Saunt notes that the idea of removal of peoples was not really a radical concept. Saunt, professor of history at the University of Georgia, uses government records, letters, national archives, Cherokee newspapers, and journals to illuminate the true intentions of the crafters of this policy, acts that saw the indigenous populations east of the Mississippi collapse from 100,000 people in 1818 to under 20,000 twenty years later.
Claudio Saunt’s new book, Unworthy Republic, reminds us that the most intense and focused of indigenous removal was not the act of individuals but of governments, not in conquest but borne out of ethnic preference. I bring this up because while cognizance of Native American mistreatment in this nation is at an all-time high, many attribute the causes to militaristic individual characters (a la Columbus and Cortez and Jackson) or “accidental” causes (disease, alcohol abuse, technological capabilities) rather than the official policies of nations. As we have learned and uncovered many instances of specific insults against aggrieved people, those interested have offered scapegoats large and small as symbols of the unsteady footing our country has often had, leading to an underappreciation of the specific instances of many atrocities and massacres.
These views have widened our focus on the American story from a narrow view of nostalgia for founding fathers and liberty to one of a battle of power, whether the contestants be centered on race, class, ethnicity or gender. As we have trudged forth with our comprehension of “other” United States history – that is a sort of bottom-up, from the margins view of those that have been discriminated and oppressed, we have uncovered uncomfortable truths and perspectives.
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