BRITISH AMERICA AND INDIGENOUS NATIVE ANERICAN DEATHS. A US PRESIDENT RANKING BASED ON THEIR SEVERITY TOWARD INDIGENOUS NATIVE AMERICANS.

Prior to the USA being founded in 1776, there was British America under the rule of various Kings. British America was a period defined as the start of British Colony development in 1585 up to 1783 with the end of the American Revolutionary War.

British America was a sad and deadly period of history for Indigenous people in the eastern third of North America. England made its first attempts at colonizing the Americas in 1585. From 1607, numerous permanent British settlements and British colonies developed. Much of these territories were occupied by Indigenous peoples, whose populations substantially declined due to epidemics, wars, and massacres.

The Colony of Virginia was a British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colony lasted for three attempts totaling six years. In 1590, the colony was abandoned. But nearly 20 years later, the colony was re-settled at Jamestown, not far north of the original site.

Jamestown, Virginia—founded May 14, 1607—was the first permanent English (British) settlement in North America. Roanoke (1585–1587) was the first English (British) attempt, but it failed (“Lost Colony”). It’s Hatteras Island in North Carolina.

In 1585, the British began their first settlement in North America, the Roanoke Colony. Its initial form only lasted until 1586 due to conflict with the local Native Americans. In 1587, around 115 colonists led by Governor John White settled back at Roanoke. White went back on a ship to England to get supplies for the colony, but his return was delayed by English's conflict with the Spanish Armada. In August 1590, White returned to the colony, which had been abandoned. Left behind was an inscription on a post that said "CROATOAN" and a carving into a tree that said "CRO". Where the colonists went to in those years is considered a mystery by some. However, "Croatoan" was an island south of Roanoke where Native Americans lived.

With the British America period dating from 1585 to 1783, a careful analysis points to roughly one million to a little over two million Indigenous deaths in British America (excluding Canada and the Caribbean), with about 1.5 million Indigenous deaths a reasonable estimate.

During the American Revolutionary War Period (1775–1783), thirteen British colonies rebelled against the British Crown (King George III) and formed the United States of America (U.S.A.), an independent and sovereign and free country of thirteen states. In the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, Britain recognized the U.S.A. as an independent country and ceded to it the British territories east of the Mississippi River.

In the prologue for Ken Burn’s ‘The American Revolution’, the film’s narrator, Peter Coyote, says the American Revolution was sparked by disputes over “Indian land, taxation and representation.” It’s an acknowledgment that the colonists’ desire for unfettered access to Native lands was a primary cause of the break with Britain, which had forbidden any settlement west of the Appalachians.

That theme is echoed throughout Burn’s documentary. One of the most chilling sequences describes the Sullivan campaign of 1779, in upstate New York, where Washington ordered the destruction of all villages, crops and orchards of the Seneca and Cayuga, who had allied with the British. “You will not by any means listen to any overture for peace, before the total ruin of their settlements is effected,” Washington declared.

Here’s a historically grounded listing of 25 U.S. Presidents from 1776 to 1901 (Washington → McKinley). They are ranked by Severity** of Their Federal Indian Policy. The Ranking is from MOST SEVERE (Andrew Jackson) to LEAST SEVERE (James A. Garfield) based on a scale of Native American dispossession, deadly coercion, erosion of tribal sovereignty, and assimilationist law they advanced while in office as a U.S. President.

** Note: “Severity” here emphasizes federal action from the White House/Congress during each Presidency, balancing statutory change (e.g., Removal, Dawes/Curtis, 1871 Act), sovereign-eroding court/legislative shifts (e.g., Major Crimes Act), and state-sanctioned coercion/violence (e.g., Wounded Knee, forced removals). Different historians may weight Presidents differently, but the top tier generally converges around two major periods: 1. (1829 to 1841) Jackson/Van Buren and 2. (1885 to 1897) Cleveland/McKinley … the allotment/termination precursors of the 1880s–1890s

1 Andrew Jackson (7th President MOST SEVERE 1829 to 1837) – Jackson was criticized for his racist policies, particularly towards Native Americans. On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on the United Kingdom, launching the War of 1812. Though the war was primarily caused by maritime issues, it provided white American settlers on the southern frontier the opportunity to overcome Native American resistance to settlement, undermine British support of the Native American tribes, and pry Florida from the Spanish Empire. Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act in 1830. This act, which has been described as ethnic cleansing, displaced tens of thousands of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands east of the Mississippi River. This resulted in thousands of deaths, in what has become known as the Trail of Tears. Indian Removal Act; defied Worcester ruling; removals began. Removal and enforcement produced mass death/displacement (e.g., the Cherokee removal, 1838–39).

2 Martin Van Buren (8th President 1837 to 1841) – Executed mass Native American removals (e.g., 1838 Cherokee “Trail of Tears”). An estimated 4,000 Cherokee died during the Trail of Tears. Entire Indian nations were relocated, with some losing as much as half their populations. Van Buren claimed that America was "perhaps in the beginning unjustifiable aggressors" toward the Indians, but later became the "guardians". He told Congress that a "mixed occupancy of the same territory by the white and red man is incompatible with the safety or happiness of either", and also claimed the Cherokee had not protested their removal.

