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Difficulty: MediumEuropean and American Indian Relations

“Brother Corlaer [the Iroquois name for the Governor of New York], you have told us that we must keep the Covenant Chain bright and clean, and that we must not let it rust or break. We now assure you that we have kept our end of the chain, and we will continue to hold it fast. We have traded only with your merchants and have defended the western paths against our mutual enemies, the French and their allied Indians. We expect you to stand by us likewise, supplying us with powder, lead, and goods at fair prices, so that we may defend our lands and secure the trade for both of us.”

— Mohawk representative at a conference with the Governor of New York in Albany, 1684

Which of the following historical developments in the seventeenth century best explains the formation of the alliance described in the excerpt?

  1. The mutual desire of English colonists and Native Americans to secure trade dominance and military support against their European and indigenous rivals.Answer
  2. B
    A unified effort among Native American societies to overcome cultural differences and form a singular, pan-Indian military government to expel all European settlers.
  3. C
    The expansion of New England's agricultural settlement model, which sought to integrate Native Americans into colonial towns as equal landowning citizens.
  4. D
    The establishment of a legal system similar to the Spanish encomienda, which coerced Native Americans into laboring on English agricultural plantations.

Answer

The alliance was driven by the mutual desire of English colonists and Native Americans to secure trade dominance and military support against their European and indigenous rivals.
The alliance described in the excerpt, known as the Covenant Chain, was established between the Iroquois Confederacy and the colony of New York. It reflected a shared interest in controlling the lucrative fur trade and defending against the French and their native allies. Both parties maintained the alliance for their own economic and strategic advantage, rather than out of altruism or cultural assimilation.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus to identify the historical actors and the nature of their relationship.
The excerpt describes a commercial and military alliance between the Mohawk (Iroquois/Haudenosaunee) and the English governor of New York (Corlaer) in 1684.
Understanding the specific actors and context is necessary to evaluate the historical reasons for the alliance.
2
Identify the economic and geopolitical motivations of the alliance.
The Mohawk representative mentions trading exclusively with English merchants, obtaining military supplies (powder and lead), and defending against their mutual enemies, the French and French-aligned Native Americans.
This establishes that the relationship was driven by mutual economic interests in the fur trade and security against common rivals.
3
Evaluate the options to find the development that best accounts for this alliance.
The development that best fits is the mutual desire to secure trade networks and military alliances against rivals, while other options incorrectly assume native unity, conflate regional colonial styles, or misapply Spanish labor systems.
This directly addresses the learning objective concerning European and American Indian relations in the Middle Colonies during this period.

Key Concept

The Covenant Chain alliance between the English and the Iroquois Confederacy, showing how trade and geopolitical rivalry shaped European-Native American relations.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

European and American Indian Relations

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