The first part of a sweeping two-volume history of the devastation
brought to bear on Indian nations by U.S. expansion
In this book, the first part of a sweeping two-volume history,
Jeffrey Ostler investigates how American democracy relied on Indian
dispossession and the federally sanctioned use of force to remove or
slaughter Indians in the way of U.S. expansion. He charts the losses
that Indians suffered from relentless violence and upheaval and the
attendant effects of disease, deprivation, and exposure. This volume
centers on the eastern United States from the 1750s to the start of
the Civil War.
An authoritative
contribution to the history of the United States’ violent path
toward building a continental empire, this ambitious and
well-researched book deepens our understanding of the seizure of
Indigenous lands, including the use of treaties to create the
appearance of Native consent to dispossession. Ostler also documents
the resilience of Native people, showing how they survived genocide
by creating alliances, defending their towns, and rebuilding their
communities.