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eengland's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
3.75
Abrupt ending. Sometimes weird transitions. Very informative. Footnotes by the paragraph not the most clear citations.
duparker's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Stars. Interesting perspective. I learned a good deal from the book. The citations and maps were used inline with the text and enhanced the book. I didn't rate it higher, because it didn't inspire me to check out more of this author or topic.
ifyouhappentoremember's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
This is a very interesting book covering a period of American history that isn't covered enough in the general curriculum.
It is often taught that the expulsion of the Native Americans was inevitable, that the desire for land would steamroll any resistance from the Indigenous tribes of the United States. Claudio Saunt makes the case right in the introduction that no, nothing in history is inevitable (the full quote is, "it is a truism that nothing in history is predetermined" which is something I never truly considered before). Saunt argues that the dispossession of Native Americans was an unprecedented state-administered process in the modern era. It would prove so successful that other colonial powers would follow the US's example. The expulsions of the 1830s would be a turning point in US and Native American relations, marking the shift from expelling the Native Americans from their land to extermination. But the entire act of removal was deeply controversial and political (the bill to authorize it, the Indian Removal Act, passed on razor-thin margins, 101 to 97). Expulsion was not an inevitable fact of history, instead, it was something pushed heavily by wealthy southern landowners as a means to expand slavery and consolidate their power.
A very interesting and necessary non-fiction read although there is just so much information conveyed, the writing at times can get dry.
This is a very interesting book covering a period of American history that isn't covered enough in the general curriculum.
It is often taught that the expulsion of the Native Americans was inevitable, that the desire for land would steamroll any resistance from the Indigenous tribes of the United States. Claudio Saunt makes the case right in the introduction that no, nothing in history is inevitable (the full quote is, "it is a truism that nothing in history is predetermined" which is something I never truly considered before). Saunt argues that the dispossession of Native Americans was an unprecedented state-administered process in the modern era. It would prove so successful that other colonial powers would follow the US's example. The expulsions of the 1830s would be a turning point in US and Native American relations, marking the shift from expelling the Native Americans from their land to extermination. But the entire act of removal was deeply controversial and political (the bill to authorize it, the Indian Removal Act, passed on razor-thin margins, 101 to 97). Expulsion was not an inevitable fact of history, instead, it was something pushed heavily by wealthy southern landowners as a means to expand slavery and consolidate their power.
A very interesting and necessary non-fiction read although there is just so much information conveyed, the writing at times can get dry.
jdintr's review against another edition
4.0
"Fourscore and seven years ago, our forefathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation...."
That's the line every American schoolchild memorizes at some point along the way. It's a line that Claudio Saunt translates in a fascinating new way in his book, West of the Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776.
For while the nation established in 1776 was indeed "new," the continent upon which it was founded was hardly new. It was crowded with native peoples and divided among claims from three other European empires. And while early citizens of the thirteen United States liked to stress the global impact of their revolution, including "the shot heard round the world," Saunt points out that a lot of significant events happened, lines of history which eventually merged with those of the new nation.
Most surprising is Saunt's history of events on the West Coast--Russian fur trappers having their way with native Aleutians and plotting an empire that might eventually branch out from Siberia and encompass California, even as Spanish bureaucrats and missionaries rushed to settle San Diego and San Francisco ahead of the the Russian threat.
But Saunt doesn't just stay on the West Coast. He finds events in Canada, the Great Plains, even the Southeast where Native Americans struggled to come to terms with the new world that had been decided in Paris in 1763, the one which made the Mississippi River the border between Spanish Louisiana and the British claims and colonies. The blow to trade was significant for both the Sioux of the Upper Mississippi and the Osages--both tribes had profited from playing French interests off against those of Britain and Spain, and they saw their supplies of manufactured goods fall dramatically.
In every chapter, Saunt takes great pains to connect events with more notable Revolutionary events going on. It's a clever balance that he strikes.
I highly recommend this book for readers of unseen American history, and those who--like me--feel that our nation's whole history matters today, not just those tied to a specific region or culture in 1776 or any other year.
That's the line every American schoolchild memorizes at some point along the way. It's a line that Claudio Saunt translates in a fascinating new way in his book, West of the Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776.
For while the nation established in 1776 was indeed "new," the continent upon which it was founded was hardly new. It was crowded with native peoples and divided among claims from three other European empires. And while early citizens of the thirteen United States liked to stress the global impact of their revolution, including "the shot heard round the world," Saunt points out that a lot of significant events happened, lines of history which eventually merged with those of the new nation.
Most surprising is Saunt's history of events on the West Coast--Russian fur trappers having their way with native Aleutians and plotting an empire that might eventually branch out from Siberia and encompass California, even as Spanish bureaucrats and missionaries rushed to settle San Diego and San Francisco ahead of the the Russian threat.
But Saunt doesn't just stay on the West Coast. He finds events in Canada, the Great Plains, even the Southeast where Native Americans struggled to come to terms with the new world that had been decided in Paris in 1763, the one which made the Mississippi River the border between Spanish Louisiana and the British claims and colonies. The blow to trade was significant for both the Sioux of the Upper Mississippi and the Osages--both tribes had profited from playing French interests off against those of Britain and Spain, and they saw their supplies of manufactured goods fall dramatically.
In every chapter, Saunt takes great pains to connect events with more notable Revolutionary events going on. It's a clever balance that he strikes.
I highly recommend this book for readers of unseen American history, and those who--like me--feel that our nation's whole history matters today, not just those tied to a specific region or culture in 1776 or any other year.
fractaltexan's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting read for my seminar on Early American History.
Saunt shifts the focus and decentralizes the American Narrative of 1776 from the Eastern Seaboard to the rest of the continent. In this way, Saunt truly makes a continental history of 1776. His use of sources to tell a narrative may raise a few brows, but it is by far an interesting, engaging, and enlightening book to read.
Saunt shifts the focus and decentralizes the American Narrative of 1776 from the Eastern Seaboard to the rest of the continent. In this way, Saunt truly makes a continental history of 1776. His use of sources to tell a narrative may raise a few brows, but it is by far an interesting, engaging, and enlightening book to read.
silentchewy's review against another edition
Written by an academic for a general audience, this is a really good overview of what was happening through the rest of North America as the American Revolution kicked off. For those of us living out west, our history is much more closely connected to the fur trade and Spanish missions than the 13 colonies and the Revolution, but our education does not reflect that at all. This book seeks to rectify that and generally succeeds, although there are many points where I wish he would have gone into greater detail. I wouldn't have read if not for class, I would have gone for longer, more dialed-in works, but it's still pretty good.
margaretefg's review against another edition
4.0
what was happening in the West in 1776? Saunt fills in by region, showing interactions among First Nations and Europeans in Alaska, California, Florida, Cuba the Creek nation, the Osage, etc. This book complicates and deepens the picture.