostile, friendly and Christian Indians. In an attempt to protect the Moravian Indians, the government moved them from the villages of Nain and Wechquetank to Philadelphia in November of 1763. Angered by the government's protection of the Moravian Indians, while it seemed to ignore the defense of the Pennsylvania frontier, an angry band of men called the Paxton Boys visited their rage upon a small group of Conestoga Indians near Lancaster. On December 14, 1763, fifty armed men murdered six Conestoga Indians at their settlement. The remaining fourteen Indians were taken into protective custody only to be brutally murdered by the Paxtonians on December 27. Fortunately, through negotiations, attempts to make the Moravian Indians housed near Philadelphia their next target were thwarted. The dispersing of the Paxton Boys did not, however, alleviate the threat to the Moravian Indians. The Pennsylvania government tried to transfer the refugees to New York or New Jersey, but the Moravian Indians were rejected by both governments and were returned to Philadelphia where they remained confined in barracks until 1765. After their release from the barracks in Philadelphia, the missionaries and their converts, in an effort to place themselves as far away as possible from any future threats posed by white settlements, moved to the Wyalusing valley. There the second Friedenshutten was founded and would flourish until 1771. Although the Iroquois granted the land for Friedenshutten to the mission Indians in 1768, they sold the Wyalusing land to Pennsylvania in 1771. Land disputes were avoided when the Delawares of the Tuscarawas Valley offered the Christian Indians a home in Ohio. By 1773, virtually all of the Moravian Indians had moved from their various settlements to Ohio bringing an end to Moravian missions in Pennsylvania. The events of 1763 through 1765 drastically altered not only the Moravian Mission effort but also the face of Pennsylvania colonial politics. The challenges faced by the Moravian Indians during this period speak to these regional events. Like their unconverted counterparts, the Christianized Indians suffered attack, betrayal, persecution, and forced migration."
93. Various Memoranda, 1760
94. What is Sauce for a Goose is also Sauce for a Gander Satirical epitaph on Benjamin Franklin written by Hugh Williamson. Cf. Ford, P.L. Franklin bibliography, 1889, entry 997. Signatures: A4 (A4 verso blank). Not in: Evans, C. American bibliography; Bristol, R.P. Supplement to Charles Evans' American bibliography; Shipton, C.K. National index of American imprints through 1800. Not in: Evans, C. American bibliography; Sabin, J. Dictionary of books relating to America from its discovery to the present time, 104455.
95. What is Sauce for a Goose is also Sauce for a Gander (LCP copy) Satirical epitaph on Benjamin Franklin written by Hugh Williamson. Cf. Ford, P.L. Franklin bibliography, 1889, entry 997. Signatures: A4 (A4 verso blank). Not in: Evans, C. American bibliography; Bristol, R.P. Supplement to Charles Evans' American bibliography; Shipton, C.K. National index of American imprints through 1800. Not in: Evans, C. American bibliography; Sabin, J. Dictionary of books relating to America from its discovery to the present time, 104455. Not in: Evans, C. American bibliography; Sabin, J. Dictionary of books relating to America from its discovery to the present time, 104455.
96. William Patterson to Israel Pemberton, June 10, 1771

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The Ghosts of Wampum 6 Ernestine Heldring, Will Fenton image_header 2019-10-02T10:49:22-07:00
Students will compare and contrast the representation of wampum in different types of historical sources to analyze the gap in understanding of reciprocity between the settler colonists and the Conestoga people from different historical perspectives.

Although wampum has often been portrayed as a form of Native American decoration, it played an integral role in colonial diplomacy. Wampum signified "the importance or the authority of the message associated with it. As such, treaties and other such agreements would have a large amount of wampum that had been loomed into a ‘belt' for them" (Ganondagan).

The 1763 Paxton massacres occurred in the context of rising tensions between those who sought accommodation, associated with the exchange of wampum belts, and those who sought ethnic cleansing, articulated in printed materials that conflated wampum with disregard for settler colonists in the borderlands.

