The Lancaster Treaty Of 1744, So Important To American History

The history of Native Americans and settlers in the New World has long been biased towards that of the colonists settling in America. Few people know the extent to which the bias exists and they also don’t stop to consider the perspective of the people that have rightful ownership of the land. What most people do know are the stories of conquest that are often taught in school. These accounts are heavily in favor of the settlers and paint Native Americans as the savage evildoers hell-bent on ruining lives. This is why the Lancaster Treaty of 1744 is so important to American history. The minutes from the meeting in Lancaster detail a peaceful but powerful commentary about land disputes between the Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia …show more content…
One is that of Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s founding fathers and the other is that of a recorded journal of Conrad Weiser the German interpreter for the Iroquois and great friend of Canasatego. The written source of Benjamin Franklin is taken directly from the minutes of each meeting involved with the Lancaster Treaty. The source details each component of the meeting from the details of gifts being presented to both the leaders of the tribes as well as the governors of the colonies involved. The source gives a word for word account of every member of the meeting who spoke. Canasatego’s speeches had to be translated from Iroquois to English by the interpreter and then a scribe wrote down the account in English. According to the primary document, Canasatego seemed a “powerful and formidable man…an eloquent orator with a serious mien.” In Franklin’s printing he refers to the Indians as “savages who know how to speak”. This is a backhanded compliment in a sense. They are complimented for addressing the people but yet they are still referred to as savages. It is evident that Franklin respects Canasatego for his thoughts but he still considers them as lesser to white