Manitou and Providence: Indians, Europeans, and the Making of New England, 1500-1643 [Paperback]

Neal Salisbury (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195034546 | ISBN-13: 978-0195034547 | Publication Date: March 15, 1984

Making a radical departure form traditional approaches to colonial American history, this book looks back at Indian-white relations from the perspective of the Indians themselves. In doing so, Salisbury reaches some startling new conclusions about a period of crucial-yet often overlooked-contact between two irreconcilably different cultures.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Very good for upper division undergraduate courses in Native American history."--Gerald McKevitt, Santa Clara University

"Of all the books published in the last several years dealing with Indian-white relations, this volume...is surely one of the best."--The Historian

"An important work that should be of interest to all those looking for what happened the day after Thanksgiving."--History: Reviews of New Books

"Carefully researched and well written."--The Journal of American History

"By far the best source of information about the contact period in New England. Salisbury's account of the causes of the Pequut War is thoroughly researched and very readable. I recommend it for any introductory course on the American Indians."--John Strong, Southampton College

About the Author

Neal Salisbury is at Smith College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 15, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195034546
• ISBN-13: 978-0195034547
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #409,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Pilgrims and Indians, March 30, 2005

By 

Maureen Ogorman "leneker" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Manitou and Providence: Indians, Europeans, and the Making of New England, 1500-1643 (Paperback)

Manitou and Providence: Indians, Europeans, and the making of New England 1500-1643
by Neal Salisbury
Oxford, published 1982


Cornell University Professor Neal Salisbury's work centers on the innate conflicts and social differences between the English settlers to New England and the native populations they encountered. The arrival of the settlers brought disease and cultural upheaval both of which served to destabilize the equilibrium between the existing tribes. The white setters were quick to employ their advantages and systematically deprive the Indians of their land and way of life. By their actions, the whites lost the religious and moral imperative which had impelled them to immigrate to America and instead recreated a microcosm of the unequal society they had left.

Each chapter in the work is titled with a contrast between the Indians and the English Settlers such as "Winners and Losers", "Hosts and Visitors", and "Farmers and Hunters". This sets the tone for the narrative which compares and contrasts the natives with the new arrivals. The author also attempts to present the complex relationships between tribes before the colonial period and how those relationships changed.

Decimated by diseases brought over by early explorers, native tribes were unable to mount an effective resistance to the immigrants. Declining population was more of a threat to the native culture than was the threat posed by the new immigrants. In addition, the uneven effects of the illnesses were to destabilize the existing relationships between different tribes and shift the balance of power. While the Pokanokets suffered greatly, the Narragansetts lost a smaller portion of their population.

Tribal cultures had previously interacted within well-defined boundaries of respect and behavior. While no tribe would `own' land it was understood that another tribe would have to provide tribute prior to using land that was traditional used by another tribe. Sailsbury suggests that it was this cultural difference which caused the Indians to `sell' away land to the English settlers.

For the Settlers, New England was primarily seen as an opportunity to create a new society away from the direct control of the Bishops and closer to Protestant ideals. Instead, the desire for land and control had created a new class system in the America. Nobles and Commoners were replaced with Christians (whites) and Heathens (natives). The rapacious settlers soon convinced themselves that they were doing God's work on Earth by their punishment of the Indians. Thus, "Despite the intentions and beliefs of many participants, then, the effect of colonization had not been to halt or reverse the processes forming in preindustrial England but to carry them across the Atlantic". (pg237)

Manitou and Providence is an appealing, but heavy-handed, book. The Author is willing to lay almost crime or bad intention at the feet of the English settlers while creating an idyllic view of the native tribes. Too often, this interpretation overshadows the excellent narrative and informative facts presented. The picture of interaction between the tribes as well and the fascinating discussion of the rise and fall of `wampum' in Indian culture are absorbing. Readers of any level can enjoy this book as long as they are willing listen to the facts and make their own judgments. Extensive sources, mostly secondary, are listed in the endnotes but there is no bibliography.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Early New England encounters, November 25, 2001

By 

Miroslav Stary (Czech Republic) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Manitou and Providence: Indians, Europeans, and the Making of New England, 1500-1643 (Paperback)

Salisbury's book is very well written analysis of Indian - European encounters in early New England. Especially Indian actions are researched in admirable details. For anyone, who wants to know utmost of Indian policy in this region in the 16th and early 17th century, this is the essential reading. But I think, that book has one important weak point. Salisbury omits Puritan mind. He offers only socio-economic analysis of reasons for Puritan migration. But he neglects, that their actions toward Indians in the early faze of colonization were highly influenced by their world view - i. e. by their religion. From this point of view, good addition to this book is for example Peter Carroll's Puritanism and Wilderness (1969).

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars outstanding work of history, November 6, 2006

By 

reader (in washington dc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Manitou and Providence: Indians, Europeans, and the Making of New England, 1500-1643 (Paperback)

this views the movement of english to new england with both breadth and depth. truly excellent.