"Colonial Georgia and the Creeks is as meticulous, nuanced, and fine-grained a study of Anglo-Indian diplomacy as anything in the literature of Colonial America."--Richard White, Stanford University

"Juricek understands the changing southern frontier in the mid-eighteenth century, and this seasoned historian has used his thorough knowledge of original texts and secondary sources to create a reliable narrative of lasting value. His readable book highlights the balance-of-power diplomacy of Brim and later Creeks, putting early Georgia relations with this powerful Indian nation into the wider context of Native American rivalries, European imperial competition, and the expanding world of Atlantic affairs."-- Peter H. Wood, Duke University

This detailed account of interactions between the English and the Creek Indians in colonial Georgia, from the founding until 1763, describes how colonists and the Creeks negotiated with each other, especially over land issues. John Juricek's deep research reveals the clashes between the groups, their efforts to manipulate one another, and how they reached a series of unstable compromises.

European and North American Indian nations had different understandings of "national" territory. In Georgia, this led to a bitter conflict that lasted more than a decade and threatened to destroy the colony. Unlike previous accounts of James Oglethorpe's diplomacy, Juricek reveals how his serious blunders led directly to colonial Georgia's greatest crisis. In the end, an ingenious and complicated compromise arranged by Governor Henry Ellis resolved the situation, mainly in favor of the English.

After spending more than twenty years gathering and editing documentary information on the treaties, Juricek is uniquely qualified to explain the legal and practical issues involved in the acquisition of territory by the British Crown and Georgia settlers at the expense of the Creek Indians. By focusing on the land issues that structured the treaties, he tells a cross-cultural story of deal-making and deal-breaking, both public and private.

John T. Juricek is associate professor of history at Emory University. He is editor of Georgia Treaties, 1733-1763, and Georgia and Florida Treaties, 1763-1776, volumes 11 and 12 of Early American Indian Documents: Treaties and Laws, 1607-1789.

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"Juricek's definitive study reflects his mastery of the documents as well as the personalities of the interface between colony and the Indans from 1733 to 1763." "Juricek also deserves praise for teasing out, insofar as possible, Creek motives, personalities, and negotiating ploys during the first 30 years of Georgia's existence." "Highly recommended."
--Choice, vol.48 n4

Provides an in depth analysis of the diplomatic relations between the English and the Creeks during colonial Georgia's first thirty years. Well written and forceful.
--Southern Historian

"Juricek's careful explanations move far beyond simplistic dualisms and stereotypes and deserve the attention scholar of Indian diplomacy in early America. Juricek brings a sophisticated understanding of sovereignty to the historiography of colonial-era Native studies and in the process recasts our understanding of eighteenth-century Georgia and Creek Indian history."
--American Historical Review

"Has much to recommend it to students of colonial history and should be required reading for anyone interested in Creek history. It re-presents a number of well-known events in greater and more vivid detail and offers fresh and stimulating interpretations of some of the most significant of these."
--The Journal of American History

"Colonial Georgia and the Creeks offers a nuanced perspective on one aspect of the English-Creek relationship, accessible enough to assign for advanced undergraduates, but with enough detail to satisfy specialists as well."
--The Florida Historical Quarterly

"With numerous insights into early Creek colonial politics and Georgia colonial politics, Juricek's book gives us much to digest. Not only will it absorb interested non-specialists, but scholars of the early colonial South will want to keep copies near at hand."
--American Indian Culture and Research Journal

"… a balanaced study of Anglo-Indian diplomacy. Juricek should be congratulated for his ethnohistorically informed understanding of Creek society"
--Tyler Boulware, Georgia Historical Quarterly

Not only provides a well-written and well-researched addition to the field but provides insight into the founding of the Georgia colony and the colonists’ use of diplomacy with the Creeks to acquire land and opportunities for trade.
--Louisiana History