Peter Silver's Our Savage Neighbors

The French and Indian War, which occurred during the mid-18th century, was one of the most influential conflicts to arise on the North American continent. During the period, hostility existed between the English colonists and their Native American neighbors; as a result, when the war broke out, colonial unity is argued to have emerged against a common enemy. However, historians disagree whether the war had any transforming effect on early America; historian Peter Silver’s work “Our Savage Neighbors” tries to set the record straight on the issue. Through Silver’s work, we can argue that the war changed early America during the period through bigotry, religion, politics, and violence which affected native-colonial relations and inter-colonial relations. From the lens of rural Pennsylvania, it is shown how these events changed early America by creating a momentary, localized reaction to a particular crisis which united multi-cultural groups under a common banner of white nationalism. The French and Indian war had an impact on early America because …show more content…
This can be seen when it is mentioned how influential anti-Indian beliefs were in deciding the politics of Pennsylvanian society. For example, this can be seen when Silver says, “Some of the most prominent people in the provinces had crossed over into the Indians territory of treacherousness…” (123). As a result, several prominent, influential men were removed from office for being Indian supporters, and as a consequence, a new, anti-Indian faction became entrenched in politics that sought to remove the Indians as a threat. Ultimately, the French and Indian war created a temporary political power structure that centered on anti-Indian