First published in 1881 and reprinted in numerous editions
since, Helen Hunt Jackson's A Century of Dishonor is a classic
account of the U.S. government's flawed Indian policy and the
unfair and cruel treatment afforded North American Indians by
expansionist Americans. Jackson wrote the book as a polemic to
"appeal to the hearts and conscience of the American people," who
she hoped would demand legislative reform from Congress and redeem
the country's name from the stain of a "century of dishonor." Her
efforts, which constitute a landmark in Indian reform, helped begin
the long process of public awareness for Indian rights that
continues to the present day.
Beginning with a legal brief on the original Indian right of
occupancy, A Century of Dishonor continues with Jackson's analysis
of how irresponsibility, dishonesty, and perfidy on the part of
Americans and the U.S. government devastated the Delaware,
Cheyenne, Nez Perce, Sioux, Ponca, Winnebago, and Cherokee Indians.
Jackson describes the government's treatment of the Indians as "a
shameful record of broken treaties and unfulfilled promises"
exacerbated by "a sickening record of murder, outrage, robbery, and
wrongs" committed by frontier settlers, with only an occasional
Indian retaliation. Such notable events as the flight of Chief
Joseph of the Nez Perces and the Cherokee Trail of Tears illustrate
Jackson's arguments.
Valerie Sherer Mathes's foreword traces Jackson's life and
writings and places her in the context of reform advocacy in the
midst of nineteenth century expansionism. This unabridged paperback
edition contains an index, and the complete appendix, which
includes Jackson's correspondence concerning the Sand Creek
Massacre and her report as Special Comminnioner to investigate the
needs of California's Mission Indians.
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