Cultivating Empire: Capitalism, Philanthropy, and the Negotiation of American Imperialism in Indian Country (Early American Studies)

Employing the terminology of speculative philanthropy to underscore the ways in which a desire to do good often coexisted with a desire to make profit, __Cultivating Empire__ links eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century U.S. Indian policy—often framed as benevolent by its crafters—with the emergence of racial capitalism in the United States. __Cultivating Empire__ charts the connections between missionary work, capitalism, and Native politics to understand the making of the American empire in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. It presents American empire-building as a negotiated phenomenon that was built upon the foundations of earlier Atlantic empires, and it shows how U.S. territorial and economic development went hand-in-hand. Lori. J. Daggar explores how Native authority and diplomatic protocols encouraged the fledgling U.S. federal government to partner with missionaries in the realm of Indian affairs, and she charts how that partnership borrowed and deviated from earlier imperial-missionary partnerships. Employing the terminology of speculative philanthropy to underscore the ways in which a desire to do good often coexisted with a desire to make profit, __Cultivating Empire__ links eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century U.S. Indian policy—often framed as benevolent by its crafters—with the emergence of racial capitalism in the United States. In the process, Daggar argues that Native peoples wielded ideas of philanthropy and civilization for their own purposes and that Indian Country played a critical role in the construction of the U.S. imperial state and its economy. Rather than understand civilizing missions simply as tools for assimilation, then, __Cultivating Empire__ reveals that missions were hinges for U.S. economic and political development that could both devastate Indigenous communities and offer Native peoples additional means to negotiate for power and endure.

Cultivating Empire charts the connections between missionary work, capitalism, and Native politics to understand the making of the American empire in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries. It presents American empire-building as a negotiated phenomenon that was built upon the foundations of earlier Atlantic empires, and it shows how U.S. territorial and economic development went hand-in-hand. Lori. J. Daggar explores how Native authority and diplomatic protocols encouraged the fledgling U.S. federal government to partner with missionaries in the realm of Indian affairs, and she charts how that partnership borrowed and deviated from earlier imperial-missionary partnerships.Employing the terminology of speculative philanthropy to underscore the ways in which a desire to do good often coexisted with a desire to make profit, Cultivating Empire links eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century U.S. Indian policy—often framed as benevolent by its crafters—with the emergence of racial capitalism in the United States. In the process, Daggar argues that Native peoples wielded ideas of philanthropy and civilization for their own purposes and that Indian Country played a critical role in the construction of the U.S. imperial state and its economy. Rather than understand civilizing missions simply as tools for assimilation, then, Cultivating Empire reveals that missions were hinges for U.S. economic and political development that could both devastate Indigenous communities and offer Native peoples additional means to negotiate for power and endure.

CONTENTS Introduction Part I. Foundations Chapter 1. Missionaries and the Making of a New Empire in North America Chapter 2. Resurrecting the “Chain of Friendship”: The International Politics of Intercultural Diplomacy Part II. Routes Chapter 3. Becoming Useful: Speculative Philanthropy, Civilization, and Educational Reform Chapter 4. The Mission Complex: The Material Consequences of Civilizing Work Part III. Negotiations Chapter 5. “A Damnd Rebelious Race”: Native Authority in the Aftermath of War Chapter 6. “The Best and Cheapest Way to Get Rid of Them”: Speculative Philanthropy and Indigenous Dispossession Chapter 7. “Of Mercy and of Sound Policy Too”: Cultivating American Empire on the Continent and Overseas Epilogue NOTES INDEX ACKNOWLEDGMENTS "This book charts the connections between mission work, capitalism, and Native politics in order to understand the making of the American empire. It shows that civilizing missions and rhetoric were hinges for U.S. economic and political development that could both wreck devastation on Indigenous communities and offer Native peoples additional means to negotiate for power and endure"