3 Benjamin Harrison (23rd President 1889 to 1893) – 1890 Wounded Knee massacre occurred under his administration. Harrison’s Native American Policy. During Harrison's administration, the Lakota, who had been forcibly confined to reservations in South Dakota, grew restive under the influence of Wovoka, a medicine man, who encouraged them to participate in a spiritual movement known as the Ghost Dance. Though the movement called for the removal of white Americans from indigenous lands, it was primarily religious in nature, a fact that many in Washington did not understand; assuming that the Ghost Dance would increase Lakota resistance to U.S. government, they ordered the American military to increase its presence on the reservations. On December 29, 1890, the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry Regiment perpetrated a massacre of over 250 Lakota at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation near Wounded Knee Creek after a botched attempt to disarm the reservation's inhabitants. American soldiers buried the massacre's victims, many of them women and children, in mass graves.

4 Grover Cleveland (22nd and 24th President 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897) – Signed the Dawes (General Allotment) Act, triggering massive land loss and forced assimilation. The Dawes Act (1887) and Curtis Act (1898) legally broke up communal Native American lands, dissolved tribal courts/governments, and opened “surplus land” to settlers—driving the steepest land losses for Native Americans.

5 William McKinley (25th President 1897 to 1901 President when Taffy Abel was born in 1900) – Curtis Act (1898) dismantled tribal courts/governments in Indian Territory and extended allotment. President William McKinley's Native American policy was marked by contradictions, most notably signing the Curtis Act of 1898 which dismantled the sovereignty of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory. However, he also showed concern for the Navajo, intervening to protect their land against white depredations. His administration generally supported the prevailing assimilation and allotment policies of the era, which further undermined tribal governments and land ownership.

Replacing Native American names with those of European Americans is a form of cultural imperialism. President Trump has done this in regard to Mount McKinley in Alaska. The practice declares that the new rulers of the landscape can afford to ignore what Native names mean and connote in favor of new names that typically have no relation to what is named. Trump wants to erase all nonwhite and Indigenous history.

Low-profile conflicts have raged for many years between those who want to change the names of localities and geographic features back to their original Native names, and those who want them named for European American people, towns, or words. To some degree this is a contest between Native Americans and European Americans, but European Americans are usually found on both sides of the arguments. The battles might also be characterized as between traditionalists and those desiring change, except that both parties claim to have tradition on their side. Denali, or Mt. McKinley, dramatically embodies these disputes about names all across America, not only because it is such a dramatic place but also because the controversy at Denali has gone on for more than twenty-five years.

6 Ulysses S. Grant (18th President 1869 to 1877) – Ended treaty-making with tribes (1871); “Peace Policy” coexisted with Great Sioux War dynamics and Black Hills seizure push. Grant’s Native American Policy. Ulysses S. Grant is the US President best known for the Indian Boarding School Era. Grant's 1869 “Peace Policy” partnered the federal government with Christian denominations on reservations and expanded funding for off-reservation “civilizing” schools—laying the groundwork for the Indian Boarding-School system. The model school of this era was Carlisle which opened in 1879 under President Rutherford B. Hayes. It was founded by Capt. Richard Henry Pratt.

The primary purpose of Carlisle, and similar Indian Boarding Schools, was to forcibly assimilate (forcibly civilize) Native American children into mainstream American culture through a "Kill the Indian in him, save the man" philosophy, as famously stated by its founder, Richard Henry Pratt.

7 Abraham Lincoln (16th President 1861 to 1865) – Largest mass execution in U.S. history (38 Dakota, 1862) and start of the Navajo Long Walk/Bosque Redondo internment. Lincoln’s Native American Policy.

Lincoln appointed William P. Dole as commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and made "extensive use of Indian Service positions to reward political supporters", according to the author Thomas Britten. Lincoln's policies largely focused on assimilation of Native Americans and diminishing tribal landholdings, consistent with those of his predecessors, but his direct involvement in Native American affairs was unclear. His administration faced difficulties guarding Western settlers, railroads, and telegraph lines from Native American attacks.

Tensions arose with the Dakota people due to American treaty violations, unfair trading, and government practices that led to starvation. In August 1862, the Dakota War broke out in Minnesota. Hundreds of settlers were killed and 30,000 were displaced from their homes. Some feared incorrectly that it might represent a Confederate conspiracy to start a war on the Northwestern frontier. Lincoln ordered thousands of paroled prisoners of war be sent to put down the uprising. When the Confederacy protested, Lincoln revoked the policy and none arrived in Minnesota. Lincoln sent Pope as commander of the new Department of the Northwest. Appointed as a state militia colonel, Henry Hastings Sibley eventually defeated the Dakota chief Little Crow at the Battle of Wood Lake. A war crimes trial led by Sibley sentenced 303 Dakota warriors to death; the legal scholar Carol Chomsky described the trial as "a study in military injustice" designed to "guarantee an unjust outcome". Lincoln pardoned all but 39 of the condemned warriors, and, with one execution suspended, the remaining 38 were hanged in the largest mass execution in U.S. history. Congressman Alexander Ramsey told Lincoln in 1864 that he would have received more re-election support in Minnesota had he executed all 303 warriors. Lincoln responded, "I could not afford to hang men for votes." Lincoln called for reform of federal Indian policy but prioritized the war and Reconstruction. Changes were made in response to the Sand Creek Massacre of November 1864, prioritizing peaceful administration of Native affairs and condemning those encroaching on Native territory, but not until after Lincoln's death.

