American Indian Culture and Research Journal

It seems natural to Whites, to look on lands in the possession of Indians with an aching heart, and never to rest ’till they have planned them out of them. -Joseph Brant Benjamin West’s William Penn’s Treaty with the Indians portrays Penn and his associates dispensing gifts to Indians (figure 1). Dominated by a benevolent gesture, this painting disguises political and economic power as the workings of a highly developed moral sensibility and conquest as an act of magnanimity. West‘s painting has assumed legendary status in American popular culture, making its way into high school history textbooks as an example of the nobility of Penn and his power to effect peaceful relations between Europeans and Indians. West’s presentation of Penn’s ”justice and benevolence” toward the Indians is a masterpiece, not only aesthetically as an engaging painting but politically as a powerful piece of propaganda that continues to work its magic on viewers today. West’s masterpiece functions on two narrative levels. The first level is the one of the story depicted-William Penn’s mythical treaty with the Indians; the second narrative, not represented explicitly but lying buried beneath the surface, is the story of Thomas Penn, William Penn’s son, and his effort to negotiate several other and equally ambitious land deals with Indians. Commissioned by Thomas Penn and painted in 1771 and 1772, William Pan‘s Treaty with the Indians celebrates simultaneously both Penns’ successful acquisition of enormous tracts of Indian land. This essay will examine West’s painting in the context of the land speculations of William and Thomas Penn. More attention will be given to Thomas Penn’s efforts, since his speculation in Indian land can help to explain why he commissioned the painting and why he felt the need to have his family’s relations with the Indians depicted in such an amicable light.