Native Americans From The Catawba Tribe Supported Patriot Partisans And Militia In Operations In North And South Carolina

Native Americans from the Catawba tribe supported patriot partisans and militia in operations in North and South Carolina would be the second fact about the Native Americans in the American Revolution. The Piedmont, a rich region that runs across the Carolinas and is home to the Catawba, is where they lived. They comprised a varied mix of about 15 different ethnic groups. In the wake of disease, conflict, enslavement, and dependence on trade as they united in the early 18th century, the various groups who made up the Catawba nation reinvented their identities. However, the smallpox outbreaks that occurred after the Seven Years War furthered their decline. The Catawba were in a tough situation by the time of the American Revolution. They turned to renting their reservation grounds as a way of financial survival because they were surrounded by unfriendly South Carolinians.

Even though the Catawbas supported the British during the French and Indian War, a reserve in South Carolina was established for them just before the American Revolution. Many of the Catawba people's homesteads were set on fire as a result of the British presence in the region between 1780 and 1781. They moved further into the American camp as a result, serving at locations like Guilford Courthouse in March 1781 and with the renowned militia leader General Thomas Sumter in South Carolina. After the British took Charleston, South Carolina, in 1780, they furthermore gave colonists food and assistance.