Tecumseh Facts

Tecumseh was the son of a Shawnee chief, born around 1768.

The name Tecumseh means ‘shooting star’. He was the leader of a Native American confederacy.

He is famous for fighting on the side of the British in the war between Britain and America in 1812. He is one of the most noted leaders in history for promoting unity among peoples.

Tecumseh was born in modern-day Alabama and Georgia. He and his family were Algonquin speaking and part of the Shawnee nation.

Tecumseh and his parents had been moved out of Ohio in the 1600s by the Iroquois.

The Shawnee people were raided and occupied many times in the 1700s. Their land was sold to Americans and the Shawnee people could not fight back alone.

Tecumseh’s father was a chief, Pukeshinwau, who decided they should move north to join some Shawnee peoples who had remained behind on the Ohio River.

Pukeshinway died at war in 1774 at a place called Point Pleasant.

In the 1800s, Tecumseh was the leader of a huge group of Native Americans groups, called a confederacy.

Tecumseh wanted an independent nation for Native Americans under British protection. Tecumseh founded a town called Prophetstown in modern-day Indiana.

The Treaty of Fort Wayne

In 1809, a Treaty was signed between the United States and some Native American tribes (mostly the Delaware tribe).

The Shawnee people had a number of residents there but were not included in the Treaty. The Treaty gave away 3,000,000 acres of Native American land to white settlers.

Tecumseh went to war with the United States.

Tecumseh’s War

Tecumseh’s War was one of the wars in the American Indian War. Some state that the war peaked with the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.

However, because it carried on into 1812, it is often seen as part of the War of 1812. Tecumseh died in 1813 at the Battle of the Thames in Canada, near modern-day Ontario.