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Depredation and Deceit - The Making of the Jicarilla and Ute Wars in New Mexico (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R916
Discovery Miles 9 160
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Depredation and Deceit - The Making of the Jicarilla and Ute Wars in New Mexico (Hardcover)
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The Trade and Intercourse Acts passed by Congress between 1796 and
1834 set up a system for individuals to receive monetary
compensation from the federal government for property stolen or
destroyed by American Indians. By the end of the Mexican-American
War, both Anglo-Americans and Nuevomexicanos became experts in
exploiting this system - and in using the army to collect on their
often-fraudulent claims. As Gregory F. Michno reveals in
Depredation and Deceit, their combined efforts created a precarious
mix of false accusations, public greed, and fabricated fear that
directly led to new wars in the American Southwest between 1849 and
1855. Tasked with responding to white settlers' depredation claims
and gaining restitution directly from Indian groups, soldiers
typically had no choice but to search out often-innocent Indians
and demand compensation or the surrender of the guilty party,
turning once-friendly bands into enemy groups whenever these tense
encounters exploded in violence. As the situation became more
volatile, citizens demanded a greater army presence in the region,
and lucrative military contracts became yet another reason to
encourage the continuation of frontier violence. Although the
records are replete with officers questioning accusations and
discovering civilians' deceit, more often than not the army was
forced to act in direct counterpoint to its duties as a
constabulary force. And whenever war broke out, the acquisition of
more Indian land and wealth began the cycle of greed and violence
all over again. The Trade and Intercourse Acts were manipulated by
Anglo-Americans who ensured the continuation of the very conflicts
that they claimed to abhor and that the acts were designed to
prevent. In bringing these machinations to light, Michno's book
deepens - and darkens - our understanding of the conquest of the
American Southwest.
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