Episode 314: Colin Calloway, Native Americans in Early American Cities

Have you ever considered early American cities as places where Native Americans lived, worked, and visited?

Native Americans often visited early American cities and port towns, especially the towns and cities that dotted the Atlantic seaboard of British North America.

Colin Calloway, an award-winning historian and a Professor History and Native American Studies at Dartmouth College, joins us to investigate Native American experiences in early American cities with details from his book, “The Chiefs Now In This City”: Indians and the Urban Frontier in Early America.

This episode is supported by an American Rescue Plan grant to the Omohundro Institute from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Colin Calloway, the John Kimball Jr. 1943 Professor of History and a Professor of Native American Studies at Dartmouth College, and the author of the book “The Chiefs Now In This City”: Indians and the Urban Frontier in Early America, joins us to investigate Native American visits to and experiences in early American cities.

During our investigation, Colin reveals why it’s important to understand interactions and diplomatic relationships between Native American peoples and white Europeans and Americans; Why Native Americans visited early American cities; And, how Native Americans experienced early American city life and entertainment.

What You’ll Discover

Importance of interactions between Native Americans and whites
Importance of diplomatic relationships between Native Americans and whites
What made a “city” a city in early North America
Why Native Americans visited early American cities
Europeans and Americans in Native spaces
Native American experiences in early American cities
Historical record of Native American experiences in cities
Native American urban dwellers
White cities as spaces for Native American interaction & diplomacy
Interests in Native American diplomacy and treaty making
Views of Native American diplomatic delegations
Most important aspects of Native American visits to early American cities

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Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if Native Americans hadn’t been so willing to travel into European and Euro American urban centers? How might the history of Native-white diplomacy and interactions be different?