Kathleen DuVal look at the lost independence of five civilized nations

Cougar face

  It is no secret that the American Revolution was a disaster for Native Americans and is why most sided with the British. A fascinating new book pretty much looks at the lives of people living on the edges of the boundaries during the American revolution. This area was often referred to as the frontier of the old Northwest as author Kathleen DuVal points out in her book called "Independence Lost" and this book looks more closely at  the rebels, loyalists, slaves, and Indians that resided in Florida's gulf Coast during the war between the thirteen colonies. he role of the Spanish in this war and period adds to the intricate issues facing this fourteenth colony of Florida that changed hands several times in a rivalry between England and the weakening Spanish Empire. The Spanish would help the Americans drive the British out of Pensacola and be allies for a time period before the Spaniards would come to realize their interests in North America was more closely intertwined with the Indians than the expanding American settlers after the revolutionary war.

Native Americans benefited tremendously playing diplomacy with all these European empires and the power of the creek would not be endangered until the war of 1812. The Creeks Choctaws, Cherokees, and Chickasaws all played their independence against one another and failed to unite into a string confederacy that could of been natural allies with both the French and Spanish presence in North America serving as  buffer and boundary to manifest destiny. manifest destiny was indeed delayed because of these alliances and strategic diplomacy these 'civilized' tribes were able successfully to forge for a short time. Most readers would also get an important sense of trade and role the Caribbean possessions played on both the war and the future of who would rule Florida. its role as a stage of trade prevented Florida from quickly becoming the fourteenth colony of the new nation and Kathleen Duval gives a great perception of the race for unity and how eventually when the states came up with the new constitution in 1789 it proceeded to move the colonies into a quicker position of power on the continent to the fledgling attempt for a red Confederacy in the states that would eventually become a confederacy of a different type. This book is a great look at some individuals who lived in this turmoil period of the Gulf Coast and the policies and interests that clashed between peoples for control of this vital region.