A New Order of Things: Property, Power, and the Transformation of the Creek Indians, 1733-1816

by Claudio Saunt

Overview

Claudio Saunt vividly depicts a dramatic transformation in the eighteenth century that overturned the world of the powerful and numerous Creek Indians and forever changed the Deep South. As the Creeks amassed a fortune in cattle and slaves, new property fostered a new possessiveness, and government by coercion bred confrontation. A New Order of Things is the first book to chronicle this decisive transformation in America's early history, a transformation that left deep divisions between the wealthy and poor, powerful and powerless.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521660433
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/28/1999
Series:	Studies in North American Indian History
Pages:	314
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.87(d)
Lexile:	1830L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Part I. Power and Prosperity Before the New Order 1733–1783; 1. Fair persuasions: power among the Creeks; 2. 'Martial virtue, and not riches': the Creek relationship to property; Part II. The New Order Emerges 1784–1796: 3. Alexander McGillivray: Mestizo yet Indian; 4. Forging a social compact; 5. Blacks in Creek country; Part III. The 'Plan of Civilization' 1797–1811: 6. New roles for women and warriors; 7. Creating a Country of Laws and Property; 8. The power of writing; 9. The hungry years; Part IV. The New Order Challenged 1812–1816: 10. Seminole Resistance; 11. The Redstick war; 12. The negro fort.

Editorial Reviews

"Claudio Saunt's new book is the best interpretation of eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Creek and Seminole history extant. With rare insight and flashes of brilliance, Saunt has given us an idea of the Creeks in a period of momentous historical complexity that is riveting, sensible, and compelling. Without a doubt, however, Saunt's is a well written, fascinating, and important book. I welcome it, and him, to the debate and know that our understanding of this rich and complex history will only be enhanced." American Historical Review

"Saunt offers a fine-grained and persuasive analysis of relationships between cultural change and political conflict within the Creek Nation in a critical period of transition." Georgia Historical Quarterly

"[Saunt's] analysis is brilliant. He also masterfully weaves gender and race, topics often segregated and marginalized even by scholars who include them in their works, into his compelling narrative of economic and political disparity. This book, in other words, contains many gems..." Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"This is a splendid book. Claudio Saunt has written a thought-provoking ethnohistory of the Creek Indians focusing on the three decades following the American Revolution. He has offered fresh and compelling insights into the effects of colonial expansion in the Deep South and how Native Americans reacted and were swept away by it...This reviewer highly recommends A New Order of Things." Alabama Review

"We have long known that Creek life underwent a profound reorganization following the American Revolution. A New Order of Things presents a sophisticated and challenging retelling of this story." Western Historical Quarterly

"We have long known that Creek life underwent a profound reorganization following the American Revolution. A New Order of Things presents a sophisticated and challenging retelling of this story." Western Historical Quarterly

"A well-written analysis from the valuable perspective of the native culture itself." Choice

"This book is a must-have for every scholar with an interest in the Creek people and the early South." Kathryn Holland Braund, The Journal of American History

"Saunt does an excellent job of documenting the mestizo acceptance of the European- American economic system...Claudio Saunt's monograph significantly expands our current understanding of the intricate intra- and inter- group relationships...Beacause it is well documented and succinctly argued, scholars will find this book useful and enlightening, and the general public will enjoy its fluid and uncomplicated." Indigenous Nation Studies Jrnl Fall 2000

From the Publisher