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Warpaths: Invasions of North America
In 1513, only a few years before Cortes conquered the Aztec empire, Juan Ponce de Leon and three shiploads of conquistadores landed just south of what is now St. Augustine, Florida. The Spanish adventurers, however, were quickly driven away by the Timucua people; further landings were
similarly defeated by the powerful archery fire of the Calusa, who ultimately took the lives of Hernandez de Cordoba and Ponce de Leon himself. Clearly, the European experience in North America would be a far cry from their swift victories over the Aztecs and Incas.
In Warpaths , Ian K. Steele provides a sweeping history of the numerous European invasions of North America, painting a dramatic new portrait of the centuries of warfare that shook the continent. Steele's fascinating account destroys the old image of technologically advanced Europeans overrunning
primitive savages. Instead, he reveals how Amerindians rose to the challenge of each successive invasion with martial and diplomatic skill, from the defeat of Ponce de Leon in 1513 to a negotiated peace with the British in 1765. In war after war, the Amerindians and Europeans battled in a
precarious balance, adapting each other's technology and tactics and seeking each other out as supply sources for food and weapons. Steele follows the experience of the Spanish at San Agustín, the English at Jamestown and Plymouth, the French at Québec, and the Dutch at Albany, revealing the vast
range of Amerindian strategies for coping with the invaders. For a century and a half, for example, Amerindians repelled the Spanish in Florida; the Powhatan fought the English at Jamestown for just as long. The Algonquin and Huron skillfully drew the French into their wars with the Mohawk, while
the Wampanoag reach an accommodation with the Pilgrims that lasted for fifty years. Throughout the era, the Amerindians shrewdly played on European rivalries; indeed, they faced the greatest danger when the European courts declared peace between their colonies. The Five Nations, Creek, and
Cherokee confederations in particular used the Europeans to extend their own power. Steele continues the story through the arrival of European regulars in 1755, showing how the Amerindians adapted to the resulting changes in warfare and the ultimate British victory over the French. In the end, the
triumphant English were faced with a powerful Amerindian campaign against their outlying posts that forced them to accept a military stalemate on the frontier, leading to a negotiated balance of power in 1765.
The conflicts that erupted with the European arrival have long been encrusted with myth and self-congratulatory folklore. Warpaths offers a startling new look at this pivotal era, combining social, cultural, and military history to provide a more nuanced portrait of the violence that gave birth
to modern North America.
similarly defeated by the powerful archery fire of the Calusa, who ultimately took the lives of Hernandez de Cordoba and Ponce de Leon himself. Clearly, the European experience in North America would be a far cry from their swift victories over the Aztecs and Incas.
In Warpaths , Ian K. Steele provides a sweeping history of the numerous European invasions of North America, painting a dramatic new portrait of the centuries of warfare that shook the continent. Steele's fascinating account destroys the old image of technologically advanced Europeans overrunning
primitive savages. Instead, he reveals how Amerindians rose to the challenge of each successive invasion with martial and diplomatic skill, from the defeat of Ponce de Leon in 1513 to a negotiated peace with the British in 1765. In war after war, the Amerindians and Europeans battled in a
precarious balance, adapting each other's technology and tactics and seeking each other out as supply sources for food and weapons. Steele follows the experience of the Spanish at San Agustín, the English at Jamestown and Plymouth, the French at Québec, and the Dutch at Albany, revealing the vast
range of Amerindian strategies for coping with the invaders. For a century and a half, for example, Amerindians repelled the Spanish in Florida; the Powhatan fought the English at Jamestown for just as long. The Algonquin and Huron skillfully drew the French into their wars with the Mohawk, while
the Wampanoag reach an accommodation with the Pilgrims that lasted for fifty years. Throughout the era, the Amerindians shrewdly played on European rivalries; indeed, they faced the greatest danger when the European courts declared peace between their colonies. The Five Nations, Creek, and
Cherokee confederations in particular used the Europeans to extend their own power. Steele continues the story through the arrival of European regulars in 1755, showing how the Amerindians adapted to the resulting changes in warfare and the ultimate British victory over the French. In the end, the
triumphant English were faced with a powerful Amerindian campaign against their outlying posts that forced them to accept a military stalemate on the frontier, leading to a negotiated balance of power in 1765.
