Episode 264: Michael Oberg, Treaty of Canandaigua

by Holly WhiteNovember 12, 2019

Play episode

The Treaty of Paris 1783 ended the American War for Independence, but it did not bring peace to North America. After 1783, warfare and violence continued between Americans and Native Americans.

So how did the early United States attempt to create peace for its new nation?

Michael Oberg, a Distinguished Professor of History at the State University of New York-Geneseo and the author of Peacemakers: The Iroquois, the United States, and the Treaty of Canandaigua, joins us to investigate how the United States worked with the Haudenosaunee or Six Nations peoples to create peace through the Treaty of Canandaigua, 1794.

About the Show

Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.

It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.

Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.

Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.

Episode Summary

Michael Oberg, a Distinguished Professor of History at the State University of New York-Geneseo and the author of Peacemakers: The Iroquois, the United States, and the Treaty of Canandaigua, joins us to investigate how the United States worked with the Haudenosaunee or Six Nations peoples to create peace through the Treaty of Canandaigua, 1794.

As we investigate the Treaty of Canandaigua, Michael reveals why the Six Nations and United States needed a treaty agreement in 1794; The different cultural and political viewpoints both sides negotiated in the treaty making process; And, the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua, its seven articles, and the work the treaty has done to bring and keep peace.

What You’ll Discover

The Treaty of Canandaigua
Treaty of Canandaigua commemoration
Why the United States and Six Nations needed at treaty in 1794
Why there wasn’t peace in North America after the Treaty of Paris 1783
The cultural and political viewpoints at the Canandaigua Treaty table
Treaty making and the United States
Timothy Pickering
The negotiations at Canandaigua
Negotiating in two languages
The seven articles in the Treaty of Canandaigua (1794)
Guswenta
Reactions of the Six Nations & United States to the Treaty of Canandaigua
How the Treaty of Canandaigua compares with other treaties
The Treaty of Canandaigua over time

Links to People, Places, and Publications

Sponsor Links

Complementary Episodes

Time Warp Question

In your opinion, what might have happened if Six Nations leaders and the United States government could have communicated with each other in one language? How might the Treaty have turned out differently if there had been a common language and interpreters had not been involved in the process?