Our Savage Neighbors

The non-fiction book Our Savage Neighbors: How Indian War Transformed Early America is a social, political, and military history of the struggle between Indians and white colonial Americans in the mid-1700s. Historian and author Peter Silver delves into the backcountry of Pennsylvania and other parts of Middle America between the 1750s and 1770s in order to illustrate the dramatic Indian warfare that led whites from different backgrounds—German, French, Welsh, Catholics, Lutherans, Quakers, and others—to unite in their hatred of Indians. Silver’s explanation of the increase in racial animosity between whites and Indians in the early history of the United States emphasizes the social consequences of what happens when groups of people are forced to live a life of fear. Published in 2008 by W.W. Norton & Company, the book has been complimented for the meticulous details with which Silver delivers his research. It was awarded the Bancroft Prize and Mark Lynton History Prize.

The book opens with the plight of German and Irish settlers in Pennsylvania who were trying to deal with Indian terrorist attacks in the countryside. These new European immigrants had two major issues—the obvious one being the danger posed by the Indians who were ruthlessly attacking them for no apparent reason. The other issue was their struggle against feeling like outsiders to the more “native” white colonists who had been in America longer and saw them as inferior because of their different backgrounds.

Silver argues that Indians were the first ones to unite themselves as one race. They were united in acknowledging their shared “redness” before whites ever became united as one in America. Over time, he claims, this idea of “red” versus “white” made its way into the white psyche. Silver also states that he does not think true racism existed until the years following the American Revolution; the fighting between Indians and whites in the eighteenth century was caused primarily by fear, not racial prejudice.



In graphic detail, Silver describes the ways in which Indians ambushed and murdered whole families in the dark of the night. They were especially cruel in the way they mutilated and dismembered their victims. Colonial settlers were traumatized to find members of their community scalped and hanging from trees. They began to isolate themselves, feeling paralyzed. For this reason, most of their early attempts to retaliate or defend themselves were inefficient and they were unsuccessful at revenge.

These horrors led to what Silver calls “Anti-Indian Sublime,” a pure hatred of Indians that began to spread through the white masses. Conflicts escalated. As violence increased, the whites finally gathered their strength and began experimenting with more gruesome and effective counter-terror attacks. They began to slaughter the Indians, too.

The second half of the book moves away from the countryside and the detailed inner life of the settlers and enters into lives within bigger cities, such as Philadelphia. It touches upon the thoughts of Benjamin Franklin and other well-known historical figures. Silver demonstrates how the American interest in pamphleteering led to white propaganda that allowed the spread of racism. “Indian-haters” and pamphleteers managed to spread the Anti-Indian Sublime to even those who had never had contact with an Indian.



White people were still not fully united in their hatred in the early days of Anti-Indian Sublime and many different religions and backgrounds often were aggressive with each other, claiming particular religions were siding with the Indians and were therefore traitors.

Benjamin Franklin, in his Narrative of the Late Massacres, expressed distaste for Anti-Indian Sublime, turning all the blame for the horrific behavior of the Indians onto the whites.

Some critics have commented that the historical narrative of Our Savage Neighbors is told primarily through eye-witness accounts of only white settlers. Readers see their fears, thoughts, and emotions. Since there are few firsthand accounts of Indians’ personal views during that particular time in history, some find this book to be very one-sided—dangerous in a country like the United States that is currently divided by race. There is little detail to help readers investigate Indian motivations. It leaves questions unanswered. One critic asked, Were there monetary or need-based reasons for the Indian terrorist attacks or were they of a religious nature?



However, it is noted by defenders of Our Savage Neighbors that Silver wrote the best he could with the research available on the Indian side of events; when describing the brutal massacres that whites committed on Indian land, he uses legitimate sources. Silver offers some evidence that, even though Indians gave them every reason to be afraid, whites were still not innocent.

Peter Silver did his undergraduate work at Harvard College and finished his PhD at Yale University in 2001. He currently teaches at Rutgers University. He previously taught at Princeton.