"[...] the British colonials who moved into the West emerge as uniformly 'low', 'the very dregs of the people', or 'lawless banditti'" (317, White). They created a "third village world of British" after the "earlier village world created by the French" who, though practically independent by the 1760s "had earlier sustained the French empire rather than defied it. And they had created a common world with the Algonquians of the pays d'en haut" (316, White).

"The French and Indians [according to George Croghan] had been 'bred up together like Children in the Country, & the French have always adopted the Indians Customs & manners, Treated them Civily & supplyed their wants generously'" (316, White).

"The croaking of a raven, the howling of a dog, and the screech of an owl, were as prophetic of future misfortunes among the first adventurers into this country, as they were amongst the ancient pagans; but above all, their dreams were regarded as ominous of good or ill success" (John Doddridge, Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania from 1763 to 1783)

"[Algonquians] intended incorporation, whether as a relative, slave, or cannibal victim, to make the captive completely Algonquian, but the complete assimilation of adults rarely took place. Children often became completely Algonquian in appearance, culture. and manner, but slaves obviously remained marginal, and most adult adoptees failed to be fully woven into the social fabric of the villages" (Richard White, The middle ground: Indians, empires, and republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815).

"They [...] discovered that the back [...] inhabitants particularly those who daily go over the Mountains of Virginia employ much of their time in hunting, interfere with them therein, have a hatred for, ill treat, Rob and frequently murder the Indians, that they are in general a lawless sett of People, as fond of independency as themselves, and more regardless of Governmt owing to ignorance, prejudice, democratical principles, & their remote situation." (Sir William Johnson to the Earl of Dartmouth, November 4, 1772)

"A nation scattered in the boundless regions of America resembles rays diverging from a focus. All the rays remain, but the heat is gone. Their power consisted in their concentration: when they are dispersed, they have no effect." (Samuel Johnson, A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland)