The Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson
By Subject
INDIGENOUS AMERICAN TRIBES / FRONTIER WAR
Our news from the westward is disagreeable. Constant murders
committing by the Indians, and their combination threatens to be more
and more extensive. I hope we shall give them a thorough drubbing this
summer, and then change our tomahawk into a golden chain of
friendship. The most economical as well as most humane conduct towards
them is to bribe them into peace, and to retain them in peace by
eternal bribes. The expedition this year would have served for
presents on the most liberal scale for one hundred years; nor shall we
otherwise ever get rid of an army, or of our debt. The least rag of
Indian depredation will be an excuse to raise troops for those who
love to have troops, and for those who think that a public debt is a
good thing.
to Charles Carroll, 15 April 1791
|