Changes in the Land : Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England

by William Cronon

In this landmark work of environmental history, William Cronon offers an original and profound explanation of the effects European colonists' sense of property and their pursuit of capitalism had upon the ecosystems of New England. Reissued here with an updated afterword by the author and a new preface by the distinguished colonialist John Demos, Changes in the Land, provides a brilliant inter-disciplinary interpretation of how land and people influence one another. With its chilling closing line, "The people of plenty were a people of waste," Cronon's enduring and thought-provoking book is ethno-ecological history at its best.

Wilderness Empire: A Narrative

by Allan W. Eckert

For over two hundred years no Indian force in America was so powerful and feared as the Iroquois League. Throughout two thirds of this continent, the cry of "The Iroquois are coming!" was enough to demoralize entire tribes. But these Iroquois occupied and controlled a vast wilderness empire which beckoned like a precious gem to foreign powers. France and England secured toeholds and suddenly each was claiming as its own this land of the Iroquois. Alliance with the Indians was the key; whichever power controlled them could destroy the other.

Wilderness Empire is the gripping narrative of the eighteenth-century struggle of these two powers to win for themselves the allegiance of the Indians in a war for territorial dominance, yet without letting these Indians know that the prize of the war would be this very Iroquois land. It is the story of English strength hamstrung by incredible incompetence, of French power sapped by devastating corruption. It is the story of the English, Indian and French individuals whose lives intertwine in the greatest territorial struggle in American history--the French and Indian War.

The Invasion of America: Indians, Colonialism, and the Cant of Conquest

by Francis Jennings

Traditionally, historians have thought of American society as a transplantation of European culture to a new continent—a "virgin land." In this important and disturbing book, Francis Jennings examines the real history of the relationships between Europeans and Indians in what is ordinarily called the colonial period of United States history. From the Indian viewpoint, it was the period of the invasion of America. In Mr. Jennings' view, the American land during the period of discovery and settlement was more like a widow than a virgin. "Europeans did not find wilderness here," he writes, "rather, however involuntarity, they made one. . . . The so-called settlement of America was a resettlement, a reoccupation of a land made waste by the diseases and demoralization introduced by newcomers." Basing his interpretations on an enormous amount of hitherto unused ethnographical and anthropological literature, Mr. Jennings summarizes what is now known about the Atlantic Coast Indians encountered by Europeans. He then concetrates on a single region, New England, as an illustrative case study. The result is a radically revisionist interpretation of Puritan history (both as the Puritans wrote and lived it) in relation to the aboriginal population.

Indian New England 1524-1674: A Compendium of Eyewitness Accounts of Native American Life

edited by Ronald Dale Karr

Early European visitors to New England frequently wrote of their experiences in journals, letters, and travelogues. In Indian New England, editor Ronald Dale Karr has made many of these fascinating first-hand descriptions accessible to modern readers. Drawn from 22 sources written between 1524 and 1674, numerous excerpts are organized topically to tell the story of Native American life in New England as chronicled by the explorers, soldiers, and observers who made first contact. With spelling and punctuation modernized, the authors' original language has been otherwise preserved, giving the reader a strong sense of the writers' perspectives. Illustrations of actual New England Indian artifacts drawn by Mr. Karr's daughters add further dimension to the reader's experience.

New England Frontier: Puritans and Indians 1620- 1675

by Alden T. Vaughan

"This refreshing new look at Puritan-Indian relations will cause many historians to revise their thinking on the early settlement of New England....Vaughan's objective study now takes its place as the standard authority on Puritan-Indian relations from the landing of the Mayflower through King Philip's War." —American Historical Review

Pocahontas

by Paula Gunn Allen

Pocahontas became an extraordinary ambassador, forming groundbreaking relations between the Indians, the American colonists, and the British. Dr. Gunn Allen convincingly argues that through all of this, Pocahontas fulfilled a crucial and essential role in the birth of a New World. This stunning portrait presents the fascinating, untold story of one of the most romantic and beloved figures in American history, and reveals why so many have revered Pocahontas as the female counterpart to George Washington, the true "Mother of Our Nation."

Love and Hate in Jamestown : John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of a New Nation

by David Price

A gripping narrative of one of the great survival stories of American history: the opening of the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Drawing on period letters and chronicles, and on the papers of the Virginia Company—which financed the settlement of Jamestown—David Price tells a tale of cowardice and courage, stupidity and brilliance, tragedy and costly triumph. He takes us into the day-to-day existence of the English men and women whose charge was to find gold and a route to the Orient, and who found, instead, hardship and wretched misery. Death, in fact, became the settlers' most faithful companion, and their infighting was ceaseless.

Price offers a rare balanced view of the relationship between the settlers and the natives. He unravels the crucial role of Pocahontas, a young woman whose reality has been obscured by centuries of legend and misinformation (and, more recently, animation). He paints indelible portraits of Chief Powhatan, the aged monarch who came close to ending the colony's existence, and Captain John Smith, the former mercenary and slave, whose disdain for class distinctions infuriated many around him—even as his resourcefulness made him essential to the colony's success.

