The active version of this website has moved to: http://people.umass.edu/derrico/amherst/lord_jeff.htmlJeffrey1 Amherst and Smallpox BlanketsLord Jeffrey Amherst's letters discussing germ warfare against American Indians"... every Tree is become an Indian...." Colonel Henry Bouquet to General Amherst, dated 29 June 1763. [63k]Lord JeffLord Jeffrey1 Amherst was commanding general of British forces in North America during the final battles of the so-called French & Indian war (1754-1763). He won victories against the French to acquire Canada for England and helped make England the world's chief colonizer at the conclusion of the Seven Years War among the colonial powers (1756-1763). Show
The town of Amherst, Massachusetts, was named for Lord Jeff even before he became a Lord. Amherst Collegewas later named after the town. It is said the local inhabitants who formed the town preferred another name, Norwottuck, after the Indians whose land it had been; the colonial governor substituted his choice for theirs. Frank Prentice Rand, in his book, The Village of Amherst: A Landmark of Light [Amherst, MA: Amherst Historical Society, 1958], says that at the time of the naming, Amherst was "the most glamorous military hero in the New World. ... ...the name was so obvious in 1759 as to be almost inevitable." [p. 15] Amherst College china plates depicting mounted Englishman with sword chasing Indians on foot were in use until the 1970's.Click on the pictures to see full-size images in new windows. Amherst College Trustees voted January 26, 2016, to allow the college administration to decide whether to abandon Lord Jeff as a symbol: "The College, when its own resources are involved, can decide
not to employ this reference in its official communications, its messaging, and its symbolism…" The trustees further stated that the college inn—the only place where Lord Jeff's name officially appears on a building—will be renamed in a way to "reflect its deep connections with Amherst College and the town of Amherst." As to the unofficial presence of Lord Jeff as a college mascot—at sports games and elsewhere in student and alumni life—the trustees stepped behind the principle of "free
expression," saying the college has no official mascot and "the College has no business interfering" with unofficial mascots. Significantly, the trustee statement made no pretense of doubt about the root of the controversy, saying, "a central reason [to dislike the symbolism of Lord Jeff] has always been his suggestion, in wartime correspondence, that smallpox be used against Native Americans." In contrast, recently as January 14, commentators in major sources like the
New York Times and the New York Review of Books described the smallpox letters as having "no conclusive proof" and "allegations" rather than fact. |