Lesson Objectives:
- Students will evaluate visual primary and secondary sources, including a contemporary graphic novel and an eighteenth-century political cartoon.
- Students will learn how contemporary historians are working to integrate previously underrepresented voices and stories.
- Students will use their background knowledge to evaluate sources and create an argument about the symbolism of wampum.
- Students will compare and contrast arguments using a structured academic controversy.
- Students will revise arguments and select appropriate evidence.
- Students will reinterpret the Paxton massacre and learn about settler colonialism.
Essential Questions:
- What role does reciprocity play in relationships between different peoples?
- How and why do relationships between groups of people change over time?
- How do symbols embody change or continuity in relationships?
- What did Native peoples in colonial Pennsylvania expect from their relationships with the settler colonists? How do we know?
- What did the settler colonists expect from their relationships with the Native peoples? How do we know?
Grade Level: Grade 11

Standards:
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WH.6-8.1: Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using credible sources.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.8: Evaluate an author's premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9: Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
Historical Background:
- Historians use a wide range of artifacts, including wampum belts, to explore Native American history (which has limited, extant written primary source records).
- Native peoples' understanding of reciprocity was enacted through the exchange of wampum.
- Wampum belts are connected and represent a relationship, whereas individual wampum beads are a form of currency. For example, the Treaty of Shackamaxon wampum belt given to William Penn in 1682 (featured in Ghost River), which is on exhibit at the Philadelphia History Museum, "was said to be given to William Penn by the Lenape tribe at the time of the 1682 treaty. The belt, donated in 1857 to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania by a great-grandson of Penn, is made of white wampum with darker accent beads and depicts two figures holding hands, often interpreted as a sign of friendship and peace."
- The tension between the settler colonists (and their increasing desire to move away from accommodation to thorough occupation of the land) and London's continued desire for reciprocity and accommodation was reflected in the pamphlet war, both during and after the Paxton massacre.
Materials:

Reading packet:
- Excerpts from Daniel Richter, Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 203. pp. 201-206.
- Excerpts from Lee Francis, Weshoyot Alvitre, and Will Fenton, Ghost River: The Fall and Rise of the Conestoga. Albuquerque: Red Planet Books and Comics, 2019.
- James Claypoole, An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies.
- Penn Wampum Belt (1682 Shackamaxon treaty).
- Guiding questions (printed or projected on smartboard)
Background readings:
Optional readings:
- Lee Francis, Weshoyot Alvitre, and Will Fenton, Ghost River: The Fall and Rise of the Conestoga. Albuquerque: Red Planet Books and Comics, 2019.
- Digital Paxton
- Author, Artist, and Editor bios
Procedure:

Pre-work: Have students read the homework packet on wampum and the Paxton massacres.

Classroom Activities (75 minutes)

1. Play this excerpt from the musical Chicago as students come in:
Ask any of the chickies in my pen
They'll tell you I'm the biggest mother hen
I love them all and all of them love me -
Because the system works;
the system called reciprocity!

Got a little motto
Always sees me through
When you're good to Mama
Mama's good to you!

2. Ask students to free write on "reciprocate." Students may write a list, letter, scene, poem, or draw a sketch that they associate with the word.

3. Students talk in pairs: what did you write or draw, and why?

4. As a class, generate a working definition for "reciprocate" and write it on the board.

5. Class or small-group discussion: why is it important to reciprocate in relationships? Segue to thinking about ways of symbolizing reciprocity in relationships. How do I communicate my relationships with people or organizations? (e.g. a wedding ring shows marital status).

6. Homework recap/ mini lecture on reciprocity, accommodation and wampum in the 1600s and 1700s. Ask students to retrieve/recall how wampum represented based on what they read for homework (ex. to Native people wampum belts represented reciprocity in treaties with the British. Wampum was not money or decoration).

7. Split students into two groups to examine the Reading Packet:
- Group One examines Ghost River excerpts with Penn Wampum Belt.
- Group Two examines Ghost River excerpts with Indian Squaw King.
8. Both groups address their respective guiding questions and draft a thesis statement about what wampum meant to the settler colonists and Conestoga people.

9. As a class, compare both groups' thesis statements.

10. Finish by examining the full cartoon (Indian Squaw King) and explaining the role of pamphlets in the aftermath of the Conestoga Massacres. Stress to the students that Native people were still engaging in centuries-old ideals of reciprocity, whereas the settler colonists were increasingly intent on acquiring more land. Settler colonists were also frustrated that the metropolis (Parliament in London) did not unconditionally support them.
The Paxton crisis, as Thomas Penn predicted, was a war of words and images fought by Paxton critics and defenders who debated Pennsylvania's future by inflaming the passions and misleading the judgement of many in the colony. Yet, in a war sparked by violence against Indians, it is surprising how absent or misrepresented the Conestogas were in these discussions. Few texts acknowledged the Paxton murders. Instead, most works, including political cartoons, either denied the Conestogas' agency by portraying them as helpless dependents of the colony and its Quaker merchants, or by stereotyping them as either cunning, half-naked savages or hatchet-wielding warriors, images popularized during the Seven Years' War. With no native voices to argue on behalf of the Conestogas, the Paxton debates document the colonial narrative of the crisis. They also capture a turning point in the history of the Pennsylvanian colony, away from acknowledgement and negotiation and towards the whole scale displacement and dispossession of indigenous peoples
(Judith Ridner, Passion, Politics, and Portrayal in the Paxton Debates)

