The first part of a sweeping two-volume history of the devastation brought to bear on Indian nations by U.S. expansion "An elegant, organized narrative of the United States' dispossession of Native lands east of the Mississippi. . . . A remarkable book in its breadth and scope."-Ashley Riley Sousa, Canadian Journal of History "Intense and well-researched, . . . ambitious, . . . magisterial. . . . Surviving Genocide sets a bar from which subsequent scholarship and teaching cannot retreat."-Peter Nabokov, New York Review of Books In this book, the first part of a sweeping two-volume history, Jeffrey Ostler investigates how American democracy relied on Indian dispossession and the federally sanctioned use of force to remove or slaughter Indians in the way of U.S. expansion. He charts the losses that Indians suffered from relentless violence and upheaval and the attendant effects of disease, deprivation, and exposure. This volume centers on the eastern United States from the 1750s to the start of the Civil War. An authoritative contribution to the history of the United States' violent path toward building a continental empire, this ambitious and well-researched book deepens our understanding of the seizure of Indigenous lands, including the use of treaties to create the appearance of Native consent to dispossession. Ostler also documents the resilience of Native people, showing how they survived genocide by creating alliances, defending their towns, and rebuilding their communities.

Through the interpretive lens of colonial theory, Jeffrey Ostler presents an original analysis of the tumultuous relationship between the Plains Sioux and the United States in the 1800s. He provides novel insights on well-known aspects of the Sioux story, such as the Oregon Trail, the deaths of "Crazy Horse" and "Sitting Bull," and the Ghost Dance, and offers an in-depth look at many lesser-known facets of Sioux history and culture. Paying close attention to Sioux perspectives of their history, the book demonstrates how the Sioux creatively responded to the challenges of U.S. expansion and domination, revealing simultaneously how U.S. power increasingly limited the autonomy of their communities as the century came to a close. Ostler's innovative analysis of the Plains Sioux culminates in a compelling reinterpretation of the events that led to the Wounded Knee massacre of December 29, 1890. History Department Head at the University of Oregon, Associate Professor Jeffrey Ostler has held honors such as the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and has published articles in Western Historical Quarterly, Great Plains Quarterly, and Pacific Historical Review.

The Plains states in the late 1800s flung open their political doors to the Populist party while their fellow midwestern neighbors to the east left it standing on the porch. Why the contrasting receptions? Traditionally the disparity has been attributed solely to economic differences. A superficially logical answer, says Jeffrey Ostler, but too simple.

Ostler contends that the distinction historians have made between "hardship" on the Plains and "prosperity" to the east is overdrawn. Through a comparison of economics and politics in two Populist states--Kansas and Nebraska, and one non-Populist state--Iowa, he shows that in addition to financial influences, the contours of the existing political order played a key role in determining the fate of populism. In the process of explaining why populism ultimately failed to become a national movement, he also illuminates the perennial question of why third parties in the United States have met with little success.

Through the interpretive lens of colonial theory, Jeffrey Ostler presents an original analysis of the tumultuous relationship between the Plains Sioux and the United States in the 1800s. He provides novel insights on well-known aspects of the Sioux story, such as the Oregon Trail, the deaths of "Crazy Horse" and "Sitting Bull," and the Ghost Dance, and offers an in-depth look at many lesser-known facets of Sioux history and culture. Paying close attention to Sioux perspectives of their history, the book demonstrates how the Sioux creatively responded to the challenges of U.S. expansion and domination, revealing simultaneously how U.S. power increasingly limited the autonomy of their communities as the century came to a close. Ostler's innovative analysis of the Plains Sioux culminates in a compelling reinterpretation of the events that led to the Wounded Knee massacre of December 29, 1890. History Department Head at the University of Oregon, Associate Professor Jeffrey Ostler has held honors such as the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship and has published articles in Western Historical Quarterly, Great Plains Quarterly, and Pacific Historical Review.