Muskingum 250: Why the West Went to War in 1812 with Brandon Downing

This talk answers the question: What was the link between western states and territories and the War of 1812? Investigating backcountry culture and its influence on shaping the Northwest Territory’s organization is central to understanding why settlers living in trans-Appalachia adamantly supported war against Great Britain and their Indian allies. Expressions of backcountry culture can be found in the petitions sent during Kentucky’s formative period of development when the qualifications of land ownership were still undecided. There is a common thread in the petitions that will help us to understand what backcountry settlers considered prerequisites for gaining title to their property in the new western lands. Meanwhile, the frequent and violent encounters with the Ohio Valley Indians justified, in the minds of the settlers, their claims to land ownership.

Brandon C. Downing is an Assistant Professor of History at Marietta College. He teaches early American history classes in Native and Colonial America, the American Revolutionary War, and in Public History. His primary interests are Native-White interactions in the Ohio Valley, the War of 1812, and the history of Marietta, OH. He is currently working on a project titled, “Performative Violence as Political Discourse: Delawares during the Seven Years’ War, 1755-1758,” which provides a Native perspective on the Penns Creek and Great Cove Massacres in Pennsylvania.