Facing East from Indian Country : A Native History of Early America

by Daniel K. Richter

For over two hundred years no Indian force in America was so powerful and feared as the Iroquois League. Throughout two thirds of this continent, the cry of "The Iroquois are coming!" was enough to demoralize entire tribes. But these Iroquois occupied and controlled a vast wilderness empire which beckoned like a precious gem to foreign powers. France and England secured toeholds and suddenly each was claiming as its own this land of the Iroquois. Alliance with the Indians was the key; whichever power controlled them could destroy the other.

Wilderness Empire is the gripping narrative of the eighteenth-century struggle of these two powers to win for themselves the allegiance of the Indians in a war for territorial dominance, yet without letting these Indians know that the prize of the war would be this very Iroquois land. It is the story of English strength hamstrung by incredible incompetence, of French power sapped by devastating corruption. It is the story of the English, Indian and French individuals whose lives intertwine in the greatest territorial struggle in American history--the French and Indian War.

Indians and English: Facing Off in Early America

by Karen Ordahl Kupperman

In this vividly written book, prize-winning author Karen Ordahl Kupperman refocuses our understanding of encounters between English venturers and Algonquians all along the East Coast of North America in the early years of contact and settlement. All parties in these dramas were uncertain--hopeful and fearful--about the opportunity and challenge presented by new realities. Indians and English both believed they could control the developing relationship. Each group was curious about the other, and interpreted through their own standards and traditions. At the same time both came from societies in the process of unsettling change and hoped to derive important lessons by studying a profoundly different culture.

These meetings and early relationships are recorded in a wide variety of sources. Native people maintained oral traditions about the encounters, and these were written down by English recorders at the time of contact and since; many are maintained to this day. English venturers, desperate to make readers at home understand how difficult and potentially rewarding their enterprise was, wrote constantly of their own experiences and observations and transmitted native lore. Kupperman analyzes all these sources in order to understand the true nature of these early years, when English venturers were so fearful and dependent on native aid and the shape of the future was uncertain.

Building on the research in her highly regarded book Settling with the Indians, Kupperman argues convincingly that we must see both Indians and English as active participants in this unfolding drama.

New Worlds for All: Indians, Europeans, and the Remaking of Early America

by Colin G. Calloway

American history has often been influenced by ethnic conflicts, but what we sometimes forget is how central the meetings between various ethnic groups were to the formation of what would become the United States. In New Worlds for All Colin Calloway offers a readable, fascinating account of how the English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Native Americans came together in a wilderness and went through tumultuous conflicts that eventually created a hybrid society. This conglomerate, which was different from any other on earth, eventually led to the creation of the United States.

The Invasion of America: Indians, Colonialism, and the Cant of Conquest

by Francis Jennings

Traditionally, historians have thought of American society as a transplantation of European culture to a new continent—a "virgin land." In this important and disturbing book, Francis Jennings examines the real history of the relationships between Europeans and Indians in what is ordinarily called the colonial period of United States history. From the Indian viewpoint, it was the period of the invasion of America.

In Mr. Jennings' view, the American land during the period of discovery and settlement was more like a widow than a virgin. "Europeans did not find wilderness here," he writes, "rather, however involuntarity, they made one. . . . The so-called settlement of America was a resettlement, a reoccupation of a land made waste by the diseases and demoralization introduced by newcomers."

Basing his interpretations on an enormous amount of hitherto unused ethnographical and anthropological literature, Mr. Jennings summarizes what is now known about the Atlantic Coast Indians encountered by Europeans. He then concetrates on a single region, New England, as an illustrative case study. The result is a radically revisionist interpretation of Puritan history (both as the Puritans wrote and lived it) in relation to the aboriginal population.

The Indian Slave Trade: The Rise of the English Empire in the American South, 1670-1717

by Alan Gallay

This absorbing book is the first ever to focus on the traffic in Indian slaves during the early years of the American South. The Indian slave trade was of central importance from the Carolina coast to the Mississippi Valley for nearly fifty years, linking southern lives and creating a whirlwind of violence and profit-making, argues Alan Gallay. He documents in vivid detail how the trade operated, the processes by which Europeans and Native Americans became participants, and the profound consequences for the South and its peoples. The author places Native Americans at the center of the story of European colonization and the evolution of plantation slavery in America. He explores the impact of such contemporary forces as the African slave trade, the unification of England and Scotland, and the competition among European empires as well as political and religious divisions in England and in South Carolina. Gallay also analyzes how Native American societies approached warfare, diplomacy, and decisions about allying and trading with Europeans. His wide-ranging research not only illuminates a crucial crossroad of European and Native American history but also establishes a new context for understanding racism, colonialism, and the meaning of ethnicity in early America.

Deadly Medicine: Indians and Alcohol in Early America

by Peter C. Mancall

"The eagerness of Colonial traders to sell alcohol to Natives, and the Natives' willingness to part with hard-earned furs to obtain it, are part of the lore of early America. As Mancall ably demonstrates, this relationship was far more complex."--Library Journal

The World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America

edited by by Colin G. Calloway

An anthology of little-known and rarely considered letters, speeches, and records of treaty negotiations in which Native American addressed European settlers from the first encounters in the 17th century through the American Revolution. General and chapter introductions consider the nature of the sources, problems with interpreting them, and the forces that were creating a new world for natives during the colonial period.--Book News

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