Looking the Other Way: The Gnadenhutten Massacre and the Contextual Interpretation of Violence

Harper examines the Gnadenhutten massacre during the Indian war. The Gnadenhutten massacre illustrates a common pattern of frontier violence. During the last half of the eighteenth century, white settlers repeatedly retaliated for enemy Indian attacks by killing neutral or allied Indians. This series of murders, among which Gnadenhutten stood out only for the number and religion of the victims, reshaped the trans-Appalachian West, dooming attempts at intercultural accommodation and setting the stage for ongoing war and Indian removal. The Gnadenhutten massacre illustrates a common pattern of frontier violence.