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sitibbetts7o's review against another edition
3.0
I wish I could give this book more stars because the content is something every American should be familiar with. Sadly, the way the book is written is inaccessible with is constant quotes and overly thesaurused sentences.
flexmentallo's review
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.5
A thorough, horrifying look at the brutality behind the Trail of Tears. What political forces pushed for it? What was the reality of American motivation? This book, while occasionally repetitive, is incredibly detailed and empathetic, while remaining a powerful historical document.
mororlesley's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.75
kbuchanan's review against another edition
3.0
The theme of this book could easily be described as "however awful you this time was, it was infinitely more so." Saunt systematically presents one era in the continual US government policy of displacement and disenfranchisement of Native Americans, making use of a tidal wave of primary and secondary documents in one of the most well-documented historical accounts I have read. This does result in the "narrative" sometimes getting a bit bogged down simply through an overabundance of detail. Regardless, the picture this work paints is chilling. The wanton cruelty and ugly racist rhetoric is on display here in its full force. Saunt makes certain too that we understand the inextricable link between Native American dispossession and the slave economy. He minces no words on this. The Gone-with-the-Wind-evoking epithet "plantation" finds no place here. Instead, Saunt refers to them as what they were, slave labor camps. An important read about a shameful period of US history with implications that are still in place today.
knkoch's review against another edition
It’s overdue at the library, and I just couldn’t get my mind in the right place for this right now. I’ll be putting this on hold again and hopefully I can complete it on my next borrowing term!
jeremy_bearimy's review against another edition
4.0
I learned a lot about the processes of deportation, expulsion, and extermination of indigenous Americans in the 1830s. Definitely lots of “how the heck did I not learn about this in school?” moments. I knew about the Trail of Tears, but not the broader political and social context that led up to it, or the broad (and impressive) array of ways different tribal leaders tried to resist. While I would never expect a recounting of such a horrifying chapter of history to be a pleasurable read, I found it easier to stay engaged once I gave up on trying to keep all the different people and statistics straight since this is a very deeply researched book.
Three main arguments:
1) the state-administered mass expulsion of indigenous people from land east of the Mississippi in the 1830s was unprecedented - soooooo much bureaucracy as politicians tried to justify it as a humanitarian effort
2) this expulsion transformed the country by creating a westward-moving frontier that set the stage for future conflicts throughout the 19th century
3) this expulsion was not inevitable - it was a calculated policy decision fueled by greed and white supremacy that could have been avoided by things like a stronger federal government that actually enforced treaties and pushed back against Southern states that basically said “give us what we want (land for cotton plantations) or we will secede”
Three main arguments:
1) the state-administered mass expulsion of indigenous people from land east of the Mississippi in the 1830s was unprecedented - soooooo much bureaucracy as politicians tried to justify it as a humanitarian effort
2) this expulsion transformed the country by creating a westward-moving frontier that set the stage for future conflicts throughout the 19th century
3) this expulsion was not inevitable - it was a calculated policy decision fueled by greed and white supremacy that could have been avoided by things like a stronger federal government that actually enforced treaties and pushed back against Southern states that basically said “give us what we want (land for cotton plantations) or we will secede”
outtoexist's review against another edition
5.0
This is a fantastic read - well written and poignant. In moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, I've been trying to read more about the dispossession of Indigenous land and their forced removal to Oklahoma. It was particularly painful that pretty much all of the maps in this book, plotting where the indigenous people were forced to march, end exactly where I now live. However, this is what in looking to learn about & understand. I do wish this book had been told more from the point of view of indigenous people, but it was a great place to start in my understanding.