THOMAS] ENGLISH POLICY TOWARD THE INDIANS 551 



slightest iutiinatiou that any portion of this territory was occupied by 

 natives. Tliere is, liowever, a proviso that tlie grant is not to iucliide 

 any lands "actually possessed or inhabited by any other Christiau 

 prince or state," but the Indians are wliolly ignored. 



That the Indians were not wholly forgotten when the charter of 

 Charles I, granting Maryland to Lord Baltimore, was penned, is evi- 

 dent from some two or three statements therein. But none of these, 

 nor anything contained in the charter, has any reference to the rights 

 of these natives, or show any solicitude for their welfare or proiier treat- 

 ment. The first of these is a mere i-ecognitiou of the fact that the 

 territory is partly occupied by them: "A certain region, hereinafter 

 described, in a country hitherto uncultivated, in the parts of America, 

 and partly occupied by savages having no knowledge of the Divine 

 Being." The next is that mentioning as the payment required " two 

 Indian arrows of those parts to be delivered at the said castle of 

 "Windsor, every year on Tnesday in Easter week." The third is a mere 

 mention of "savages" as among the enemies the colonists may have to 

 encounter. The fourth and last allusion to the natives is in the twelfth 

 section, which authorizes Lord Baltimore to collect troops and wage 

 war on the "barbarians" and other enemies who may make incursion 

 into the settlements, and " to pursue them even beyond the limits of 

 their province," and "if God shall grant it, to vancjuish and captivate 

 them ; and the captives to put to death, or according to their discretion, 

 to save." The only allusion to the natives in William Penu's charter 

 is the same as the latter in substance and almost the same in words. 



Other charters might be cited to the same effect, but those mentioned 

 Mill snrtice to show that as a rule the English sovereigns wholly ignored 

 the Indians' rights in granting charters for laiuls in North America; 

 that they gave no expression therein of a solicitude for the civilization 

 or welfare of the natives. Although the problem of dealing with these 

 native occupants was thus shifted on the grantees and colonists, yet 

 there were occasions where the government was forced to meet the 

 question and take some action. Actual contact with the difficulty, of 

 course, made it necessary to develop some policy or adopt some rule of 

 action. This led to the recognition of the Indians' right of occupancy 

 and the obligation on the government to extinguish this right by pur- 

 chase or other proper means consistent with national liouor. 



Soon after Charles II ascended the throne he sent (1CG4) commis- 

 sioners to America to examine into the condition of the colonies and to 

 determine all complaints aud appeals which might be brought before 

 them. Their purpose was thwarted largely by the opposition of Massa- 

 chusetts, and, although deciding on some claims based on purchases 

 from Indians, no policy in this respect was developed. 



As treaties, etc, concerning lands, which may be considered as made 

 directly with the English government and not with the colonies, the 

 following may be mentioned as the most important. 

 18 ETH, PT 2 3 



