The deerskin trade was the most powerful force on Creek life during the eighteenth century. The trade was also one of the most important economic activities in the neighboring British colonies. From its establishment in the 1730s until the American Revolution, Augusta, Georgia, dominated the deerskin trade with the southern Indians. The deerskin trade had political implications as well, and colonial and imperial officials sought to use the trade as a diplomatic tool. For the Creeks, the maintenance of trade and peaceful relations required negotiation and accommodation with the British. Headmen assumed more authority as they formulated and directed Creek foreign policy. / The exchange of deerskins for European manufacturers brought a wide array of material goods to improve and complicate Creek life. Creeks quickly accepted guns and cloth goods but kinship patterns, views on land ownership, and concepts of property proved resistant to change. Consumption always outstripped production in the Creek country, and debt became a constant in Creek life. By the end of the colonial period, Creeks found it necessary to cede land to pay their debts. / Overall, the Creeks emerged from the colonial period with most of their land and cultural traditions intact. The established patterns of commerce from Augusta to the Creek towns were completely overturned by Revolutionary War. Georgia's population grew rapidly during the last part of the eighteenth century, and farming replaced the deerskin trade in economic importance. The trade was resumed through other channels after the war and Creek dependence on foreign goods and the practice of ceding land to clear trade debts continued. Perhaps the most profound changes wrought by the trade resulted from the union of traders and Creek women. The mixed-blood offspring of these relationship ushered in numerous economic, political, and social innovations in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and changed the course of Creek history. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-12, Section: A, page: 4492. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1986.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75962 |
| Contributors | BRAUND, KATHRYN E. HOLLAND., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 273 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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