Assessment and Extensions:

Assessment: Write a thesis statement that addresses one or more of these questions. State what two pieces of evidence best support your thesis.
- What did Native peoples in colonial Pennsylvania expect from their relationships with the settler colonists? How do we know?
- What did the settler colonists expect from their relationships with the Native peoples? How do we know?
Extension: What additional resources would you need to better understand the significance of wampum to different groups of people? What else do you know, need to know, or want to learn?

Homework: Read and annotate Ghost River. Select one page you want to close-read and discuss in class.

This lesson was created during the 2019 Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Teacher Seminar, "Native Peoples, Settlers, and European Empires in North America, 1600-1840" (July 28-August 3, 2019). You may also download a printable version of this lesson.
Interpreting Conflict through Political Cartoons 6 Peter Gaynor image_header 2019-10-02T10:51:38-07:00
This lesson will examine the An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies political cartoon and then begin to extrapolate the schisms between the Paxton Boys, Native Peoples, and Pennsylvania Government, and by extension British Crown. This lesson will help students connect the Proclamation of 1763 and Pontiac's War to the growing mistrust between colonial settlers and their government as we head into the Revolutionary Era.

Lesson Objectives:
- Students will read through and contextualize an 18th century political cartoon.
- Students will use the document to connect existing historical ideas they have learned.
- Students will create their own political cartoon that they think most accurately portrays their understanding.
Grade Level: Grade 8

Standards:
- D2.His.1.6-8: Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts.
- D2.His.6.6-8: Analyze how people's perspectives influenced what information is available in the historical sources they created.
Historical Background:

Excerpt from Will Fenton, "Introduction."
In December 1763, a mob of settlers from Paxtang Township murdered 20 unarmed Susquehannock Indians in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A month later, hundreds of ‘Paxton Boys' marched toward Philadelphia to menace and possibly kill more refugee Indians who sought the protection of the Pennsylvania government. While Benjamin Franklin halted the march just outside of Philadelphia in Germantown, supporters of the Paxton Boys and their critics spent the next year battling in print.

The Paxton Boys accused the Conestoga Indians of colluding with the Ohio Country Lenape and Shawnee warriors who were attacking Pennsylvania's western frontier, a charge that had no basis in fact. Their opponents accused the Paxton Boys of behaving more savagely than the Indians they had killed.

The pamphlet war that followed in 1764 was not so different from the Twitter wars of today. Pamphleteers waged battle using pseudonyms, slandering opponents as failed elites and racial traitors. At stake was much more than the conduct of the Paxton men. Pamphleteers staked claims about colonization, peace and war, race and ethnicity, masculinity and civility, and religious association in pre-Revolutionary Pennsylvania.

Excerpt from Jane Merritt, "Paxton Boys." Colonization and Settlement, Third Edition, 2017.
The Paxton Boys mostly came from the Scots-Irish immigrant communities established along the Pennsylvania frontier in the 1720s. Some had ties to local militia groups in Lancaster County and Northampton County, west and north of Philadelphia, and many fought Indians during the 1750s when hostile Delaware and Shawnee attacked isolated frontier plantations that had been built on disputed territory claimed by both cultures. After the Seven Years' War Scots-Irish settlers feared the continued presence of Native Americans in the region and, making no distinction between allies and enemies, took out their anger on a peaceful Indian community nearby. The initial attack came on December 14, 1763, when a group of armed men from Paxton township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, marched on Conestoga Manor, killing and scalping six of the Christian Indians living on the small reserve of land. A few weeks after the original attack, 50 or 60 armed men on horseback attacked the surviving Conestoga Indians who had been placed under protective custody in the jailhouse at Lancaster.

