About the book
This concise and revealing history reconsiders the Civil War era by centering one Native American tribe’s encounter with citizenship. In 1837, eleven years before Wisconsin’s admission as a state, representatives of the Ho-Chunk people yielded under immense duress and signed a treaty that ceded their remaining ancestral lands to the U.S. government. Over the four decades that followed, as “free soil” settlement repeatedly demanded their further expulsion, many Ho-Chunk people lived under the U.S. government’s policies of “civilization,” allotment, and citizenship. Others lived as outlaws, evading military campaigns to expel them and adapting their ways of life to new circumstances. After the Civil War, as Reconstruction’s vision of nonracial, national, birthright citizenship excluded most Native Americans, the Ho-Chunk who remained in their Wisconsin homeland understood and exploited this contradiction. Professing eagerness to participate in the postwar nation, they gained the right to remain in Wisconsin as landowners and voters while retaining their language, culture, and identity as a people.
This history of Ho-Chunk sovereignty and citizenship offer a bracing new perspective on citizenship’s perils and promises, the way the broader nineteenth-century conflict between “free soil” and slaveholding expansion shaped Indigenous life, and the continuing impact of Native people’s struggles and claims on U.S. politics and society.
Editions of Citizens of a Stolen Land
- Hardcover
- ISBN 9781469673592
- Paperback
- ISBN 9781469673608
- EBook
- ISBN 9781469673622
- EBook
- ISBN 9798890854940
- EBook
- ISBN 9781469673615
- PDF
- ISBN 9798890854933
Read an Excerpt
This concise and revealing history reconsiders the Civil War era by centering one Native American tribe’s encounter with citizenship. In 1837, eleven years before Wisconsin’s admission as a state, representatives of the Ho-Chunk people yielded under immense duress and signed a treaty that ceded their remaining ancestral lands to the U.S. government. Over the four decades that followed, as “free soil” settlement repeatedly demanded their further expulsion, many Ho-Chunk people lived under the U.S. government’s policies of “civilization,” allotment, and citizenship. Others lived as outlaws, evading military campaigns to expel them and adapting their ways of life to new circumstances. After the Civil War, as Reconstruction’s vision of nonracial, national, birthright citizenship excluded most Native Americans, the Ho-Chunk who remained in their Wisconsin homeland understood and exploited this contradiction. Professing eagerness to participate in the postwar nation, they gained the right to remain in Wisconsin as landowners and voters while retaining their language, culture, and identity as a people.
This history of Ho-Chunk sovereignty and citizenship offer a bracing new perspective on citizenship’s perils and promises, the way the broader nineteenth-century conflict between “free soil” and slaveholding expansion shaped Indigenous life, and the continuing impact of Native people’s struggles and claims on U.S. politics and society.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Citizens of a Stolen Land about?
This concise and revealing history reconsiders the Civil War era by centering one Native American tribe’s encounter with citizenship. In 1837, eleven years before Wisconsin’s admission as a state, representatives of the Ho-Chunk people yielded under immense duress and signed a treaty that ceded their remaining ancestral lands to the U.S. government. Over the four decades that followed, as “free soil” settlement repeatedly demanded their further expulsion, many Ho-Chunk people lived under the U.S. government’s policies of “civilization,” allotment, and citizenship. Others lived as outlaws, evading military campaigns to expel them and adapting their ways of life to new circumstances. After the Civil War, as Reconstruction’s vision of nonracial, national, birthright citizenship excluded most Native Americans, the Ho-Chunk who remained in their Wisconsin homeland understood and exploited this contradiction. Professing eagerness to participate in the postwar nation, they gained the right to remain in Wisconsin as landowners and voters while retaining their language, culture, and identity as a people.
This history of Ho-Chunk sovereignty and citizenship offer a bracing new perspective on citizenship’s perils and promises, the way the broader nineteenth-century conflict between “free soil” and slaveholding expansion shaped Indigenous life, and the continuing impact of Native people’s struggles and claims on U.S. politics and society.
What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in Citizens of a Stolen Land?
History and Archaeology > History > History of the Americas
Where can I read a sample of Citizens of a Stolen Land?
You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781469673592
How long is Citizens of a Stolen Land and how many pages does it have?
Citizens of a Stolen Land has 238 page(s)
Is Citizens of a Stolen Land part of a series, and can it be read as a standalone?
Yes it is a part of series The Steven and Janice Brose Lectures in the Civil War Era
Who is/are the Author/s of the book Citizens of a Stolen Land?
Stephen Kantrowitz
What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?
Citizens of a Stolen Land is available as hardcover(ISBN 9781469673592) and paperback(ISBN 9781469673608) and ebook(ISBN 9781469673622) and ebook(ISBN 9798890854940) and ebook(ISBN 9781469673615) and pdf(ISBN 9798890854933)
Where can I buy Citizens of a Stolen Land online or support local independent bookshops?
You can buy Citizens of a Stolen Land from below
Where can I buy Citizens of a Stolen Land?