After hearing about the Curse of Tecumseh during a lecture in class a few days ago, I immediately started a draft for a post about it. One of my favorite things is delving into myths, legends, and superstitions (there's also the fact that it reminded me of the curse in Harry Potter that befell all professors of Defense Against the Dark Arts) so writing about it seemed like a no-brainer. Here is a brief overview of this supposed curse that has befallen U.S. presidents.
The Curse of Tecumseh, also known as the Curse of Tippecanoe, refers to the pattern of deaths of U.S. presidents elected or re-elected in years divisible by twenty. The curse's name originates from the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 between American forces and a coalition of Native American forces. The origins of this conflict come from the Treaty of Fort Wayne in 1809 in which the Indiana governor William Harrison employed questionable tactics to convince Native American leaders to sell their land to the American government. The treaty outraged the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and brought American soldiers and Native Americans to the brink of war in a period known as Tecumseh's War. Tecumseh and his brother organized groups of Indians tribes in order to resist the westward expansion of the United States. In 1811, Tecumseh's forces, under the leadership of his brother, Tenskwatawa, attacked Harrison's army. Harrison defeated the Native Americans and this victory brought him great fame and the nickname "Old Tippecanoe." In the aftermath of the war, Tenskwatawa, also known as the Prophet, supposedly set a curse against Harrison and future presidents elected during years with the same end number as Harrison.
In the years that followed, seven U.S. presidents followed the fate outlined in Tecumseh's curse. William Henry Harrison, elected in 1840, died of typhoid. Elected in 1860, 1880, and 1900, Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley were each, respectively, assassinated. Warren G. Harding, elected in 1920, died of unknown causes, though, a heart attack or stroke are the most widely accepted theories. Elected in 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt died from a cerebral hemorrhage. Finally, elected in 1960, John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Exceptions to the curse begin for presidents elected after 1963. Ronald Reagan, elected in 1980, did not die in office but was, however, seriously wounded in an assassination attempt within months of his inauguration. He also went on to survive treatment for colon cancer while in office. Elected in 2000, George W. Bush survived two terms in office that included fainting from choking on a pretzel and an assassination attempt that involved having a live grenade thrown at him. In addition, it could be argued that Zachary Taylor's death while in office is an exception given that he was not elected in a year divisible by 20.
While this curse is a fun and interesting tidbit in American lore it also serves as a reminder of this country's dark past and the atrocities that built this nation, including the near complete destruction of Native American life and culture.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_Tippecanoe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Fort_Wayne_(1809)
https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Tippecanoe
Cathy, I enjoyed reading this blog post about an American superstition. I liked your inclusion of funny details like George Bush fainting from choking on a pretzel which made the post lighthearted. However, I appreciate that at the end, you tied the information back to the difficult reality of our countries history.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really cool post! I had no clue about this curse, and it's dark origins in Native American destruction for the name really brings to light how we took their words to apply to our own myths, which is pretty terrible in my opinion. However, I loved hearing the story because I too love Harry Potter and the curse against the DATDA teachers, and it was a pretty neat and also deadly coincidence.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of writing a blog about this curse but I would not have done it nearly as detailed or in depth as yours, great job! Really makes you wonder if the curse is real...It's a good way to snap Americans back into the reality, that we stole our so called "land of the free" and don't deserve it due to the horrible ways we came to get it
ReplyDeleteThis was really interesting, and I liked that you went into how the curse developed. Side note: the "questionable tactics" that were employed in the treaty were basically just pressuring a bunch of Indian tribes that lived in the area to sign the treaty and gathered signatures from the Potawatomi, Eel River (a Miami off-split) and Miami, and ignored the Shawnee, who felt that other tribes didn't have the authority to cede land that they used. Tecumseh and his followers were enraged, and the rest is history.
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