A Century of Dishonor: The Classic Expose of the Plight of the Native Americans

Eric Hatch

ISBN 10: 048642698X / ISBN 13: 9780486426983

Published by Dover Publications Inc., 2003

About this Item

First published in 1881 and reprinted in numerous editions since, Helen Hunt Jackson's A Century of Dishonor is a classic account of the U.S. government's flawed Indian policy and the unfair and cruel treatment afforded North American Indians by expansionist Americans. Jackson wrote the book as a polemic to -appeal to the hearts and conscience of the American people, - who she hoped would demand legislative reform from Congress and redeem the country's name from the stain of a -century of dishonor.- Her efforts, which constitute a landmark in Indian reform, helped begin the long process of public awareness for Indian rights that continues to the present day.Beginning with a legal brief on the original Indian right of occupancy, A Century of Dishonor continues with Jackson's analysis of how irresponsibility, dishonesty, and perfidy on the part of Americans and the U.S. government devastated the Delaware, Cheyenne, Nez Perce, Sioux, Ponca, Winnebago, and Cherokee Indians. Jackson describes the government's treatment of the Indians as -a shameful record of broken treaties and unfulfilled promises- exacerbated by -a sickening record of murder, outrage, robbery, and wrongs- committed by frontier settlers, with only an occasional Indian retaliation. Such notable events as the flight of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces and the Cherokee Trail of Tears illustrate Jackson's arguments.Valerie Sherer Mathes's foreword traces Jackson's life and writings and places her in the context of reform advocacy in the midst of nineteenth century expansionism. This unabridged paperback edition contains an index, and the complete appendix, which includes Jackson's correspondence concerning the Sand Creek Massacre and her report as Special Comminnioner to investigate the needs of California's Mission Indians.

Seller Inventory # CIN048642698XG

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Century of Dishonor: The Classic Expose of the Plight of the Native Americans
• Publisher: Dover Publications Inc.
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 048642698X
• ISBN 13: 9780486426983
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

Sharply critical of the United States government's cruelty toward Native Americans, this monumental study describes the maltreatment of Indians as far back as the American Revolution. Focusing on the Delaware and the Cheyenne, the text goes on to document and deplore the sufferings of the Sioux, Nez Percé, Ponca, Winnebago, and Cherokee — in the process revealing a succession of broken treaties, the government's forced removal of tribes from choice lands, and other examples of inhuman treatment of the nation's 300,000 Indians. Stirring and eloquently stated, A Century of Dishonor was written in the hope of righting the wrongs inflicted upon this nation's first inhabitants. Within a year following its publication (1881), the book helped create the powerful Indian Rights Association. Decades later, author and critic Allen Nevins described the volume as "one of the soundest and most exhaustive works" ever written about Indian rights. Still a valuable reference, this book will be welcomed by students, historians, and others interested in the plight of Native Americans.