Born 1759 (Present-day Alabama)
Died February 17, 1793 (Pensacola, Florida)

Creek Indian leader

Alexander McGillivray was an important Native American political leader during the early years of the United States. He came to power in the Creek Confederacy at a time when white settlements were expanding farther into traditional Native American homelands and threatening Native American society. McGillivray used his influence to introduce reforms and protect Creek interests. As the son of a European father and a Native American mother, McGillivray made a unique contribution to the history of the newly formed United States.

McGillivray's domestic policy urged the centralization of power among the Native Americans; the concept of centralization was characteristic of European-style governments but had never been tried in the Creek nation. His foreign policy in the mid-1780s resulted in an alliance with Spain, the country that controlled the Gulf Coast region and the area that...