Benjamin Hawkins, Indian Agent

Book excerpt: Published in 1951, Benjamin Hawkins, Indian Agent examines the social and diplomatic work of Hawkins, a congressman from North Carolina who served as a mediator between the states and Native Americans until his death in 1816. Hawkins worked to lessen the constant tension between the frontier states and the Indian nations and to increase agriculture in order to settle Native Americans to the land. Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and other national figures recognized in Hawkins the ability to navigate Indian and state negotiations. Hawkins's fairness earned him respect among the Cherokees, Creeks, and other tribes. Such fairness also created enemies among the land-hungry frontier states, which continually strived for Indian removal. More than anyone else, Hawkins was responsible for the policy of Indian relations between the treaty of Paris in 1783 and the end of the War of 1812.