native Americans

Although the census of 1790 did not count the Americans Indians, estimates place the population at 500,000, thinly spread across the continent. Throughout the period, the highest concentration of Native Americans in the states of the US were those of the "Five Civilized Tribes": the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles, living in treatied lands in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and the Carolinas. These tribes were called "civilized" because they adopted aspects of European-American culture; such as a written language; a formal constitution; Europeanized housing, furniture and clothing; the plantation system of farming and even slavery. The Revolutionary War and its aftermath severely damaged the Iroquois. By the end of the century, the Iroquois population fell to half of what it had been before the Revolution. Most casualties were due to disease, starvation, and exposure, rather than battle. After the war, the Iroquois culture was bombarded by European-American customs and values. Many of the Iroquois chose to follow the European-American lead, looking down on their own cultures and espousing the lifestyle of the former colonists.