8 James K. Polk (11th President 1845 to 1849) – War with Mexico and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo added the Southwest, catalyzing rapid dispossession of Native nations there. A protégé of Andrew Jackson. He was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and American expansionism.

9 Franklin Pierce (14th President 1853 to 1857) – Stevens treaties in the Pacific Northwest and ensuing wars formalized removals onto reservations.

10 Millard Fillmore (13th President 1850 to 1853) – 1851 Indian Appropriations Act institutionalized the reservation system.

11 Thomas Jefferson (3rd President 1801 to 1809) – Laid the template for removal/acculturation; privately urged using debt to induce land cessions, and removal beyond the

12 Chester A. Arthur (21st President 1881 to 1885) – Major Crimes Act (1885) curtailed tribal criminal jurisdiction; upheld in Kagama (1886).

13 Andrew Johnson (17th President 1865 to 1869) – 1867–68 Indian Peace Commission/Medicine Lodge; 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty (followed by renewed conflict and land seizure).

14 Rutherford B. Hayes (19th President 1877 to 1881) – Assimilation/allotment trajectory sharpened; Nez Perce War of 1877 occurred during his term.

15 John Tyler (10th President 1841 to 1845) – War-ending Seminole removals and 1842 Buffalo Creek treaty enforcing Seneca dispossession.

16 James Buchanan (15th President 1857 to 1861) – Continued reservation-era expansions and removal-era treaty pressures (less sweeping than other Presidents on this list).

17 Zachary Taylor (12th President 1849 to 1850) – Short term; policy continuity with ongoing removals but few major federal measures enacted while in office.

18 James Monroe (5th President 1817 to 1825) – Publicly urged removal west as “for tribes’ welfare and happiness”; BIA framework formed in his era. James Monroe's relationship with Indigenous peoples was complex, characterized by initial policies that encouraged assimilation but shifted toward supporting the policy of Indian removal as settlers expanded westward. Additionally, some historians argue the Monroe Doctrine, by establishing U.S. hegemony in the Americas, undermined Indigenous sovereignty and facilitated U.S. expansion at their expense.

Policies and interactions during his presidency

Initial assimilation vs. later removal: Monroe's early approach was to encourage Indigenous tribes to "civilize" by adopting aspects of American culture and education. However, this position evolved into supporting the forced removal of tribes to designated territories, as outlined in a special message to Congress in 1825.

Monroe Doctrine's impact: While the Monroe Doctrine was primarily focused on Europe, some historians argue that it was a tool for U.S. expansion, as it created a sphere of influence in the Americas that facilitated the displacement of Indigenous peoples.

Early influences: Monroe's service in the military, which included conversations with Mohawk leader Joseph Brant during the Revolutionary War, instilled in him a strong interest in Native American relations.

Evolving views: His presidency is seen as a transitional period in U.S.-Indigenous relations, moving from a policy of integration to one of removal, a shift driven by increasing settler demand for land.

19 George Washington (1st President 1789 to1797) – Pursued a “civilization”/treaty-purchase policy while waging the Northwest Indian War (ended by 1795 Treaty of Greenville).

20 James Madison (4th President 1809 to 1817)– War of 1812 frontier campaigns devastated Native nations but lacked a formal, removal-first federal statute during his term.

21 John Quincy Adams (6th President 1825 to 1829) – At times resisted Georgia’s illegal encroachments; repudiated the fraudulent 1825 Indian Springs treaty and sought protection of Creek territory.

22 John Adams (2nd President 1797 to 1801) – Minimal direct federal Indian policy change relative to later administrations.

23 William Henry Harrison (9th President 1841 to 1841) – One month in office. Just three weeks after his inauguration, Harrison fell ill and died days later. No major Indian policy actions as President. Harrison is remembered for his Indian treaties.

24 James A. Garfield (20th President 1881 to 1881) (LEAST SEVERE)– Assassinated in 1881; no major Indian policy actions as President. When told that Indian chief Sitting Bull, a prisoner of the army, was starving, Garfield initially said, "Let him starve...", but a few moments later said, "No, send him my oatmeal."

** Note: “Severity” here emphasizes federal action from the White House/Congress during each Presidency, balancing statutory change (e.g., Removal, Dawes/Curtis, 1871 Act), sovereign-eroding court/legislative shifts (e.g., Major Crimes Act), and state-sanctioned coercion/violence (e.g., Wounded Knee, forced removals). Different historians may weight Presidents differently, but the top tier generally converges around Jackson/Van Buren and the allotment/termination precursors of the 1880s–1890s