Ben Waber reviewed Seeing Red by Michael John Witgen
An In Depth History of Dispossession by Treaty in the Old Northwest
4 stars
This book presents a zoomed in view of the old northwest of the land claimed by the United States - roughly modern day Ohio to Wisconsin - focusing on indigenous peoples and the use of coercive "treaties" by the US to systematically dispossess their land and claw back any monetary payments. The strength of this book is in the deep context it provides across this region, although it's also a weakness since more quantitative data on larger trends is mostly absent. Overall, however, this is an insightful look into an important region and era for North American history. Highly recommend
This book presents a zoomed in view of the old northwest of the land claimed by the United States - roughly modern day Ohio to Wisconsin - focusing on indigenous peoples and the use of coercive "treaties" by the US to systematically dispossess their land and claw back any monetary payments. The strength of this book is in the deep context it provides across this region, although it's also a weakness since more quantitative data on larger trends is mostly absent. Overall, however, this is an insightful look into an important region and era for North American history. Highly recommend