“Securing the Affections of Those People at This Critical Juncture”: Newspapers, Native Americans, and the French and Indian War, 1754–1763

Abstract

In 1754, the American colonies faced a threat to their existence as French invaders and their Native American allies mounted a series of attacks on British American settlements. News of these attacks and the war that was known as the French and Indian War became vital to Americans, and newspapers covered these events in a depth never before required of printers, creating what one media historian has called “the great running story of the era.” Central to news of the war was information about Native Americans. This study looks at the extensive coverage of the role Native Americans played in the war as both allies and enemies of the colonies as it explores the changing nature of newspapers in America.