12. The death of Tecumseh at the hands of a future Vice President has attracted several conspiratorial arguments concerning the precise circumstances behind the warrior’s demise
A prominent member of the Shawnee people of North America, Tecumseh was a Native American warrior and chief who rose to become the leader of a multi-tribal confederacy during the early 19th century. Envisioning the creation of an independent nation for indigenous peoples east of the Mississippi under British protection, Tecumseh fought hard to repel the fledgling United States from lands in the Old Northwest Territory. Allying with Great Britain during the War of 1812, following defeat during Tecumseh’s War in 1811, Tecumseh was killed at the Battle of the Thames on October 5, 1813, triggering the collapse of his confederacy.
Traditionally alleged to have been killed in battle by Colonel Richard Johnson, who would later serve as the ninth Vice President of the United States, in later decades conspiracy theories have questioned this historical assertion. Claiming Johnson’s political career was immeasurable advanced by his killing of the legendary Native, becoming a prominent slogan for his candidature in 1836, advocates of these theories hold different individuals as responsible for the death. Often claimed by the descendants of the supposedly responsible soldier, none of these declarations have reached serious historical credibility rivaling the consistent narrative of Johnson’s.