God Gave Us This Country: Tekamthi and the First American Civil War [Hardcover]

Bil Gilbert (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

We know him as Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief who organized Indian tribes in the Northwest Ordinance territory for a united effort to halt white encroachment, a heroic figure respected by friend and foe. Gilbert ( Westering Man: The Life of Joseph Walker ) gives a vivid, detailed account of nearly five decades of conflict on the Western frontier, an appalling story of violence. Following the life of Tekamthi, the author attempts to separate fact from folklore; after Tekamthi's death at Tippecanoe, he became a folk hero in the Middle West. Gilbert chronicles the origins of the U.S. Army and its disastrous record against the Indians; he notes that despite defeats, the Americans continued to advance, while the Indians' were Pyrrhic victories, and concludes that Tekamthi's resistance movement probably delayed the western advance by less than a decade. History and military buffs will appreciate this authoritative account of this long and bloody conflict.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 369 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum; First Edition. states edition (July 5, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689116322
• ISBN-13: 978-0689116322
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #529,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( T ) > Tecumseh

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars far and away ...superb history,sociology, action, characters, December 15, 2000

By 

Colter Rule (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God Gave Us This Country: Tekamthi and the First American Civil War (Paperback)

This book, which I found at the library(can I say that word here?) was truly engrossing. The author juxtaposes indian and colonial culture so clearly and freshly, putting a historical and very personal perspective on facts not previously so well illuminated. He described and de-bunked for me the particulars of early period of colonial-indian political and territorial relationships. The action and battle scenes are painted with skillful brushstrokes as are the characterizations of the principle players. Mr Gilbert fairly describes with a warm heart the phenomemon which was the native American, sharing the fine points which created this honorable people without filtering the panorama through rose-colored glasses. The reader is reminded of this sad and shameful legacy of our country's history with each turn of the page. I think we would have been a much greater nation had we dealt these people an even hand. Great reading, greta history.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent unbiased history of Shawnee struggle to survive, June 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: God Gave Us This Country: Tekamthi and the First American Civil War (Hardcover)

The history of the deceit effected upon Native Indian ancestors, especially the Shawnee, by the British, French, Americans, and by the Iroquois truly made me ashamed to be a white American. We call ourselves "civilized"; the lies, purging, and needless slaughter of Native Indian nations is comparable to the extermination of the Jews. Americans stole this continent from the Indians. Tecumseh (Tekamthi) was an honorable, just man, who only wanted what God had given his people - the land and the freedom to roam it and to use it (Mother Nature). As I approached the last chapter of God Gave Us This Country, I did not want Tecumseh to die; but I know he still lives on in the minds of living Indians as well as those of us who avidly study Native American history and who prefer justice