biology

Long knives

Long knives is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Long knives rather than just read about it. In short: "Long knives" was a term used by the Haudenosaunee and later by the Mingo and other indigenous peoples of the Ohio Country to designate white settlers from Virginia, in contradistinction to those of New York and Pennsylvania. It is a literal translation of the treaty name that the Haudenosaunee first bestowed on Governor Lord Howard in 1684, Assarigoe (variously spelled Assaregoa, Assaragoa, Asharigoua), meaning "cu…

Key takeaways

Long knives belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Long knives to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Long knives from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

"Long knives" was a term used by the Haudenosaunee and later by the Mingo and other indigenous peoples of the Ohio Country to designate white settlers from Virginia, in contradistinction to those of New York and Pennsylvania. It is a literal translation of the treaty name that the Haudenosaunee first bestowed on Governor Lord Howard in 1684, Assarigoe (variously spelled Assaregoa, Assaragoa, Asharigoua), meaning "cutlass" in Onondaga. This word was chosen as a pun on Howard's name, which sounds like Dutch houwer meaning "cutlass" (similar to the Haudenosaunee choice of the name Onas, or "quill pen", for the Pennsylvania Governors, beginning with William Penn.) This is the very explanation included within official diplomatic correspondence addressed by the Haudenosaunee leaders themselves to then-governor Spotswood in 1722. George Rogers Clark spoke of himself and men as "Big Knives" or Virginians, in his speeches to the Indians in 1778 after the capture of Illinois. In the latter part of the American Revolutionary War, down to and during the War of 1812, the term was used to designate "Americans".

References

Dictionary of American History by James Truslow Adams, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940. Chronicles of Border Warfare: "A history of whites and of the Indian Wars and Massacres", Alexander Scott Withers, 1831 p78-79.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Long knives

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Long knives claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Long knives before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Long knives ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Long knives

In research: Long knives appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Long knives in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Long knives is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American Revolutionary War, Colony of Virginia, Exonyms, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Long knives outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Long knives in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Long knives means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Long knives out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Long knives in simple terms?

Why does Long knives matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Long knives?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Long knives.