The Pennsylvania governor and other Pennsylvania leaders, including Benjamin Franklin, condemned the actions of the Paxton Boys as being more ‘savage' than those of the Indians they hated. The colonial government did not criticize the brutal murder of Indian people but instead worried that poor white frontier inhabitants had challenged their authority and feared that they would continue to do so. Indeed, by early 1764 nearly 250 "Paxton Volunteers," as they called themselves, gathered and headed for Philadelphia intending to kill several hundred Indians under the protection of the Moravians and Pennsylvania government. Benjamin Franklin and a small militia force stopped the group in Germantown, just short of their goal, but a pamphlet war quickly ensued that explicated the grievances of the frontier inhabitants. Through satirical verse, cartoons, and pointed prose the largely Presbyterian Scots-Irish group questioned the loyalties, morality, and masculinity of politically powerful Quakers in the provincial assembly. Matthew Smith and James Gibson, the most vocal of these pamphlet authors, complained that the largely Quaker assembly had refused to help frontier settlers during the war with funds for a militia and protective forts. Instead, those in power had used public monies and private donations to assist Indians, such as the Delaware, who, with Quaker support, claimed rights to land in eastern Pennsylvania. Still, the Paxtons' ultimate complaints revolved around issues of relative political power and their own place within the British Empire. They contended that frontier inhabitants in the western counties of Pennsylvania had less political representation in the provincial assembly than did the smaller eastern counties and that the legal justice system did not extend into their isolated communities. The Paxtons, demanding that the British treat them as equal subjects, took out their anxieties on the Conestoga Indians, who they thought did not deserve recognition or protection from the Pennsylvania government.

Whether or not the Paxton Boys' actions came from a nascent nationalism, the massacre and its aftermath set a precedent for Indian-white relations on the American frontier. After 1763 the level of "Indian-hating" dramatically increased. Other groups of frontier vigilantes, patterned on the Paxton Boys, attacked peaceful Indian communities in the Ohio Valley during the Revolutionary War. In turn, very few Native American groups allied themselves with colonists against Great Britain.

Materials:
- Historical Background (above)
- James Claypoole, An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies
- Lee Francis, Weshoyot Alvitre, and Will Fenton, Ghost River: The Fall and Rise of the Conestoga. Albuquerque: Red Planet Books and Comics, 2019.
- Political Cartoon Graphic Organizer (Handout)
Procedure:
1. For homework, have students read the Historical Background (above).
2. At the start of class, ensure that the students have a framework for the political cartoon.
  1. In small groups, have students put events in chronological order.
  2. As a class, have students discuss their annotations.
  3. Individually, have students read an excerpt from Ghost River to help frame or better understand the events associated with the historical Background.
3. Introduce political cartoons as primary source documents. Reinforce the understanding that this cartoon was engraved in the context of the 1764 pamphlet war.
4. Project An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies and open the transcription.
  1. Have students to list what they see. Record observations on the board.
  2. Break students into small groups and provide the link to the transcription
5. Provide students with the Political Cartoon Graphic Organizer and have them to fill it out as best as they can.
6. After students finish, review their interpretations.
7. Have students discuss the power dynamics between the groups living in Pennsylvania and the English Crown.
Assessment and Extensions: Ask students to create their own cartoon that they feel accurately portrays the conflict in Pennsylvania in 1764.

This lesson was created during the 2019 Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Teacher Seminar, "Native Peoples, Settlers, and European Empires in North America, 1600-1840" (July 28-August 3, 2019). You may also download a printable version of this lesson.
Passion, Politics, and Portrayal in the Paxton Debates 5 Judith Ridner image_header 2019-06-04T00:54:23-07:00
"Of all Disputes in the World, political and polemical ones have been found most apt to inflame the Passions, and mislead the Judgement," wrote Pennsylvania's proprietor, Thomas Penn, sometime between 1759 and 1760. Little did Penn know how accurately he would forecast the passionate, politicized public debates that would rage a few years later with the Paxton crisis. Throughout 1764, many men, including Penn, took up their quill pens and commissioned printing presses or engravings to sharply criticize or defend the Paxton vigilantes.

Today, such a debate might unfold as "tweet storm," which we would react to and share via our smartphones, tablets, or computers. During the eighteenth century, however, paper, ink, and printed type were the technologies that people used to shape public opinion. The Paxton crisis thus took a physical form as hand-written letters or printed works, such as pamphlets, newspaper accounts, single-sheet broadsides, and political cartoons. These human-created artifacts, or material culture, conveyed the ideas that drove the Paxton debate. Yet their physical forms affected readers' senses and perceptions and their status as consumer goods influenced how people acquired, exchanged, and shared materials. Colonists felt the texture of hand-made paper and the impressions of the typeface as they read these printed accounts; they experienced the effects of the weather when they stood on the street outside a printer's shop in Philadelphia to examine cartoons posted in a shop window; and they felt the rise of emotions, and perhaps the effects of alcohol or coffee, as they debated these events and their implications with friends, acquaintances, and strangers in the intimate public spaces of Pennsylvania's taverns and coffeehouses.

