Tecumseh, a visionary Shawnee leader whose vision of a united confederacy of tribes posed a serious threat to the dreams of 'national expansion' by white politicians. The irony is that Tecumseh was simply calling for Indians to protect what was already theirs - treaty-protected homelands. "Why is it that white men protecting their homelands are called patriots," asked historian Anne Elouise Able, "while Indians doing the same are called savages?"
After joining forces with the British in Canada, Tecumseh, his
warriors, and their allies, were overwhelmed by the superior forces
of William Henry Harrison in a battle at the Thames River, in
Ontario, Canada. Tecumseh's dream of building a confederacy
and holding onto Indian lands between the Ohio River and the Great
Lakes was now lost. The future hero of the Civil War and
veteran of the Indian Wars, William Tecumseh Sherman, was named for
the visionary Indian leader.
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