The conflicts that erupted with the European arrival have long been encrusted with myth and self-congratulatory folklore. Warpaths offers a startling new look at this pivotal era, combining social, cultural, and military history to provide a more nuanced portrait of the violence that gave birth
to modern North America.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
About the author
Ian K. Steele
14 books5 followersIan K. Steele is professor emeritus and adjunct research professor of history at Western University.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 3, 2021
I had read this as part of my graduate studies 8 or 9 years ago, but I decided to revisit it recently. Professor Steele is a wonderful expert on Native American-Euro-American relations during the colonial period of North America. As with the “new wave” of academic studies on Native American history, he rightfully and effectively portrays Native American peoples as both diverse and complex, rather than “simple savages” of many older historical works of the 1970’s and before. I do truly appreciate his use of the term “Amerindian” to refer to North American aboriginal inhabitants. He traces the history of interaction and conflict essentially from Columbus’s first encounters in the Caribbean at the beginning of the 16th Century, all the way through the end of the French and Indian War and Pontiac’s War(or as Steele identifies it the Amerindian War of 1763-1765) up to the dawn of the American Revolution. Steele does an excellent job highlighting and demonstrating the differences in policies and strategies employed by the Spanish, French, Dutch, English, and specific English colonies such as Plymouth Bay and Virginia in their diplomacy and military conflicts with Native Americans. At times, and really out of necessity, it can seem an endless list of minor regional wars and conflicts, but he does an admirable job of differentiating the attitudes and cultural peculiarities of each unique linguistic and cultural group of tribal peoples. “Warpaths” should really be considered a key work in understanding the developments of Euro-American settlement of North America in the 16th, 17th, and 18th Century for academic studies, yet is also excellent for amateur historians, or anyone interested in Native American or early colonial history.
January 23, 2018
A reasonable attempt to collect and compare episodes of the initial European settlement attempts in North America; particularly, it tried to present the view from the inhabitants’ point of view. Some of the events are little-known and the data therefore useful. However, the presentation became tedious before the book ended.
October 13, 2008
I give this book considerable kudos for the solid scholarship, its even-handed treatment of Colonial North America, and its fascinating discussion of the conflicts between and within French, British and Spanish colonists and the natives.
However, I found the writing rather tedious, and it was a struggle to finish many chapters. No doubt the author had to excise quite a bit to shrink down such a strong piece of scholarship.
As a firm believer in the doctrine that textbooks need to be accessible to the general audience as well as patient students, I found this book's writing style to be its downfall. It is surely a book that needs to be read over the course of a few months, rather than in a few weeks. As such, its accessibility to the curious general public is extremely limited. Which is a pity, because there are a lot of very insightful points Steele raises throughout.
However, I found the writing rather tedious, and it was a struggle to finish many chapters. No doubt the author had to excise quite a bit to shrink down such a strong piece of scholarship.
As a firm believer in the doctrine that textbooks need to be accessible to the general audience as well as patient students, I found this book's writing style to be its downfall. It is surely a book that needs to be read over the course of a few months, rather than in a few weeks. As such, its accessibility to the curious general public is extremely limited. Which is a pity, because there are a lot of very insightful points Steele raises throughout.
June 25, 2009
REad for History 556, Pre-revolution America. The book is a cut-and-dry account of historic battles, wars, spats, invasions, etc etc in North America up to the revolution. I've read much better history books that were not nearly so dull.
May 25, 2014
Chronicles the conflicts between Native Americans and the white man, both English and Spanish. A good summary of several major conflicts.
September 16, 2011
I read this for the course I am TAing. It is a dense, but good overview for the students about the nuances of colonial America and the disparities between European interaction with Amerindians.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews