Murder on the Saltwater Frontier is an article that begins with the story of John Gallop discovering the dead body of John Oldham upon a ship. The author describes this scene as fear turning to dread as Gallop realized his old friend’s vessel was swarming with Indians. This is the same dread I am sure many Indians encountered as Europeans took their land and killed their people. In consequence to the murder of Oldham, colonist’s started a two year war with the Indians that included the killing, dismembering, and enslaving of Indians. Yeah, that seems fair, one European is killed so let’s kill as many Indians as we can (sarcasm).
The most interesting part of this article to me was the investigation of Oldham’s death. The realization that Indians also traded along the shores and battles for space with the Europeans. The author points out, we typically think of early colonization period as, “this is the white people territory”, and “this is Indian territory” when in fact it was all one area that both were fighting to gain control of. Tram Hua points out that, “The French, the English, and the Dutch were all trying to cut back Spanish power in the western Atlantic and Africa”. This post was regarding trade in the Atlantic. I believe that with this new knowledge it is possible that the Indians were also competing for power on the sea.
The Indians could even be considered more sea worthy than the Europeans. Indians were taught to swim from a young age, most Europeans did not know how to swim. Europeans would also use Indian guides during their voyages. Both the Europeans and Indians knew how to build boats. There is a lot more they could have learned from one another if they did not let cultural barrier interfere.
Andrew C. Lipman. “Murder on the Saltwater Frontier: The Death of John Oldham.” Early American Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal 9, no. 2 (2011): 268-294. https://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed September 23, 2016).
These are the three possible topics for my final project:
These are the three possible topics for my final project:
1) Catholicism vs Protestantism and how it affected the Americas. 2) Colonial successes and failures in early North American history. 3) Revolutions in the Atlantic from 1789-1804.
For my final project, I would like to do it on one of the following topics
1. The impact of piracy/privateering on European economies’ and or national relations
2. The effect of Christianity on Native American groups culture
3. Life aboard a European ship in transit across the Atlantic ocean