America Archives – Page 2 of 18

Melungeons

A cartoon mocking the typical Melungeon.

The word, Melungeon, dates at least back to the late 1700s and has several interpretations. The most obvious is that it is frontier derivation of the French word, mélange, which means “blend.”

What Happened to the Sephardic Jewish Colonists?

There has never been a scientific study to determine the post-colonial history of the Sephardic communities in the Southern Piedmont and Appalachians. Anything that can be said must be in the realm of speculation, based on the known cultural history of the Southeast during the Colonial and Antebellum Eras. The only significant religious-based persecution in the Lower Southeast was between the Sephardic Jews and the Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe. A Protestant minister in Savannah wrote, “Some Jews in Savannah complain that the Spanish and Portuguese Jews should persecute the German Jews in a way no Christian would persecute another … Read more

Indian Captivity Narratives

The Abduction of Daniel Boone's Daughter by the Indians

This collection contains entire narratives of Indian captivity; that is to say, we have provided the reader the originals without the slightest abridgement. Some of these captivities provide little in way of customs and manners, except to display examples of the clandestine warfare Native Americans used to accomplish their means. In almost every case, there was a tug of war going on between principle government powers, French, American, British, and Spanish, and these powers used the natural prowess of the Indians to assist them in causing warfare upon American and Canadian settlers. There were definitely thousands of captivities, likely tens of thousands, as the active period of these Indian captivity narratives covers 150 years. Unfortunately, few have ever been put under a pen by the original captive, and as such, we have little first-hand details on their captivity. These you will find here, are only those with which were written by the captive or narrated to another who could write for them; you shall find in a later collection, a database of known captives, by name, location, and dates, and a narrative about their captivity along with factual sources. But that is for another time.

History of the Indian Wars

Our relations with the aboriginal inhabitants of this continent form a distinct and very important, and interesting portion of the history of this Republic. It is unfortunately, for the most part, a history of bloody wars, in which the border settlers have suffered all the horrors of savage aggression, and, in which portions of our colonial settlements have sometimes been completely cut off and destroyed. Other portions of this thrilling history, evince the courage, daring, and patience of the settlers, in a very favorable point of view, and exhibit them as triumphing over every difficulty, and finally obtaining a firm foothold on the soil. In all its parts, this history will always possess numerous points of peculiar interest for the American reader.

Map of part of North America from Cape Charles to the Mouth of the River Mississipi

Captain John Barnwell, otherwise known as Tuscarora Jack, was a well known frontier settler who was active in the 1711 Tuscarora War. His travels throughout the Southeast enabled him to draw a relatively accurate map of the area of his travels and exploration, some from second hand information, but most from first hand. For researchers of the Southeast this map is critical, and never before seen online in such a large form as to be able to read the hand writing and personal descriptions and historical details as outlined by Barnwell. In order to view this map in a form that made it legible you had to travel to one of the two locations the actual versions exist.

Map Making, from Majorca to Appalachia

From the moment that Europeans learned that a New World existed across the waters of the Atlantic, map makers in Western Europe began turning maps of that New World. At first these maps were grossly inaccurate and assumed the either the Americas were part of the Orient or merely consisted of islands off the shores of Asia. As more and more log books and navigation charts were returned to Spain, Portugal, France and England by explorers, the maps grew more precise.

Fossilized Anthropology

Author Richard Thornton overhead a simple statement in a 2005 speech before the Society of Georgia Archaeology “We now know everything there is to know about the Southeastern Indians. It is time to move on to other things.” This statement was intended by a select group of academics to freeze the study of Southeastern United States to what they believed was the truth, and to stifle further research, even if new facts began to emerge.

Tammany Society

The Tammany society – occasionally at first known as the Columbian Order took an Indian title and formulated for itself a ritual based upon supposedly Indian custom.

Indian Biographies

Biographies are a good source of information on our ancestors. They can be used as a tool to provide facts: names, dates and locations for the events in our ancestors lives. They can also provide “meat” for genealogical research, and by that we mean the story behind the person – events which shaped and molded the character of a person. We have put a great number of biographical information online, both Native American and general biographies, and have gone through all of them and provided links to the one’s specific to Native American.

John Mitchell’s Map

The Mitchell Map remained the most detailed map of North America available in the later eighteenth century. Various impressions (and also French copies) were directly used to help establish the boundaries of the new United States of America by diplomats at the Treaty of Paris (1783) that ended the American Revolutionary War. The map’s inaccuracies subsequently led to a number of border disputes, such as in Maine. Its supposition that the Mississippi extended north to the 50th parallel (into British territory) resulted in the treaty using it as a landmark for a geographically impossible definition of the border in that … Read more

Linguistic Families of American Indians North of Mexico

Linguisitic Families of American Indians - Powell

The Powell map of “Linguistic Families of American Indians North of Mexico,” first published in 1891, has been a valuable resource for understanding the diverse linguistic groups of Native American tribes. Despite its utility, there has been a need for a detailed map showing the specific locations of tribes within these families. This article addresses that gap by exploring the complexities of defining and mapping tribes, particularly given the non-uniform application of the term “tribe” and the varying levels of coherence among different groups. The article emphasizes the challenges in creating such a map, especially when considering the historical movements and interactions of these tribes.

Illustrations, Famous American Belles

Emily Marshall (Mrs. William Foster Otis). From portrait painted by Chester Harding in 1830; owned by her daughter, Mrs. Samuel Eliot, of Boston, by whose permission it is here reproduced for the first time in colors. Marcia Burns (Mrs. John Peter Van Ness). From miniature by James Peale, painted in 1797; owned by the Corcoran Art Gallery, Washington, D. C 12 Theodosia Burr (Mrs. Joseph Alston). From the original engraving by Charles B. J. F. Saint Memin; owned by Hampton L. Carson, Esq., of Philadelphia, by whose permission it is here reproduced. Elizabeth Patterson (Madame Jerome Bonaparte). From portrait painted … Read more

1910 Census Maps of the United States

Territories of the United States, by Acquisition Maps by State 1910 Alabama Census Map 1910 Alaska Census Map 1910 Arizona Census Map 1910 Arkansas Census Map 1910 California Census Map 1910 Colorado Census Map 1910 Connecticut Census Map 1910 Delaware and Maryland Census Map 1910 Florida Census Map 1910 Georgia Census Map 1910 Hawaii Census Map 1910 Idaho Census Map 1910 Illinois Census Map 1910 Indiana Census Map 1910 Iowa Census Map 1910 Kansas Census Map 1910 Kentucky Census Map 1910 Louisiana Census Map 1910 Maine Census Map 1910 Delaware and Maryland Census Map 1910 Massachusetts Census Map 1910 … Read more