Borderlands theory is a theory that has been used to explain the history of areas like Mexico and Texas. There have been many studies done in that area based on this theory. The Schuylkill Valley presents itself as an eligible case-study for this theory. Using the Schuylkill Valley as a study the area is defined and then further explored in the areas of economics, religion, politics, and acculturation.
Borderlands theory is a theory that has been used to explain the history of areas like Mexico and Texas. There have been many studies done in that area based on this theory. The Schuylkill Valley presents itself as an eligible case-study for this theory. Using the Schuylkill Valley as a study the area is defined and then further explored in the areas of economics, religion, politics, and acculturation.
Borderlands theory was introduced by historians in response to writings such as Frederick Jackson Turner. Turner wrote his “frontier thesis” in 1893 which explained history and how it was affected by geography. A problem with Turner's thesis is that it largely ignored interactions between European colonists and Amerindians. Ignoring these interactions or viewing Amerindians as simply “challenges” or “irritants” gives an inaccurate picture of history. In response, Herbert Eugene Bolton developed the Borderlands theory in his book The Spanish Borderlands. Bolton studied American History under Turner, but like many of Turner's students did not use his frontier theory .
When there is more than one culture living in an area-the borderlands--they must interact with one another. Each culture is affected by that interaction. The cultures struggle between what must be done to meet their needs and what must be done to keep the core values and beliefs of their culture. Sometimes, the cultures will make concessions in order to interact with one another without conflict. Sometimes, one or both cultures refuse to make concessions in order to live peacefully together, resulting in conflict. In this type of situation interpreters and brokers are used in order to solve the conflicts. Interpreters and brokers are able to help both sides by promoting the views of one side and protecting the interests of the other.
Jeremy Adelman and Stephen Aron argue in “From Borderlands to Borders: Empires, Nation-States, and the Peoples in between in North American History” that in the history of borderlands Amerindians used cultural differences in order to resist submitting to the Europeans and to be able to negotiate on better terms. The Amerindians were helped by the presence of two European cultures, French and British, in competition with each other. The outcome of this allowed for the borderlands to be followed, rather than for one group to force their ways on the other.
In this paper, I will apply borderlands theory to the Schuylkill Valley in Pennsylvania. The Schuylkill Valley is the area starting along the Schuylkill River from Philadelphia northward to where the Schuylkill River splits at Port Clinton. From there it extends with each split to both Pottsville and Tamaqua. In particular, I will focus on Reading and its immediate surrounding areas to study the Indians and their interaction with the Europeans: how each of these groups reacted culturally to the other how they changed to live in coexistence, or how the conflicts that arose because of the interactions.
When looking at the Schuylkill Valley as a case study there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration, most importantly, economics, religion, politics, and acculturation.
Economically, the Europeans and Amerindians had a lot of interaction in the form of trade. This was how they first interacted and probably was one of the main reasons for continuing the interaction. The colonists depended on the goods received from the Amerindians. For example, furs traded to the colonists by the Amerindians made up about 30-50 percent of the annual exports of the colonists between 1700-1750. This helped keep their debt down with Great Britain. In addition, the colonists used Indian crops such as maize, and adopted a number of Native American farming practices. Native American hunting techniques were adopted in order to more efficiently obtain game. Snowshoes and toboggans, introduced by the Indians, were used for winter hunting as well as travel. Also a contributor to quick travel was the lightweight canoe. Finally, colonists relied heavily on Indian medicines. The Indians have 170 discoveries in the U.S. Pharmacopeia.
The Native Americans adopted colonial methods and practicies. They became very dependent on European goods such as kettles, clothing, and firearms. By becoming so dependent on European goods some of the native arts were lost.
The Indians, especially the Delaware Indians in Pennsylvania, had contact with the Moravians in Pennsylvania. As a result of this interaction, the Indians tried to incorporate the new religion in a way that fit in with their customs. In response to the changes in the social structure and value system of the Indians, due to their interaction with the Europeans used religion to return to old ways. This has been described as a “Nativist Revival”.
The interpreters influenced the political situation a great deal. They were usually the ones carrying the actual messages to the Indians and reporting the meetings back to the British government. Interpreters needed to be someone that both sides trusted in order for the interaction to be successful. In Pennsylvania, one of the most successful interpreters was Conrad Weiser. Weiser was one of the Schoharie settlers. He had moved down from New York, where he lived with the Indians for some time, to Pennsylvania. When he arrived William Penn hired him as an interpreter. Weiser used the knowledge he had gained from living with the Mohawk Indians his fluency in many Indian languages, and his fluency in other languages such as French, German, and Holland Dutch. During the French and Indian War Weiser helped immensely as an interpreter between the conflicting groups.
During the conferences it can be seen how the groups both changed in order to interact with one another. Indians started to incorporate gun salutes, toasts, and presents at the end of the conference. The colonists made concessions because they had to follow certain protocols that the Indians followed during conferences. This may have seemed to be an inconvenience to the colonists since they were rather time-consuming. However, business could not be discussed until the protocols were followed. Each party also spoke their own language and then the interpreters translated. Such translations were critical and difficult. The Indians spoke metaphorically at times, and as an interpreter it was necessary to know these hidden cultural clues in order to understand exactly what the Native Americans meant. Because of these cultural issues, interpreters also had a great impact when they were advising the government in how to respond to the Indians. Without these interpreters miscommunication could have easily occurred.
A prime example of these cultural issues was the use of wampum. Wampum belts or strings were passed to punctuate a proposal or section of speech, and varied in size, color, and pattern. The variations showed what the subject and was and how serious.
Sometimes if a ceremony was not followed it was overlooked but most times it was resulted in bad relations with the Indians until the Europeans righted what they had done wrong. With interpreters in on the process these mistakes could be avoided most of the time..
As Amerindians became dependent on European goods and had continued interaction their culture began to change. Their value systems, morals standards, and ethics became distorted. As time went on they became so ingrained in these borderlands that when they tried to return to the way things were before it was still embedded with adopted European ways.
With the interaction of the Europeans and the Amerindians they developed borderlands. This allowed them to reach a middle ground where both made concessions to better interact with one another. In these borderlands each group became dependent on one another which led to the need for concessions. The borderlands allowed the groups to reach more favorable terms to both parties involved. The use of interpreters allowed this to happen with little miscommunication and conflict. In the Schuylkill Valley the theory of borderlands will be researched in its affects of the areas of economics, religion, politics, and acculturation.
I know this is a lot shorter than it should be but I have a lot of background reading done that I am not sure if it will go in my paper. I know I need to expand on the areas of my focus. The information that I have so far pertains to Spanish borderlands or the Great Lakes area rather than my area or it is about the general area. I really need to focus my area of the Schuylkill Valley. I have a generalized idea but I want to narrow that down. I am not sure if I should focus on the Reading area or try to encompass the whole area of my study. I assume as much of the area as possible.
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