There was much for colonists to consider, thanks to the remarkable range of texts produced during this crisis. All of these works, however, shared significant similarities. First, their authors used the Paxton crisis to debate other pressing issues facing the colony, including the status of native peoples, the defense of backcountry settlers, and the political power of non-English immigrant groups. Second, although their communication style varied, these texts were polemics (verbal or visual attacks) authored by writers or drawn by artists who sought to influence public opinion through the most extreme language and inflammatory content, including visual stereotypes that we today would perceive as racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic.

Writing anonymously or under pseudonyms, authors traded insults and used name-calling, sarcasm, and satire to ridicule opponents. Paxton critics such as Benjamin Franklin, who authored the first published attack of the debate, condemned the Paxton men and all Scots-Irishmen as "CHRISTIAN WHITE SAVAGES" who had murdered peaceful Conestogas in cold blood. His goal was primarily to condemn his Scots-Irish political opponents in the colony rather than to defend the Conestogas, the victims of their violence. Other authors followed Franklin's lead. They mostly ignored the Conestogas, instead employing anti-Irish stereotypes to ridicule the Scots-Irish as drunkards, or to parody their distinctive dialect as evidence of ignorance; some even fed upon anti-Catholic prejudice by asserting that these Protestant colonists were really Catholics in disguise.

Paxton apologists employed comparably incendiary tactics. Their goal was to defend the Scots-Irish and other immigrant groups in the colony, such as the Germans, while undermining the authority Philadelphia-centered power brokers. They derided Franklin, an increasingly important politician in the colony, as a self-interested double-dealer and stereotyped all Indians, even the peaceful Conestogas, as inherently violent, traitorous savages. Wealthy and influential Quakers were their favorite targets, however. Distinctively plain forms of Quaker dress and speech, such as broad-brimmed hats and Quakers’ use "thee" and "thou" idiom made them easy to mock.

Political cartoons offer a rich documentary record of such tactics. In Benjamin Franklin and the Quakers, the Quaker merchant Israel Pemberton, donning the traditional broad-brimmed hat, distributes hatchets to a group of half-naked, highly-stereotyped Indian men; Pemberton instructs them to "Exercise them [use them] on the Scotch Irish & Dutch [Germans]," suggesting that the Quakers' greed for profits from trade drove Indian violence against backcountry settlers such as the Paxton men. Franklin, depicted in the foreground, holding a bag of money, confirms that "this is the way our Money goes." But the Indians have their own designs, as well. As a Quaker man in the right corner of the cartoon cavorts with a young, bare-breasted Indian woman, she secretly reaches into his pocket to steal his pocket watch, raising questions of who controlled the colony and whether Indians, the Quakers, or Franklin profited most from the trade.

The German bleeds & bears ye Furs followed similar themes but shifted the setting to the backcountry to highlight the consequences of such greed. Here, a Quaker (broad-brimmed hat) and Franklin oversee a scene of death and destruction. The Quaker, who appears to be in control, rides on the back of the Scots-Irishman with a half-naked, hatchet-carrying Indian and a blindfolded German yoked to his arm; Franklin watches from the sidelines. As the verses below the cartoon confirm, the Quaker – not Franklin or even the Indian – bears responsibility for the burning cabins and dead colonists that surround them. Franklin, the verses note, may have offered the "help at hand," but it was the Quaker "broad-brims," the colony's oppressive "Lords," whose desire for profit stoked dependence, violence, and misery in Pennsylvania. Quakers were not the humble Christians and pacifists they claimed; rather, as the wearers of masks that disguised nefarious intentions, Quakers were, as pro-Paxton writers asserted, the root of strife in the colony.

