Before 1812

Western expansion of the United States into the trans-Appalachian West between the Revolution and the War of 1812 provoked sustained Native American resistance, culminating in conflicts such as Fallen Timbers and Tippecanoe. This struggle over land and sovereignty became a principal cause of the War of 1812, as Indigenous nations forged alliances with British Canada to check American encroachment.

Tecumseh’s Confederacy was a pan-Indigenous alliance formed in the early 1800s to resist American expansion. Led by Shawnee chief Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa, it united many tribes and became a key factor in the outbreak of the War of 1812, as Tecumseh allied with Britain to defend Indigenous lands.