“Brothers, the white people are like poisonous serpents: when chilled, they are feeble and harmless; but invigorate them with warmth, and they sting their benefactors to death. The white people came among us feeble; and now we have made them strong, they wish to kill us or drive us back, as they would wolves and panthers. Brothers, the white men are not friends to the Indians: at first they only asked for land sufficient for a wigwam; now, nothing will satisfy them but the whole of our hunting grounds, from the rising to the setting sun.” |
Background
In the early 1800’s the United States wanted the American Indians to change their lifestyle and live like the European settlers because the U.S. wanted to use the American Indian's hunting grounds for settlement and farming. The Creek Indians were split, the Upper Creeks, also called Red Sticks, disagreed with the change. The Lower Creeks, also called White Sticks, did not fight against the change. On July 27, 1813, there was a battle, called the Battle of Burnt Corn, at Burnt Corn Creek. A group of American militia and allied Creek Indians attacked a group of Red Sticks. The Red Sticks won the battle, making tension rise.
Having trouble viewing the video below, click here to download or update Adobe Flash Player
From the perspective of the Creek Indians, why did the Red Stick Creek Indian attack Ft. Mims?