Date of Award
Spring 2026
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Department
History
First Advisor
Lauren Sklaroff
Abstract
Amidst a growing interest in the field of Native American legal history, this article aims to bridge a gap in the scholarship between the colonial period and the United States’ nineteenth- and twentieth-century federal Indian Policy. By examining the terms presented in the lesser-known Treaty of Hartford, signed in 1638 following the Pequot War, it is demonstrated that many foundational legal precedents which reappeared in later centuries emerged much earlier than typically assumed. By highlighting this overlooked agreement and comparing it against later proceedings, this article takes a fresh approach to Native American legal history by drawing a throughline from the early colonial period into the twentieth century and examining how Puritan ideologies influenced ideas of Anglo-American domination over Indigenous peoples that became ingrained in U.S. policymaking. This new interpretation is significant as it can begin to reframe our understanding of the evolution of U.S. Indian Policy.
Rights
© 2026, Madyson Anne Buchalski
Recommended Citation
Buchalski, M. A.(2026). Destruction, Possession, and Power: The Treaty of Hartford as a Prototype for United States Indian Policy. (Master's thesis). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/8723
Included in
Diplomatic History Commons, Legal Commons, Public History Commons, United States History Commons