ABSTRACT
Americans are taught to view the War for Independence as a conflict between aggrieved colonists and an oppressive British Empire that led to the founding of an independent nation with a representative government. Many colonists, including some of the most prominent colonial leaders, favored unrestricted expansion beyond the Appalachian Mountains, into what Great Britain had wanted the colonists to regard as an Indian reserve. The differences between colonial and Crown policies were recognized by Indian nations, who saw that many colonists sought their land as well as independence from Great Britain. Native Americans were excluded from the negotiations that led to the 1783 Treaty of Paris which officially ended hostilities between the colonists and Great Britain. The proposed new federal Constitution was ratified by the several states by 1789, and the new federal government got to work, with a continued commitment to the color line.
