Books with title History of the Indians of North and South America

James Adair's superb accounts of the Native Americans are derived from his personal experiences meeting and interacting with the various tribes during the 18th century colonial era. James Adair was a passionate chronicler, explorer and trader who ventured through North America in an effort to discover new lands and exchange goods with the native peoples. He spent decades traversing what is now the Deep South of the United States, and was among the first white men to discover certain tribes, distinguishing between their behaviors and customs with a depth no historian had managed. Although an amateur scholar, Adair meticulously recorded his observations. As a result, this book contains both mundane and profound facts - the sum combining to form an evocative picture of peoples now lost to time. The joys of community and traditions such as dancing and ceremonies are tempered by the inter-tribal conflicts, murder and blood feuds, incipient alcoholism and increasing threat of European settlers. Close to half of this book is dedicated to the notion that the Native American tribes are descended from the 'lost tribes of Israel'. Now discredited after anthropologists determined the original migration routes, it is thought Adair inserted these analyses in part to cater for popular demand at the time. From the mid-17th to the early-19th century, the notion that the Native Americans were directly descended from the Israelites of ancient times was a popular phenomena. Many scholars postulate that the Book of Mormon was partly inspired by Adair's history. The rest of Adair's work however contains insights that can never be rediscovered or elaborated upon. The wars and gradual conquest of the Native American tribes by white settlers left precious little of their culture available for scrutiny by subsequent generations of historian. As such, this book remains one of the most valuable and cited primary sources on the subject.

A fully annotated edition of a classic work detailing the cultures of five southeastern American Indian tribes during the Contact Period.James Adair was an Englishman who lived and traded among the southeastern Indians for more than 30 years, from 1735 to 1768. During that time he covered the territory from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River. He encountered and lived among Indians, advised governors, spent time with settlers, and worked tirelessly for the expansion of British interests against the French and the Spanish. Adair's acceptance by the Creeks, Choctaws, Cherokees, and Chickasaws provided him the opportunity to record, compare, and analyze their cultures and traditions.Adair's written work, first published in England in 1775, is considered one of the finest histories of the Native Americans. His observations provide one of the earliest and what many modern scholars regard as the best account of southeastern Indian cultures. This edition adheres to current standards of literary editing, following the original closely, and provides fully annotated and indexed critical apparatus.

Excerpt from History of the Indians of North and South AmericaNo accurate account can be given of their numbers. Some have estimated the whole amount in North and South America, at the time of the discovery Of the continent, even as high as one hundred or one hun dred and fifty millions. This estimate is unquestionably much too large. A more probable one would be from fifteen or twenty to twenty-five millions. But they have greatly diminished, and of all the ancient race not more than four or five millions, if so many, now remain. Pestilence, wars, hardships, and sufferings of various kinds have been their lot for nearly four hundred years; and they have melted away at the approach Of the white man; so that even a lone In dian is now scarcely found beside the grave of his fathers, where once the war-whoop might have called a thousand or more valiant men to go forth to engage in the deadly fray. With them have perished, in many instances, their ancient traditions; and as they had no other means of handing down the records of their deeds, their history is lost, except here and there a fragment, which has been treasured up by some white man more curious than his fellows, in studying their present or former fates. Monuments, indeed.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

A fully annotated edition of a classic work detailing the cultures of five southeastern American Indian tribes during the Contact Period.James Adair was an Englishman who lived and traded among the southeastern Indians for more than 30 years, from 1735 to 1768. During that time he covered the territory from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River. He encountered and lived among Indians, advised governors, spent time with settlers, and worked tirelessly for the expansion of British interests against the French and the Spanish. Adair's acceptance by the Creeks, Choctaws, Cherokees, and Chickasaws provided him the opportunity to record, compare, and analyze their cultures and traditions.Adair's written work, first published in England in 1775, is considered one of the finest histories of the Native Americans. His observations provide one of the earliest and what many modern scholars regard as the best account of southeastern Indian cultures. This edition adheres to current standards of literary editing, following the original closely, and provides fully annotated and indexed critical apparatus.

When America was first discovered, it was found to be inhabited by a race of men different from any already known. They were called Indians, from the West Indies, where they were first seen, and which Columbus, according to the common opinion of that age, supposed to be a part of the East Indies. On exploring the coasts and the interior of the vast continent, the same singular people, in different varieties, were everywhere discovered. Their general conformation and features, character, habits, and customs were too evidently alike not to render it proper to class them under the same common name; and yet there were sufficient diversities, in these respects, to allow of grouping them in minor divisions, as families or tribes. These frequently took their names from the parts of the country where they lived. The differences just mentioned were, indeed, no greater than might have been expected from the varieties of climate, modes of life, and degree of improvement which existed among them. Sometimes the Indians were found gathered in large numbers along the banks of rivers or lakes, or in the dense forest, their hunting-grounds; and not unfrequently also, scattered in little collections over the extended face of the country. As they were often engaged in wars with each other, a powerful tribe would occasionally subject to its sway numerous other lesser ones, whom it held as its vassals.

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A fully annotated edition of a classic work detailing the cultures of five southeastern American Indian tribes during the Contact Period.James Adair was an Englishman who lived and traded among the southeastern Indians for more than 30 years, from 1735 to 1768. During that time he covered the territory from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River. He encountered and lived among Indians, advised governors, spent time with settlers, and worked tirelessly for the expansion of British interests against the French and the Spanish. Adair's acceptance by the Creeks, Choctaws, Cherokees, and Chickasaws provided him the opportunity to record, compare, and analyze their cultures and traditions.Adair's written work, first published in England in 1775, is considered one of the finest histories of the Native Americans. His observations provide one of the earliest and what many modern scholars regard as the best account of southeastern Indian cultures. This edition adheres to current standards of literary editing, following the original closely, and provides fully annotated and indexed critical apparatus.