Joseph Brant (AMPU)

Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a American military and political leader who fought with the Continental Army during the. Perhaps the most famous Native of his generation before and after the Revolution, Brant is most well known for casting the deciding vote toward the joining the rebel cause against the British.

Brant rose to prominence in the Iroquois League due to his education, abilities and his connections to British. His sister, Molly Brant, was the consort of Sir William Johnson, the influential British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the province of New York. During the American Revolutionary War, Brant led Mohawk and Rebel forces known as "Brant's Volunteers" against the loyalists during the Battle of Quebec and the Long Island campaign. He was accused by the British of treason and given the name "Monster Brant."

After the Revolution Brant remained a prominent leader of the new Iroquois State, but routinely came into conflict with his lifelong rival particularly over the issue of slavery. Brant had kept many slaves over the course of his life, and continued the practice of keeping "servants" captured from other tribes and white settlements. Brant's raids, while increasingly rare after the Revolution proved to be a serious point of contention between himself the non-Native settlers and the Grand Council itself. Brant also did not support the Grand Council's decision to outlaw slavery within the State, and railed against what he felt was the White Man "Colonizing the Minds of our People."

Brant eventually left the Iroquois State for Canada where he had been awarded a land grant as compensation for freeing his slaves upon the ratification of the Bill of Rights.

Legacy
Brant is largely remembered for the part he played in the First Revolution, particularly his heroism at Qubec and Long Island. George Washington said of Brant, "It is by divine providence that we should find him on our side." Most Americans today know very little about Brant's opposition to the Bill of Rights, or his position as a slave owner.