The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians (Abridged Edition)

"This is Francis Paul Prucha's magnum opus. It is a great work. . . . This study will . . . [be] a standard by which other studies of American Indian affairs will be judged. American Indian history needed this book, has long awaited it, and rejoices at its publication."-American Indian Culture and Research Journal.

"The author's detailed analysis of two centuries of federal policy makes The Great Father indispensable reading for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of American Indian policy."-Journal of American History.

The Great Father was widely praised when it appeared in two volumes in 1984 and was awarded the Ray Allen Billington Prize by the Organization of American Historians. This abridged one-volume edition follows the structure of the two-volume edition, eliminating only the footnotes and some of the detail. It is a comprehensive history of the relations between the U.S. government and the Indians. Covering the two centuries from the Revolutionary War to 1980, the book traces the development of American Indian policy and the growth of the bureaucracy created to implement that policy.

Francis Paul Prucha, S.J., a leading authority on American Indian policy and the author of more than a dozen other books, is an emeritus professor of history at Marquette University.

ISBN-13: 9780803287129

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Nebraska Paperback

Publication Date: 04-01-1986

Pages: 426

Product Dimensions: 6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

Francis Paul Prucha, S.J., a leading authority on American Indian policy and the author of more than a dozen other books, is an emeritus professor of history at Marquette University.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Tables, vii
Preface to the Abridged Edition, viii
Preface to the Original Edition, ix
Acknowledgements, xii
Prologue: The Colonial Experience, 1
1. The Revolutionary War and the Years Following, 13
2. Regulating Trade and Intercourse, 31
3. Civilization and Education, 48
4. The Policy of Indian Removal, 64
5. Emigration of the Tribes, 78
6. The Aftermath of Removal, 94
7. American Expansion and Indian Affairs, 108
8. Developments in the West, 122
9. The Civil War Years, 136
10. The Peace Policy, 152
11. Military Challenge, 167
12. Indian Reservations, 181
13. The New Christian Reformers, 198
14. The Reservations and Reform, 211
15. Severalty, Law, and Education, 224
16. The Indian Service, 242
17. The Indian Territory, 252
18. The Nation’s Wards, 263
19. Education and Health, 280
20. The Indians’ Land, 295
21. An Indian New Deal, 311
22. Rounding Out the New Deal, 326
23. The Termination Era, 340
24. A New Day for the Indians, 357
25. Indian Self-Determination, 374
26. The Indians: America’s Unfinished Business, 393
Appendix A
Commissioners of Indian Affairs, 403
Appendix B
Indian Population, 404
Suggested Readings, 405
Index 407
 
Maps and Tables
1. United States Factory System, 1795–1822, 37
2. Land Cessions of the Five Civilized Tribes, 81
3. Indian Land Cessions in the North, 91
4. Location of Indians in the Indian Territory after Removal, 96
5. The Indian Territory, 1866–1888, 142
6. Indian Reservations, 1880, 188
7. The Sioux Reservations, 1890, 215
8. Indian Lands and Communities, 1971, 382

Tables
1. Termination Acts, 348
2. Urban Indians, 1970 and 1980, 394
3. Government-Wide Funding for Indian Programs, 1980, 397 Show More