Claudio Saunt's Unworthy Republic focuses on a clear and impactful mission: to account for the expulsion of Native Americans from east to west, under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, and remind readers of historic events that have shaped the lives of Native tribes till this day.
Through historical analysis, the author points out to how powerful men, both from the north and south contributed to the loss of property and lives of Native Americans. Many names were foreign to me (coming from a country that also commited crimes against its original people), names such as Creeks, Sauks and Seminoles.
Indian identity was evaluated "under the eyes of white judges and juries", undermining the rights of people that occupied the territory before them. The intent was to move Native Americans living in the east, west of the Mississippi River.
"When Creek farmers protested that their lands had been sold by imposters, judges told them to bring "white proof", since courts did not permit "colored persons" to testify against whites".
Similar to modern talks about walls separating Mexico from the United States, "back then, Congress "appropriated funds to initiate the construction of a "wall of defense to the far West." The twelve-hundred -mile military cordon would eventually run from present-day Minneapolis to the Gulf Coast, allowing troops to maintain "a continual surveillance" of the border"." But such an endeavor, proved itself difficult logistically and budgetary-wise. The War Department's wish to survey the lands west of the Mississippi, required large exploring parties that were expensive. In the end, the federal government had to rely on maps fabricated from the reports of traders and travelers.
"The importance of landed property and the practice of defining it varied widely among indigenous Americans. Some communities with state structures and taxes, as in central Mexico, erected cairns or drove in stakes to mark boundaries, while others with looser tributary systems defined their territories using natural features such as rivers, and still others who hunted and foraged relied on custom and memory to define boundaries with their neighbors".
Maintaning supplies to keep Native Americans alive and well during the journey, plus the force to transport their belongings from east to west, did not become the first priority when the government realized how many resources were actually needed. Because of this, Native tribes were forced to endure many hardships, the first one being having to abandon most of their property back east.
The United States pressured thousands of families to be uprooted and move while clarifying that they would not be liable for any accidents. Baggage could not exceed thirty pounds and wagons would be limited to one fo every fifty people. They would even be bold enough to pass on the expenses of deportation to the victims.
Smallpox and cholera ravaged many voyagers, as politicians changed the rules of agreements done in the past with Native Americans. The Creeks for example "had made treaties with the United States before Alabama existed, when the federal government was the only power with which to negotiate." As new rules were defined, it was made increasingly difficult for tribes to fight deportation or persecution.
Women were among the most ignored victims. "It was more difficult for women to play a public role in the fight over deportation, given the belief in the United States at the time that politics belonged to men". Native women had to voice their concerns in local council meetings, unable to embark on speaking tours to state their case.
As the massive dispossession took place, private contractors also wanted to participate in the mission. This however did not mean that it was less expensive for the federal government nor less deadly for the refugees.
Still some chose to stay behind and defend their lands. "While the possibility that native peoples would combine forces alarmed white Americans, the prospect that they might make common cause with slave laborers terrified them". Plantation owners feared they were outnumbered and manouvres to strip away the tribes' lands and rights were already underway.
Native resistance had many faces. Sometimes in the form of wars, such as the U.S. Sauk War, and through warrior personalities such as the Sauk leader Black Hawk. Other times, through courts and legal battles like the Cherokee John Ross pursued.
The image of an idyllic, unspoiled America, where everyone finds their place, will be reviewed in this outstanding work from Claudio Saunt. Readers will want to continue their learning journey well beyond the pages of Unworthy Republic.
"For native peoples, several years of U.S. -sponsored mass deportation had only confirmed their suspicions. Western lands were not as splendid as promised, the United States woudl not fulfill the various treaty articles compensating them for the enormous land cessions in the East, and the deportation operations were poorly organized and often lethal".
The involvement of investors from New York and Boston in the dispossession of native peoples, even though these cities were centers of anti-expulsion activism in the 1830s. Land companies were designed for pooling capital into the venture.
"(...) few people on either end of the stream could fully grasp the connection between the South´s disintegrating indigenous communities and the North´s prospering investment banks".
"The richest agricultural lands in the South, the Black Prairie, passed through Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw lands". After wearing out the soil in Georgia and the Carolinas, planters were ready for the Mississippi. Because of population numbers and the fact that they grew different crops, native peoples did not exhaust the soil like planters did with cotton. The richest Black Prairie would soon turn into monocrop agriculture.
Choctaws
Chickasaws
Senecas
Delawares
Cherokees
Creeks
Seminoles
Sauks
Comments