The Paxton crisis, as Thomas Penn predicted, was a war of words and images fought by Paxton critics and defenders who debated Pennsylvania's future by inflaming the passions and misleading the judgement of many in the colony. Yet, in a war sparked by violence against Indians, it is surprising how absent or misrepresented the Conestogas were in these discussions. Few texts acknowledged the Paxton murders. Instead, most works, including political cartoons, either denied the Conestogas' agency by portraying them as helpless dependents of the colony and its Quaker merchants, or by stereotyping them as either cunning, half-naked savages or hatchet-wielding warriors, images popularized during the Seven Years' War. With no native voices to argue on behalf of the Conestogas, the Paxton debates document the colonial narrative of the crisis. They also capture a turning point in the history of the Pennsylvanian colony, away from acknowledgement and negotiation and towards the whole scale displacement and dispossession of indigenous peoples.

This essay draws upon research Judith Ridner performed for her book, The Scots Irish of Early Pennsylvania: A Varied People (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2018). For more about Judith Ridner, visit the Credits page.

Further Reading
- Benjamin Bankhurst, “A Looking-Glass for Presbyterians: Recasting Prejudice in Late Colonial Pennsylvania,” PMHB 133.4 (October 2009): 317-348.
- T.H. Breen, The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).
- Cynthia Falk, Architecture and Artifacts of the Pennsylvania Germans: Constructing Identity in Early America (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008).
- Benjamin Franklin, “Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind” (Benjamin Franklin Papers (1751): Vol 4: 225).
- Scott Paul Gordon, "The Paxton Boys and the Moravians: Terror and Faith in the Pennsylvania Backcountry," Journal of Moravian History 14.2 (Fall 2014): 119-152.
- Kate Haulman, The Politics of Fashion in Eighteenth-Century America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2011).
- Kevin Kenny, Peaceable Kingdom Lost: The Paxton Boys and the Destruction of William Penn’s Holy Experiment (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009).
- Krista J. Kesselring, “Gender, the Hat, and Quaker Universalism in the Wake of the English Revolution,” Seventeenth Century 26.2 (October 2011): 299-322.
- J. A. Leo Lemay, “The American Aesthetic of Franklin’s Visual Creations,” PMHB 111.4 (1987): 465-499.
- Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, Account of the march of the Paxton Boys against Philadelphia in the year 1764. (Philadelphia: John Pennington and Henry C. Baird, 1853).
- John Smolenksi, Friends and Strangers: The Making of a Creole Culture in Colonial Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010).
- Michele Lise Tarter, “Quaking in the Light,” in A Centre of Wonders: The Body in Early America, eds. Janet Moore Lindman and Michele Lise Tarter (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001).
Unfriendly Exchanges An early thread of the Pamphlet War was the critique of Quaker native diplomacy during the Seven Years’ War. Critics charged that Friends were opportunistic, or, worse, immoral, in their dealings with natives. Perhaps most egregious was the fact that some Friends enlisted in a militia to defend the Philadelphia from the Paxton marchers. Given the Society’s resistance to the organization of a militia during the Seven Years’ War, critics charged that the Quakers would take up arms to defend the colony’s natives, but not their fellow settlers.
The Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, The Address of the People Called Quakers (Philadelphia, 1764).
In this letter to the governor, the Philadelphia Yearly meeting warned that Smith’s pamphlet would agitate “the inconsiderate Part of the People” against the Society. Those fears proved well-founded as Paxton apologists conflated Quakers with the warring Indians that they claimed had precipitated the march.

David James Dove, A Battle a Squirt; Where No Man is Kill'd, and No Man is Hurt! (Philadelphia, 1764).
This pro-Paxton pamphlet was published anonymously, but later attributed to David James Dove, the infamous satirist, Paxton sympathizer, and headmaster of the Germantown Academy. (The printer included an unflattering engraving of the doctor.) Dove counters Address by mocking Friends’ superficial adherence to the peace testimony, which he argues they relinquished all too quickly stymie the Paxton men during their march to Philadelphia. He describes the Paxtons, meanwhile, as the “worthy bleeding Men of Paxton,” whom acted to prevent Indian treachery.
James Claypoole, An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies (Philadelphia, 1764).
In this pro-Paxton political cartoon intended to accompany Battle, a Quaker merchant identifiable as Israel Pemberton (“King Wampum”) cavorting with a partially undressed native woman who is stealing his money. A bespectacled Franklin watches from the right.

An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies

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The Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, The Address of the People Called Quakers (Philadelphia, 1764).

David James Dove, A Battle a Squirt; Where No Man is Kill'd, and No Man is Hurt! (Philadelphia, 1764).

James Claypoole, An Indian Squaw King Wampum Spies (Philadelphia, 1764).