A Native Soldier Allied With the British Killed a Young White Woman in 1777. Propaganda Transformed Her Into a Martyr of the American Revolution

"She became a useful tool. She became a saint, you might say, of the Revolution. People felt as though they could feel her fear, feel her death, feel her love for her fiancé. Underlying all of that was the sense that American leaders can't let this happen to white families ever again, this in spite of the fact that white Americans were just as vicious to Native Americans."

Jane McCrea, a young woman killed in 1777 by Native Americans allied with the British, became one of the American Revolution's most powerful propaganda tools. Her death occurred during the patriot victory at Saratoga and was rapidly transformed into a cautionary tale of British-sanctioned atrocities. McCrea's story resonated deeply in public consciousness despite being one of many civilian casualties. In the 19th century, her narrative was repurposed again, portraying her as a helpless white victim killed by Indigenous warriors to fuel anti-Indigenous sentiment. Historians note that McCrea's weaponization obscured the reality that white Americans committed equally vicious violence against Native Americans, yet her story became central to American Revolutionary mythology.

Read at Smithsonian Magazine