After Columbus: Essays in the Ethnohistory of Colonial North America

Oxford Univ Pr, 1988. First Edition. . Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine +. Review "Scholars can be grateful to Axtell for sharing more of his thoughts with them, and to Oxford University Press for giving his essays greater circulation."--William and Mary Quarterly "Impressive. Judiciously employing a wide variety of source materials from both sides of the cultural divide, Axetell writes with great sensitivity, humanity, and insight."--Journal of American Studies "Will prove a welcome addition to the libraries of all ethnohistorians."--American Indian Quarterly "After Columbus is an excellent companion volume to much of Axtell's earlier work....In a field prone to polemics, Axtell's is a voice of reason. He stands firmly in the middle between the 'traditional historians' at one extreme and scholars with 'counter-cultural tendencies' at the other....In its broad scope, its respect for peoples on both sides of the cultural divide, and its common sense, After Columbus is a valuable addition to the literature on contact."--Reviews in American History "Focusing on a broad spectrum of ethnohistorical subjects, these 12 essays offer Axtell's insights into problems such as morality in the interpretation and writing of ethnohistory, the validity and success of the Christian mission effort among the tribes, early Indian impressions of Europeans, and the scholar's obligation to Indian people....Axtell amply demonstrates that traditional historians have consistently underestimated the impact of Native peoples on the course of early American history."--Choice --This text refers to the Paperback edition. Product Description This volume is a new collection of essays--four previously unpublished--by James Axtell, author of the acclaimed The European and the Indian and The Invasion Within: The Contest of Cultures in Colonial North America, and the foremost contemporary authority on Indian-European relations in Colonial North America. Arguing that moral judgements have a legitimate place in the writing of history, Axtell scrutinizes the actions of various European invaders--missionaries, traders, soldiers, and ordinary settlers--in the 16th century. Focusing on the interactions of Spanish, French, and English colonists with American Indians over the eastern half of the United States, he examines what the history of colonial America might have looked like had the New World truly been a "virgin land," devoid of Indians.