To the Heart of Empire: Indigenous Diplomacy and Settler Revolt in the Hudson Valley, 1766

In the summer of 1766, a group of Wappinger and Mohican diplomats left their Hudson Valley homelands and sailed for London. There, they petitioned the crown to support their land claims against some of New York’s wealthiest landlords. The Wappingers and Mohicans’ diplomatic mission was made possible by Dutch and English tenant farmers, who enlisted Indigenous support in their own contest with New York landlords. In the 1760s, those landlords looked to consolidate, rationalize, and “improve” their estates, replacing traditional lease terms with the short leases and money rents characteristic of capitalist agriculture. Their changes provoked first nonviolent resistance, then armed insurgency. Tenants turned to extra-legal action even as their Wappinger and Mohican allies pursued their land rights within the imperial legal system. Their struggle is more than just a fascinating story—taken together, their actions reveal the contested foundations of rural capitalism and property on the eve of the American Revolution.