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Masters of Empire
Michael A. McDonnell10 on Masters of Empire
A Radical Reinterpretation Of Early American History From A Native Point Of ViewIn Masters Of Empire, The Historian Michael A McDonnell Reveals The Vital Role Played By The Native Peoples Of The Great Lakes In The History Of North America Though Less Well Known Than The Iroquois Or Sioux, The Anishinaabeg, Who Lived Across Lakes Michigan And Huron, Were Equally Influential Masters Of Empire Charts The Story Of One Group, The Odawa, Who Settled At The Straits Between Those Two Lakes, A Hub For Trade And Diplomacy Throughout The Vast Country West Of Montreal Known As The Pays D En Haut.Highlighting The Long Standing Rivalries And Relationships Among The Great Indian Nations Of North America, McDonnell Shows How Europeans Often Played Only A Minor Role In This History, And Reminds Us That It Was Native Peoples Who Possessed Intricate And Far Reaching Networks Of Commerce And Kinship As Empire Encroached Upon Their Domain, The Anishinaabeg Were Often The Ones Doing The Exploiting By Dictating Terms At Trading Posts And Frontier Forts, They Played A Crucial Part In The Making Of Early America.Through Vivid Depictions All From A Native Perspective Of Early Skirmishes, The French And Indian War, And The American Revolution, Masters Of Empire Overturns Our Assumptions About Colonial America By Calling Attention To The Great Lakes As A Crucible Of Culture And Conflict, McDonnell Reimagines The Landscape Of American History.
10 thoughts on "Masters of Empire "
Christopher Christopher	says:
From 2006 7 I first learned that, yes, even as an undergraduate I could have fun doing work In fact, I learned this from combining the primary source archives of my then current job with my capstone thesis, a study of the Iroquois Haudenosaunee as a great power in the wars we often think of as British and French directed in the late 17th and 18th Centuries I found an immense amount of diplomatic correspondence about the various tribes allied to Britian and summaries of their capabilities and objectives in the conflict It was the first paper, out of many, that I ever not only enjoyed writing but also remain proud of even to this day It ushered in a massive level of interest in my life regarding the Iroquois, which later expanded into other powerful Native American groups of vastly different biomes such as the Comanche and the Tlingit.Somehow though, in all of that, I missed the Anishinaabeg, or Three Fires Confederacy I knew of it, of course, and its critical role in the French alliance network, but few details About a year ago I became much interested in the topic, and so far I find this to be by far the best text on the subject It makes its case strongly on the source material while also keeping a critical eye on the agendas of the sources in question It also convincingly tells the story I once came at from the perspective of the Iroquois, how many native confederacies played great power politics as primary, and not secondary, actors A vital contribution to Native A...
Bill Bill	says:
Fascinating account of how the Odawa Indians managed to maintain a position of independence, near monopolistic control of trade in the Great Lakes region, and influence on both their European and native neighbors They did so through shrewd negotiations and judicious use of intelligence For the 200 years preceding the American Revolution, the Odawa were in the middle of global conflict yet managed to stay out of the fight for the most part Equally impressive was their ability to stay abreast of events covering most of North America, this during an era when travel was either by foot or canoe Their success was due in large part to their occupancy of a small piece of Michigan in that place where the upper and lower peninsulas almost touch Michilimackinac or Mackinaw It took great skill to maintain this position as this was a place of strategic importance, sort of...
Ai Miller Ai Miller	says:
This book was okay I read it over a very spread out amount of time, which is never good for reading books, but also in part speaks to how this book just didn t grab me I was convinced by the end that McDonnell was right to identify how the Odawa had been left out of narratives, and I generally believed the power they held over the region I just got caught up in the details and it made it...
Dschreiber Dschreiber	says:
As soon as Europeans arrived in North America, they planted flags and boldly claimed possession of vast swathes of territory Over the next several centuries they imagined that the few towns they set up, some scattered missions and outposts, and the travels of some trappers and traders amounted to sovereignty In their eyes, small in number though they often were, they took the lead parts in a grand, world historical drama about the winning of a new continent the bit parts, the non speaking parts, belonged to Indigenous people That was not the reality For centuries the crucial decisions were not made by the Europeans but by Indigenous leaders and the most fateful events took place not in London, Paris, or Quebec, but in the woods In the usual narrative, First Nations appear dimly in the background, brought into focus only when they impinge directly upon European ambitions raiding colonists, fighting as allies in inter European conflicts, signing treaties, ceding lands Modern research, however, is revealing that First Nations were clearly dominant in North America from the first arrival of the Europeans until nearly the nineteenth century, after the American War of...
John Caviglia John Caviglia	says:
I stopped reading this book at 29%, but in all fairness I need to explain why Though Masters of Empire Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America is well done, and interesting, I found my curiosity stimulated enough that I wanted breadth and depth in the history And nosing around, I think I found just the book The Middle Ground Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650 1815, which I have begun reading a classic of its kind, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and, I think, the substantial thing I m wanting.To clarify my perspective, I should point out that I am personally fascinated with Native Americans in general, and particularly by a subset of that category the Seneca on whose former land my house now sits, not ten miles from Ganondagan...
Gary Brecht Gary Brecht	says:
Comprehensively researched in both early French and English sources, Mc Donnall relates the important role played by Anishinabe natives in forming the histories of America and Canada The Anishinabe were Algonquins, comprised of many tribes like the Ottawa and Ojibwas, who occupied the Michilimackinac and Sault St Marie straits in the Great Lakes during the early years of European settlement in North America The author makes a case for appreciating the Native American perspective of events prior to and during the French Indian conflict, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812 This is not an easy read for the serious student of history since it is accompanied by copious notes which serve to demonstrate and verify the observations made by the various eye witnesses and government administrators of that era Despite the academic approach to this subject the story is told in such a way that it does not become tedious or too pedagogic This book would be an excellent addition to the libr...
Eric Eric	says:
Very interesting and informative, very well researched and well written This is a particularly good example of the new style of researching and writing about Native American history, the attempt to try to approach it from the perspective of the subject, which was very much the opposite from most American books of the 20th century, which was only to look at the Indian from the white American perspective Whic...
Ben Ben	says:
As a longtime Chicagoan and recent transplant to southwest Michigan, I thought it would be good to brush up on the history of the regional native tribes There is a lot of information in this book and some interesting reformulations of English, French...
Alec Gray Alec Gray	says:
Fascinating survey of the Indian empire in the Great Lakes region of North America that held sway for two centuries, and through complex intra tribal relations and balancing the empires of England and France survived, until swept away by the Americans.
Elspeth Martini Elspeth Martini	says:
I read this book when it first came out and just re read it for my Native American history course Not only does McDonnell masterfully frame his historical narrative to put the Odawa firmly at the center of the eighteenth century pays d en haut, his prose is crisp, clear, and eminently readable.