The American Revolution was a struggle not only for independence, but for the lands of Native Americans. The jewel in this conflict was the upstate New York domain of the Iroquois Six Nations, where fertile river valleys were a magnet for farmers weary of New England's stubborn soil. While at first intentionally neutral, the Iroquois were soon forced to choose sides between either rebel of British forces. "Seeds of Empire" recreates the events surrounding General John Sullivan's scorched-earth campaign against the Six Nations of the American Indians of New York and the Eastern territories in 1779, following the surrender of General John Burgoyne's entire British army at the Battle of Saratoga. Abandoned by both the revels and the British at the end of the revolution and devastated by the ravages of war, the Iroquois found themselves powerless to resist the post-Revolutionary takeover and peopling of their heartland by the new American nation. Richly detailed and written in lively, compelling prose, "Seeds of Empire" showcases Mintz's meticulous historical research and renowned storytelling ability to bring to live this arresting narrative as it probes the mechanisms of the American Revolution and the structure and function of the Iroquois Six Nations. "Seeds of Empire" gives shape and human dimension to a wrenching episode in the epic westward march that was to define the American continent.

In his steps -- "Blood over the Earth" -- No quarter -- "We destroyed men, women, and children" -- Mission devastation -- Cry massacre -- "A soil worth contending for" -- Resistance -- Shortfall -- Ambush -- "To extirpate us from the Earth" -- "Between two hells" -- Betrayal -- Epilogue -- Abbreviations.