Christopher R. Pearl's "Declarations of Independence"

Christopher R. Pearl is Associate Professor of History at Lycoming College and the author of Conceived in Crisis: The Revolutionary Creation of an American State.

He applied the "Page 99 Test" to his new book, Declarations of Independence: Indigenous Resilience, Colonial Rivalries, and the Cost of Revolution, and reported the following:

For Declarations of Independence, the Page 99 Test captures the essence of the book's central themes. On this page, colonial Pennsylvania and the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) work intently to keep Lenape (Delaware) leader Teedyuscung from leaving the Northern Susquehanna River Valley for the Ohio region. Both Pennsylvania’s colonial government and the Haudenosaunee recognize Teedyuscung’s strategic importance as the leader of the Susquehanna Nations—a coalition of Indigenous nations whose presence stabilizes the Northern Susquehanna River Valley against Connecticut settlers’ encroachments—his influence could either uphold or fracture the region’s tenuous balance of power. The ambitions of these settlers challenge both the Haudenosaunee’s claims to the territory and the “unpurchased lands” that Pennsylvania’s Penn family considers within their purview. Meanwhile, Teedyuscung and the Susquehanna Nations also pursue their own independence, aiming to secure autonomy in the region from both the Haudenosaunee and encroaching British colonies.

On page 99, Teedyuscung ultimately agrees to stay in the Susquehanna Valley, but this does little to ease the fierce colonial rivalries that continually destabilize the frontier. The escalating tensions foreshadow a larger conflict that could endanger both local Indigenous autonomy and British colonial control.

This page exemplifies several key elements of Declarations of Independence: the relentless Indigenous efforts to defend their lands amidst rival colonial ambitions, and how these struggles create a volatile frontier that could dramatically shift power dynamics throughout the colonies and the British Empire. More importantly, page 99 underscores that the struggle for independence was far more complex than American colonists versus the British Empire. It was a layered fight, involving Indigenous nations and colonial players alike, all striving for sovereignty and survival.

Teedyuscung’s skillful negotiations and his unwavering defense of Indigenous sovereignty are also emblematic of the “declarations of independence” made by diverse peoples throughout the revolutionary era. His pursuit of autonomy for the Susquehanna Nations highlights a broader, multifaceted struggle for land and freedom that shaped this critical period—and, as the book argues, laid essential groundwork for what would become the United States. Page 99 is not just a snapshot of colonial rivalry but a pivotal moment that resonates throughout the broader narrative of America’s paths to independence.

Learn more about Declarations of Independence at the University of Virginia Press website.

--Marshal Zeringue