Book cover of Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory

Book description

In May 1830, the United States launched an unprecedented campaign to expel 80,000 Native Americans from their eastern homelands to territories west of the Mississippi River. In a firestorm of fraud and violence, thousands of Native Americans lost their lives, and thousands more lost their farms and possessions. The operation…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Unworthy Republic as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

As Americans prepare for a presidential administration that won power on the promise of mass deportation, now is a good time to read about the violence and corruption that defined the deportation of Native Americans in the 1830s. Cruelty takes a lot of work.

With deep research and moral clarity, Saunt vividly narrates the American efforts to force Native peoples to forsake their homelands and accept reservations beyond the Mississippi River.  He uncovers the eloquence of Native leaders exposing the hypocrisy of Americans who broke the promises of repeated treaties. And Saunt offers a chilling accounting of the thousands of dead produced by violent dislocation from hearth and home. 

From Alan's list on the early United States.

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