{"product_id":"stealing-america-the-hidden-story-of-indigenous-slavery-in-u-s-history","title":"Stealing America: The Hidden Story of Indigenous Slavery in U.S. History","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eStealing America\u003c\/em\u003e forces a shift in our perception to see a form of slavery that is new to many of us - Indigenous slavery - from Canada to the Caribbean, from the 1600s to nearly the present day. This book, deeply informed by Indigenous knowledge-keeping and non-Indigenous archives, also makes us see the unfailing Indigenous fight for civil rights and recognition as sovereign people... One of the great strengths of \n\u003cem\u003eStealing America\u003c\/em\u003e is that Fisher continually foregrounds Indigenous agency.--Lori Rogers-Stokes \"Historic Boston\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAn amazing, deeply researched journey through Indigenous slavery from Canada to the Caribbean that astounds even the most tuned-in student of American history, Atlantic history, Black history, colonizing history, and the history of modern slavery. If you, like most of us, thought very few \"Indians\" were ever enslaved, and that the enslavement of Black people dwarfed that of Indigenous people, you'll learn how deeply wrong that is.-- \"The Historic Present\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAn important addition to the body of scholarship on Native peoples and enslavement.-- \"Booklist\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eStealing America\u003c\/em\u003e is an impressive achievement. With a breath-taking command over the vast geography of early America and an equally impressive commitment to extending its analyses through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this work powerfully amplifies the growing chorus of scholars calling for more complex and nuanced histories of slavery in the Americas. As Fisher reveals, complex Indigenous \"centers of enslavement\" both pervaded the British empire and gave rise to its agrarian and plantation economies. A necessary and remarkable reorientation of traditional narratives of U.S. history, the work is deepened also by its partnership with descendent tribal communities.--Ned Blackhawk, Yale University, author of National Book Award-winning The Rediscovery of America\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrom the earliest coastal kidnappings on Cape Cod's shores to Boarding School matrons who trafficked Indian children, the history of Indigenous America is one of stolen people and stolen land. Linford Fisher's passionate prose and grim detail trace five centuries of interlocking African and Indigenous 'Slaveries, ' in which we feel the weight of the past in our present.--James Brooks, author of Mesa of Sorrows\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eStealing America\u003c\/em\u003e is a masterful history that demonstrates time and again that Indigenous enslavement and land theft went hand in hand. The scholarship at the heart of this book dispenses with all the old arguments that Indigenous servitude and slavery did not work out in early America.--Brenda Child, Northrop Professor of American Studies, The University of Minnesota\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor those wishing for a wider, more complicated history of the entanglements of African and Indigenous slavery, the moment has arrived. Building on a generation of pathbreaking scholarship and intrepid original research, Linford Fisher centers diverse Indigenous experiences of unfreedom, expanding the narrative of American slavery across time, space, and scale. A stunning reorientation of continental history, \n\u003cem\u003eStealing America\u003c\/em\u003e lays bare the intertwined theft of Native lands and bodies, their devastating consequences for tribal nations, and the ongoing story of Native survival and resistance.--Philip J. Deloria, Harvard University, author of Becoming Mary Sully\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLinford Fisher's \n\u003cem\u003eStealing America\u003c\/em\u003e is a much-needed history, honestly and empathetically told, of the full scope of Native American slavery. Anglo settlers didn't just steal Indian land but, as they moved west from the Atlantic, Indian labor, in massive amounts. An indispensable book, as intellectually provocative as it is emotionally wrenching.--Greg Grandin, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning The End of the Myth\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMany years in the making, \n\u003cem\u003eStealing America\u003c\/em\u003e synthesizes the scholarship on Indigenous slavery and presents a wealth of original research not only about this terrible practice but also about the courageous antislavery campaigns and acts of resistance. Fisher has written a major work.--Andrés Reséndez, author of Bancroft Prize-winning The Other Slavery\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTo create American colonies and, later, the United States, settlers stole thousands of people as well as millions of acres from Native Americans. In this vivid, insightful, and provocative book, Linford Fisher reveals the shocking extent and deep tragedy of the enslavement of Native peoples. But Fisher also recognizes their extraordinary resilience in resisting and enduring to the present.--Alan Taylor, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of American Republics\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBrief Description\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Decades in the making, Linford Fisher's Stealing America is the first comprehensive history of indigenous slavery in North America. While there have been regional and state histories of indigenous slave history, Fisher's book examines the practice of European enslavement of native people in its entirety from the late sixteenth century well into the twentieth century. Initially a Ph.D. student under Jill Lepore and now a tenured professor at Brown, Fisher presents a dramatic and sweeping narrative, demonstrating how indigenous enslavement was a massive phenomenon that spanned the entire Americas and ensnared between 2.5 and 5 million Native Americans between 1492 and 1900. After the defeat of the Spanish Armada, an unparalleled frenzy of explorers usurped native land, stealing hundreds of thousands of indigenous