The Declaration of Independence: “Merciless Indian Savages”…and More

We are pleased to share a new publication by Robert J. Miller, The Declaration of Independence: “Merciless Indian Savages”…and More. The essay examines how conflicts over Indigenous lands, resources, and sovereignty shaped the Declaration of Independence and the American colonies’ break with Britain.

⬇️ Read or download the full essay (PDF, 26 pages).

Beyond the Declaration’s explicit reference to Indigenous PeoplesPermalink

Discussions of Indigenous Peoples in the Declaration often focus on the racist language of its twenty-seventh grievance. Miller turns readers’ attention to three additional grievances: seven, twenty, and twenty-one. Although these passages do not expressly name Indigenous Nations, he argues that they reflect colonial objections to British restrictions on acquiring Indigenous lands and expanding westward.

His central argument places Indigenous Nations and their territories at the heart of the revolutionary conflict. Alongside the familiar struggles over taxation and political authority, Miller examines a contest between the Crown, colonial governments, settlers, and land speculators over who would control and profit from Indigenous lands and trade.

The Doctrine of Discovery and westward expansionPermalink

Miller reads these disputes through the Doctrine of Discovery, the international legal framework European powers developed to justify colonization. He outlines its ten elements and explains how several informed Britain’s claims in North America. Of particular importance is preemption: the claimed exclusive right of a colonizing power to purchase land from Indigenous Nations.

The essay connects this framework to the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the Quebec Act of 1774. The Proclamation restricted colonial settlement and private land purchases west of the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains. The Quebec Act extended Quebec’s boundaries into territory that several colonies claimed for their own future expansion. Miller emphasizes that these measures served British imperial interests even as they constrained colonial encroachment on Indigenous lands.

Against that background, he interprets the three grievances:

• Grievance seven: objections to restrictions on population growth and land appropriation reflected colonial ambitions to settle and acquire Indigenous lands in the west.
• Grievance twenty: criticism of Quebec’s enlarged boundaries challenged a measure that obstructed colonial expansion and access to western lands and resources.
• Grievance twenty-one: complaints about royal charters and colonial laws reflected, in part, the disruption of territorial claims and governing authority that colonies expected to exercise in the west.

Independence and the continuation of colonial claimsPermalink

Miller also traces what happened after independence. He notes that Virginia’s 1776 constitution asserted western territorial claims and retained preemption over purchases from Indigenous Nations. In 1783, the new United States restricted unauthorized settlement and purchases of Indigenous lands, adopting an approach he compares to the Crown’s earlier policy.

The essay asks readers to reconsider the relationship between the Revolution’s language of liberty and colonial ambitions for Indigenous lands. Miller’s account shows why understanding the Declaration requires attention to Indigenous sovereignty, land speculation, and the legal claims through which Britain and the United States pursued territorial expansion.

Read Miller’s full essay for the historical evidence, legal analysis, and references supporting his argument. For related work, see his publication Destroying the Doctrine of Discovery.