The Color of the Land: Race, Nation, and the Politics of Landownership in Oklahoma, 1832-1929 - Softcover

Chang, David A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807871060 ISBN 13: 9780807871065

Publisher: University North Carolina Pr, 2010

Synopsis

This title presents the changing definitions of what it means to be Native American, African American, or white. ""The Color of the Land"" brings together the histories of Oklahoma's Creek Indians, African Americans, and whites into one story that explores the way races and nations were made and remade in conflicts over who would own land, who would farm it, and who would rule it. This story disrupts expected narratives of the American past, revealing how identities - race, nation, and class - took new forms in struggles over the creation of different systems of property. Conflicts were unleashed by a series of sweeping changes: the forced 'removal' of the Creeks from their homeland to Oklahoma in the 1830s, the transformation of the Creeks' enslaved black population into landed black Creek citizens after the Civil War, the imposition of statehood and private landownership at the turn of the twentieth century, and the entrenchment of a sharecropping economy and white supremacy in the following decades. In struggles over land, wealth, and power, Oklahomans actively defined and redefined what it meant to be Native American, African American, or white. By telling this story, David Chang contributes to the history of racial construction and nationalism as well as to southern, western, and Native American history.

About this title

Review:

Exhaustively researched, carefully organized, and effectively argued. . . .Chang has made an important contribution. . . .It will certainly challenge scholars to rethink the history of allotment in Oklahoma and beyond for years to come." --The Journal of Southern History

Valuable to many, including those who study race, the South, slavery, migration, American Indians, [and] the development of the nation. . . . An outstanding book and a model for future studies. . . . Essential.--Choice

Historian David A. Chang has given this difficult, but interesting story a solid, innovative treatment. . . . This book will be a valuable addition to library collections on the era of allotment, and could be used profitably as a book for discussion in advanced classes in Native American history or government policy." --Canadian Journal of History

Chang expertly demonstrates his ability to wed issues of race, class, land, and nationhood into one concise and coherent monograph....An outstanding study....It will undoubtedly become standard reading for anyone trying to better understand the dynamic, racialized landscape of Oklahoma.--The Chronicles of Oklahoma

Chang speaks to current debates on the formation of national identity and racial construction, including that on black Indians. . . . Contributes to the understanding of the interplay among class, whiteness, and masculinity. . . . Provides a useful way of explaining the transition from Indian Territory to Oklahoma that would enliven both a survey lecture and a graduate seminar.--Journal of American History

David. A. Chang has written one of the best books of U.S. history to appear in the last year. Highly analytical and deeply researched, it is also eminently readable and perfectly pitched to classroom use....Full of ideas and humanity, The Color of the Land consistently provokes and edifies.--Western Historical Quarterly

The Color of the Land ties together the politics, culture, and geography of Oklahoma into a well-written, easily accessible narrative. Such work reminds historians that our primary task is to tell stories...without sacrificing deep intellectual questions or thorough research--Southern Historian

About the Author:

DAVID A. CHANG is assistant professor of history at the University of Minnesota.

About this edition

• Publisher: University North Carolina Pr
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0807871060
• ISBN 13: 9780807871065
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 308