Summary Of The Northwest Passage By Kenneth Roberts

The book, The Northwest Passage, by Kenneth Roberts accurately portrays the struggles of the New England colonies through the American motif of Manifest Destiny in the French and Indian War, eventually the quest to find the Northwest passage, and the development of the inevitable rift between the thirteen colonies and England. Although the novel is split into two separate parts and includes several non-historical examples of fictional characters like Elizabeth Browne who moves the story along and actions of the two main characters, the narrative doesn't become disjointed as the story arc follows the real life of Robert Rogers of the Rogers Rangers in the French and Indian War and later to his downfall as a drunk debtor with no money to his

Robert’s authentic portrayal of historical characters doesn’t distract the story from presenting the narrative of Robert Rogers’ life but adds and enhances it by giving historical context and clearly exemplifies the ideas and beliefs of the historical figures of the era such as Benjamin Franklin wanting to break away from Britain and Sir William Johnson’s greed in a fur monopoly in the Great Lakes. “ When this French War Broke out in 1775, I and him went to it,. Right away we picked up some of the young fellers around here that had a knack for slaughtering Indians, and we went right to work doing it. That was the start of Rogers’ Rangers. One company of us was, under that old yeller-bellied windbag Sir William johnson.” (75) Robert Rogers was revered as a hero after forming the Rangers and defeating the French and Indians at St. Francis ordered by Amherst but later loses his reputation after his failure to find the Northwest passage and becoming imprisoned from a court martialed and financially ruined through objections by Sir William Johnson in his governorship of Michilimackinac. Sir William johnson was an accomplished military leader and was appointed was appointed the Superintendent of Indian Affairs by the governor

Francis presents the two opposing perspectives of the Native Americans and colonists without labeling either one good or evil and instead accurately lays out reasons that both sides are fighting each other. The novel begins by introducing the narrator Langdon Towne from Kittery, Maine as an aspiring artist who faces disapproval from his father from a suspension from Harvard who joins the Roger’s Rangers after fleeing arrest. Towne joins Roger in the 1759 military skirmish against the hostile Native Americans located near St. Francis at the Canadian border who have been terrorizing New England settlements with the French support. “ All my life long I had heard tales of Number Four; for it was at this very spot, always, that the St. Francis Indians, coming down from the north, crossed the Connecticut and headed eastward to raid the settlements. On their homeward journey, too, they made straight for Number Four with captives and booty: then turned north, up the Connecticut, on the long trail to the Cohase Intervals and far-off St. Francis.” (77) Roberts correctly depicts the conflict and attitudes between the westward expanding New England colonists and the defensive Native Americans during the French and Indian war compressed into the real battle of St. Francis. On September thirteenth, 1759, Robert Rogers lead his group of 190 Rangers on an