people in the process. From New England to Texas to California, colonizers enslaved Native people and disguised the act, treating them as Black slaves, in order to avoid detection since the enslavement of Natives was a source of shame to the English and later made illegal. Native slavery would then be covertly merged with Black slavery, the two populations being counted under one rubric. In fact, this use of Native slavery precedes Black slavery and 1619 by over 40 years, effectively rewriting American history at its origins. As Fisher re-narrates early America, Native slavery makes appearances in ways we had no idea, whether in the post-1804 Louisiana Purchase; at Sutter's Mill, where hundreds if not thousands of native slaves were used to \"discover\" gold; or in the forced adoptions and in \"Indian\" schools well into the twentieth century. With Stealing America, Fisher has created a sprawling, potentially prize-winning masterpiece that will certainly establish him as one of our leading American historians\"-- Provided by publisher.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAn eye-opening look at an aspect of Native American history too little documented.-- \"Kirkus Reviews\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHistory readers will appreciate and benefit from Fisher's new scholarship. With engaging writing, images, maps, and thorough footnotes, this work is essential for academic, public, and research-driven libraries and a good candidate for nonfiction book clubs.--Library Journal, starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFisher writes about enslavement that predated the African slave trade and continued long after it, as well as other forms of theft, such as the government sponsored boarding schools intended to erase indigenous culture, and the widespread forced relinquishment of Native American children for adoption by white families... Enslaved indigenous people were often accounted for in census records as Black, for instance, particularly for individuals who were racially mixed. Fisher adds that our understanding of race itself is still largely beholden to outdated 19th-century ideas and theories created to advocate for white supremacy and excuse the mistreatment of people of color.--Kate Tuttle \"Boston Globe\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlthough the first enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown in 1619, European slavery in America began more than a century before. In a work distinguished not only by its original research but by its \"passionate prose\" (James F. Brooks), historian Linford Fisher demonstrates how the enslavement of Indigenous people began in the years just after 1492, ensnaring an estimated three to six million Natives throughout the Americas. Although largely erased from the public consciousness, Native enslavement continued for centuries to become a colossal phenomenon that affected nearly 600,000 Native Americans in North America alone, revealing the shocking truth that American colonizers enslaved Natives in roughly the same numbers as they imported enslaved Africans. \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e From Virginia to California, from New England to Barbados, \n\u003cem\u003eStealing America\u003c\/em\u003e traces the history of Indigenous enslavement and land dispossession, detailing how colonizers captured Natives and often deliberately mislabeled them as Black slaves to avoid detection. While the American Revolution pealed the bells of freedom for colonists, it paved a larcenous trail of westward expansion that subsequently plundered Indigenous land and stole the labor of Natives from nations like the Cherokee, Navajo, Nisean, and many others. \"This double theft,\" Fisher writes, \"was central to the origins, growth, and eventual success of the English colonies and the United States--not just initially but throughout all of American history.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e In this expansive narrative, Fisher weaves together accounts of major episodes in American history including early colonization, the American Revolution, and the Civil War with lesser-known stories of Native enslavement and land loss. Fisher upends conventional histories about the nature of American slavery, revealing enslaved Natives in places we have overlooked, including southern antebellum plantations and the nineteenth-century American West. After Congress outlawed Native slavery in 1867, Americans forced Indigenous children into boarding schools and white homes, where they labored under forced assimilation. This practice was not reformed until the latter twentieth century, when Native nations finally secured increasing rights and self-determination. \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e Nearly fifteen years in the making, this magisterial volume not only uncovers a five-century genocidal history but also illuminates the myriad ways Native Americans have fought for their sovereignty and maintained community. The most comprehensive work of its kind, \n\u003cem\u003eStealing America\u003c\/em\u003e emerges as a saga of both persistent colonialism and Indigenous resilience, one that reframes American history at its core.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 02\/01\/2026 pg. 67 (EAN 9781324094951, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eBooklist\u003c\/span\u003e 02\/01\/2026 (EAN 9781324094951, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 03\/15\/2026 (EAN 9781324094951, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContributor Bio:\u003c\/strong\u003eFisher, Linford D\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLinford D. Fisher\u003c\/strong\u003e is an associate professor of history at Brown University. The author of \n\u003cem\u003eThe Indian Great Awakening\u003c\/em\u003e and principal investigator of the Stolen Relations project, he lives in Providence, Rhode Island.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Liveright Publishing Corporation","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496031781142,"sku":"9781324094951","price":47.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781324094951.jpg?v=1783051150","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/stealing-america-the-hidden-story-of-indigenous-slavery-in-u-s-history","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}