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Tuscarora War Research Paper

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The Tuscarora War The Tuscarora indians were savage indians who lived all over eastern NC. The main battle took place in Lenoir and Craven county which is now heavily visited by tourists. These counties combined have 163,000 people living in them today. People travel from all over to visit these historic counties. There are many water activities to do and many historic parks to visit. Downtown New Bern has many places to eat and shop with a new activity happening every week. These two counties are full of history and great stories on how they came to be today. The Tuscarora are a Native American people of the Iroquoian-language. Before the arrival of Europeans in North America, the Tuscarora had migrated south and settled in the region now …show more content…

Varying accounts circa 1708-1710, estimated the number of Tuscarora warriors as from 1200 to 2000. Historians estimate their total population may have been three to four times that number.”(NC Digital History) With the tuscarora indians being that widely spread and having that many clan members the white settlers thought it would be nearly impossible to take over the land. The only solution for this problem was just to bring in more white settlers. “ The Tuscarora Upper Towns, those under the sway of Chief Tom Blount and occupying sites along the upper Neuse, Tar, and Roanoke Rivers, had sufficiently profitable relations with the whites to accept the new situation as long as they were not directly threatened.”(NCpedia) White settlers began invading the Tuscarora indians land without their consent. Also, These white settlers not only began to kill some of the Tuscarora indians but also capturing some women and children and sending them off to other colonies to be their slave. Indians were not going to tolerate this kind of behavior and began joining with other indian tribes to stop the white settlers. “ Word spread that some Tuscarora towns near the Pamlico settlement were becoming unusually friendly with the Bear River Indians, with the apparent intention of inciting …show more content…

From this village they fanned out to attack the settlements on the Pamlico, Neuse, and Trent Rivers, and in the Core Sound region.”(Historic bath). These Indians all had one thing in common which made clans join up and become friends. That one thing in common was their hate for white settlers. They were fed up with their families being ripped apart and their home being overrun. Daybreak on Saturday, September 22, was the signal for the attack. The indians were in war uniform which was being painted and befeathered. Men, women, and children regardless of age or condition were killed . Houses were pillaged and burned, crops were trampled and destroyed, and livestock driven off or killed. Looting and killing, the Indians devastated Bath County, particularly around the head of the Neuse and along the south side of the Pamlico River. These indians were doing horrific things to these people. They were doing things that only an evil person can think of. "Women were laid on the house floors and great stakes driven up through their bodies. Pregnant women had the unborn children ripped out and hung upon trees."(historic bath) These Indians were savages and had no remorse. The whites who survived the first onslaught fled their homes and gathered together at some reasonably defensible point. Bath Town, New Bern, and the Brice plantation on the Trent were soon filled with refugees. For about

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