American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873, An
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2016
Place of publication: New Haven, Connecticut; London, UK
Language: eng
Format: Ebook
ISBN-13: 9780300182170
Description: From the Introduction...

This book sheds new light on the conquest of California and on US history. At a local level, it provides the first rigorously documented chronological account of the extent, mechanics, and systematic nature of genocide in California. It explains how federal decision makers often appeared to abdicate responsibility to state officials but in fact provided legislative, military, and financial support that made this genocide possible. These pages also narrate how--particularly during the Civil War--the US Army waged genocidal campaigns against California Indians. Major new findings that change our understanding of the catastrophe include the central roles played by state and federal governments, the bureaucratic nature of the killing machine, the major role played by the US Army, the fact that non-Indians killed many more California Indians (at least 9,492–16,094) than had previously been estimated (4,556), and the fact that genocide was inflicted upon more California Indian peoples than existing studies have suggested.
Table of contents: label: Acknowledgments; label: List of Abbreviations; label: Introduction; title: California Indians before 1846
label: 1; title: Prelude to Genocide: March 1846–March 1848
label: 2; title: Gold, Immigrants, and Killers from Oregon: March 1848–May 1850
label: 3; title: Turning Point: The Killing Campaigns of December 1849–May 1850
label: 4; title: Legislating Exclusion and Vulnerability: 1846–1853
label: 5; title: Rise of the Killing Machine: Militias and Vigilantes, April 1850–December 1854
label: 6; title: Perfecting the Killing Machine: December 1854–March 1861
label: 7; title: The Civil War in California and Its Aftermath: March 1861–1871
label: 8; title: Conclusion
label: 9; label: Appendixes; title: Reports of Nonspecific Numbers of California Indians Killed, 1846–1873
label: Appendix 1; title: Reports of Fewer Than Five California Indians Killed, 1846–1873
label: Appendix 2; title: Reports of Five or More California Indians Killed, 1846–1873
label: Appendix 3; title: Reports of Non-Indians Killed by California Indians, 1846–1873
label: Appendix 4; title: Selected Massacres with Contested Death Tolls, 1846–1866
label: Appendix 5; title: Major Volunteer California State Militia Expeditions, 1850–1861
label: Appendix 6; title: Reports of California Indians Killed by US Army Soldiers and Their Auxiliaries, 1846–1873
label: Appendix 7; title: The United Nations Genocide Convention
label: Appendix 8; label: Notes; label: Bibliography; label: Index