American Encounters: Natives and Newcomers from European Contact to Indian Removal, 1500-1850 [Paperback]

Peter C. Mancall (Editor), James H. Merrell (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415923751 | ISBN-13: 978-0415923750 | Publication Date: December 18, 1999 | Edition: 1

Newly expanded, the second edition of American Encounters provides the most comprehensive, up-to-date collection of scholarship on the Native American experience from European contact through the Removal Era. Retaining the hallmark essays from the celebrated first edition, the second edition contains thirteen new essays, emphasizing the most recent, noteworthy areas of inquiry, including gender relations, slavery and captivity, and the effects of Christianity on the course of native history. With each essay prefaced by helpful headnotes that highlight key concepts and draw connections among the essays, plus an expansive 'Further Readings' section, the second edition of American Encounters is an indispensable volume for both professors and students of early American history.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Containing essays that were previously published in specialized academic journals or books, these anthologies conveniently consolidate important scholarship that the nonspecialist may overlook when conducting research. Mancall (Deadly Medicine: Indians & Alcohol in Early America) and Merrell (Into the American Woods: Negotiators on the Pennsylvania Frontier) have edited a collection of 25 outstanding articles drawn mostly from journals such as Ethnohistory, William & Mary Quarterly, and American Indian Culture and Research Journal. While not interrelated, the articles provide insight into various contact points throughout North America. Articles such as Theda Perdue's "Cherokee Women and the Trial of Tears" and Helen Tanner's "The Glaze in 1792: A Composite Indian Community" are especially noteworthy as they provide insight into aspects of the Native American experience that is often ignored. Highly recommended for public libraries and essential for academic libraries with Native American collections. The 15 essays in the book edited by Vaughan (New England Frontier: Puritans and Indians, 1620-1675) were all originally published in the New England Quarterly. The authors of the original essays were given the opportunity to revise their essays, and some also included postscripts to further enlighten the reader on their subsequent scholarship. While extremely informative, this book is a bit too specialized to be of interest to libraries outside New England unless they support graduate programs. Libraries interested in the Native American experience in New England might also want to examine Dawnland Encounters: Indians and Europeans in Northern New England, edited by Colin G. Calloway.AJohn Burch, Hagan Memorial Lib., Williamsburg, KY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

..."the authors emphasize the creativity of many persons in many Indian societies in dealing with the opportunities as well as the problems of often catastrophic intersocial exchange. [American Encounters's] selection of classics well repays the energetic reader."
-" Journal of the Early Republic, Vol. 21 No. 2
." . . beautifully presented volume . . .appeal[s] to anyone interested in the strides forward Native American history has taken in the past generation, and it would serve as an excellent textbook for upper-division undergraduate courses in colonial history of Native American studies."
-"Military History
"A collection of 25 outstanding articles...conveniently consolidates important scholarship that the nonspecialist may overlook...Highly recommended for public libraries and essential for academic libraries with Native American collections."
-"Library Journal, 11/15/99
"This carefully constructed set of essays showcases the work of a generation of historians who have raised the study of Native Americans to an entirely new plane. By taking a continent-wide approach, the editors have given students the opportunity to plumb the myriad experiences arising out of 300 years of Indian-European encounters."
-Gary B. Nash, UCLA
"A stunning collection that encompasses--and organizes--the depth and diversity of the very best recent writing on Indian-European relations, "American Encounters is tailor-made for both classroom use and scholarly reference."
-Philip Deloria, University of Colorado

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 602 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (December 18, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415923751
• ISBN-13: 978-0415923750
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,034,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Deeper Understanding, December 29, 2003

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Encounters: Natives and Newcomers from European Contact to Indian Removal, 1500-1850 (Hardcover)

A dispassionate, scholarly look at what happened in North America to its native peoples when the Europeans arrived. The book spans 1500 to 1850, the latter being essentially before the American Civil War. It concentrates on events inside the present day United States. You should be aware that there is little coverage of Mexico and the Canadas. Lest you think this restrictive, remember that we are still referring to a span of 350 years and the US. Given this vast field in time and space, the book does not claim comprehensiveness. What it does have are chapters on numerous aspects of the encounters. Intermarriage, religion, trading, disease and, of course, war and the forced relocation of the few survivors.

There is coverage not just of the eastern seaboard, with the well known incidents at Plymouth and the selling of Manhattan. Also presented are chapters on the Spanish incursions and settlements in the South West. The chapters strive to go beyond the stereotypical, marginal roles played by the natives in standard histories. You can get some understanding of the intricacies of their societies and the range of their dealings with the Europeans. There is, though, a continual frustration; which is not the fault of the authors. The written records we have are overwhelmingly those left by the settlers. We can only wonder now at what was never recorded directly by the natives, and which has been irretrievably forsaken to the nameless dust of history.