William Bartram and John Pope's influence on American perceptions of the Creek Indians

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In the 1790s, the new American Indian “civilization” policy began to take shape. At the same time, several narratives of journeys across the Southeastern United States were published, most notably William Bartram’s accounts of the region’s plant, animal and human life. Though based on travels conducted in the 1770s, Bartram’s narrative did not reach press until 1791. The following year, another, less well-known narrative of the Southeast was published by John Pope, a Virginia veteran of the American Revolution. While interesting and popular accounts of the southern lands added to the United States as a result of the American Revolution, these narratives had the potential to do far more than simply satisfy readers’ curiosity about the Southeast’s inhabitants and geography.These travel narratives, published at a moment when Indians presented a primary security and diplomatic concern, offer valuable insight not only into American perceptions of Native Americans, but also into the policies that would dictate US-Indian relations in the post-Revolution period. This talk analyzes Pope and Bartram’s discussions of the Creek Indians’ politics, culture, religion, and leadership, in order to better elucidate our understanding of the popular information and images of Indians that early American readers—particularly those in positions to determine US-Native relations in the late 18th century—had at their disposal.


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