Elusive Empires: Constructing Colonialism in the Ohio Valley, 1673-1800

Abstract

Editor's Note: Professor Hinderaker's book was reviewed in JER number 18:3 (1998), but regrettably his name was misspelled with unfailing consistency and nobody caught it. In this day of keyword searches, such an error might consign both author and review to uncharted cyberspace forever; therefore, we reprint review correctly below and apologize for error. Elusive Empire: Constructing Colonialism in Ohio Valley, 16731800. By Eric Hinderaker. (New York: Cambridge University, 1997. Pp. xv, 299. Illustrations, figures. $49.95) Hinderaker discusses three models of empire that developed in Ohio Valley between 1673 and 1800. During that period the Ohio Valley was a crucible of imperial experimentation (xiii) as France, Great Britain, and United States sought to impose their concepts of empire upon that region and Indian tribes that inhabited it. The author views these varieties of empire as being like processes than structures, and more as creations of people immediately engaged in colonialization than of policy directives originating in London, Paris, Philadelphia, or Washington (xi). The people who lived in region and those who moved into it had considerable influence in determining how empires developed. The first empire, one of commerce, featured British and French trade with natives with furs as commodity most sought by Europeans. In return, they supplied manufactured goods that weaned Indians away from much of their traditional culture. In time liquor became an important item with disastrous results for many natives. The tribes north of Ohio River were only loosely united in a confederation of social and cultural unity when whites moved into area; they became even less united thereafter. Few of participants in commercial enterprises made substantial profits, but both French and British sought alliances with tribes. The French trade was most successful until 1740s, but then it began to collapse as Pennsylvania based traders became more aggressive. By Seven Years War, Hinderaker asserts, empire of commerce had become a complex interdependent and interpenetrated world (45) that produced considerable unity among various groups that participated in it. The second empire saw land replacing trade as its major component, although there was much overlapping. Cheap good land attracted many Europeans and American colonists to West. Traditional European land systems did not translate well to North America, and emphasis upon private ownership clashed with Indian concept of tribal possession. …