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By Kenneth Cohen
American presidents have not had the noblest record of conduct towards America’s original peoples. In 1779, George Washington, known as “Destroyer of Towns” among the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), ordered Major General John Sullivan to attack Iroquois villages and “lay waste all the settlements… that the country may not be merely overrun, but destroyed.” “Do not listen to any overture of peace,” advised Washington, “before the total ruin of their settlements is effected.”
Even after villages were abandoned, cornfields were burned to the ground.
American presidents have not had the noblest record of conduct towards America’s original peoples. In 1779, George Washington, known as “Destroyer of Towns” among the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), ordered Major General John Sullivan to attack Iroquois villages and “lay waste all the settlements… that the country may not be merely overrun, but destroyed.” “Do not listen to any overture of peace,” advised Washington, “before the total ruin of their settlements is effected.”
Even after villages were abandoned, cornfields were burned to the ground.
