"Farewell, My Nation": American Indians and the United States in the Nineteenth Century

Farewell, My Nation is an insightful and accessible consideration of the complex and often tragic relationships between American Indians, white Americans, and the U.S. government throughout the nineteenth century, as the government struggled with social and political questions about how to treat America s indigenous population.The third edition of this widely used text has been entirely rewritten in light of new scholarship and in order to incorporate additional primary source materials. Philip Weeks artfully guides readers through the significant changes in Indian–U.S. relations during this pivotal time, outlining the three principal policies undertaken in varying degrees by the U.S. government Separation, Concentration, and Americanization and interrogating their respective effectives and repercussions. Offering detailed descriptions, chronology, and analysis of the Plains Wars supported by supplementary maps and illustrations, the new edition of this bestselling text will continue to be a valuable supplement to U.S. History survey courses and essential reading for anyone interested in better understanding the political roots of the relationship between the U.S. government and America s first peoples.

Preface

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER ONE: The Indian Question

In Need of a Solution

Breaching the Ohio Country Barrier

The Shooting Star and the Prophet

CHAPTER TWO: The Initial Solution

The Relocation Debate

Tribal Strategies in the South

The Cherokee–Georgia Conundrum

Removing the Southern Tribes

The Indian Territory and its People

Undermining Forces

Dashed Hopes

CHAPTER THREE: The Travails of Mid Century

Western Troubles and the New Solution

Making Way for the Railroads

The Texas Challenge

Whether or Not to be a Confederate

Civil War in the Indian Territory

Unrest in Minnesota

Colorado and Sand Creek

CHAPTER FOUR: The Plains Wars, Phase I: Realizing Concentration

Those Who Resisted: An Inescapable Fate?

Indian Policy and Who Controlled It

Defending the Powder River Country

Dualism: Peace and Force Policies

Commotion in Kansas

Effecting Concentration

With the Olive Branch and the Sword

CHAPTER FIVE: The Plains Wars, Phase II: Enforcing Concentration

Again, Indian Affairs and Who Controls Them

The Grant Peace Policy

At the Watershed

The Red River War

The Peace That Slipped Away

The Great Sioux War Commences

The Great Sioux War Concludes

CHAPTER SIX: The Search for a New Order

Reforms and Jurisdictional Disputes

Reappraising the Concentration Policy

The Government s Newest Solution

Ending Old and Injurious Habits

Americanization: White Rationalizations and Tribal Responses

Dead Dreams

Bibliographical Essay

Index

 

Philip Weeks, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of History at Kent State University, where, as a distinguished teaching award recipient, he taught American Indian studies, U.S., Ohio, and modern world history for many years. He is the editor or author of several books, including They Made Us Many Promises : The American Indian Experience 1524 to the Present (Wiley, 2001) and Buckeye Presidents: Ohioans in the White House (2003).