Chapter 11: The Cherokee War and the Indirect Challenge to the Carolina Gentry

When the Carolina colony was first being erected, the crown in England enforced salutary neglect, meaning that giving the colonists free reign with little authority would produce a more productive colony. However, after King George’s War of 1748, the British felt it necessary to reverse their original order. The British feared that the Carolina colonists were becoming to powerful and rebellious, leading them to believe that they might lose control of the colony all together, and ultimately the economic gain it produced. So, to attempt to regain control of the colony, the British were going to wait until there was peace in the colony, but the French and Indian War (Seven Year’s War) interrupted their plan. Despite the delay, the British came back with an even stronger force than before to take over the colony.

Britain’s attempt to regain control of Carolina did not go as smoothly as desired. The House of Commons in the colony split in its decision to accept the crown’s authority or not. There was a lot of confusion in the Commons, which was ironically becoming larger at this time, and this confusion became another propelling force for the Quartering Controversy. The Quartering Controversy took place in the Winter of 1757-1758. With ever-growing fear of a French attack, an error was made where both the secretary of state and the commander in chief both independently called for soldiers to defend the colony. Though, so many soldiers arrived that there were not enough barracks to hold them all and the men were then housed in private homes, against the wishes of the residents. This event alone drove a deep wedge between the Carolina colonists and the British as the soldiers seemed to have no respect for the colonist and vice versa. Little did the colonist realize though, was that the British soldiers were sparking vicious tension between themselves and the Indians.

The tension between the Cherokee Indians and the British turned into a real dispute when the Cherokees invaded Carolina. War was declared, and the colonists and British soldiers fought back against the native invasions. Many times, the soldiers and colonists were close to finding peace with the Indians, but some bloody event would occur and the war would continue to rage on. It wasn’t until 1761 that Grant is able to push through the wilderness to fight the Indians dead-on. He faces great defeat, but does not stop and continues to burn down the Indian’s villages and destroy their crops. Out of starvation, the Cherokees surrender and agree to a treaty. The treaty, however, ended up being Grant’s demise though, and he lost his heroic status when he altered the treaty on his own accord by dropping the first article, calling for the Indians to surrender four men to be killed to make the two sides even. Though, the Indians made up for such a loss in the treaty by surrendering land to the colonists, and the surveyors and Indians created the Carolina boundaries that became the basis for today’s state lines.