Colonial Strategies and Native American Alcohol Consumption in the American Southeast

The consumption of alcohol among Indians of southeastern North America is examined in this thesis. I discuss and compare the colonial strategies of the Spaniards in La Florida and the English in Carolina. The Spanish colonial strategy focused on converting Indians while English colonial strategy focused on exploiting Indians for economic gain. These differing strategies led to the very different alcohol consumption patterns among the Indians associated with the Spanish and the English. I examined the presence of alcohol in the Southeast using both historical and archaeological evidence. Alcohol was present in many different contexts. It was consumed by Franciscan friars, Spanish soldiers and settlers, English soldiers and settlers, and Indians allied with the English. The only group that did not consume alcohol was comprised of Indians living in missions established by the Spanish friars. Several explanations for this lack of alcohol consumption are discussed and parallels are drawn between the colonial strategies of the Spanish and English and the alcohol consumption of the Indians groups allied with each colonial power.