Wounded Knee : Party Politics and the Road to an American Massacre

Annotation On December 29, 1890, five hundred American troops massed around hundreds of unarmed Lakota Sioux men, women, and children near Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota. Outnumbered and demoralized, the Sioux posed no threat to the soldiers and put up no resistance. But in a chaotic scene, the Americans opened fire with howitzers, killing nearly three hundred Sioux in what would become known as the Wounded Knee Massacre. In this definitive account, acclaimed historian Heather Cox Richardson shows that the origins of this quintessential American tragedy lay not in the West but in Washington, where would-be lawmakers, locked in a desperate midterm-election battle, sought to drum up votes through an age-old political tool: fear On December 29, 1890, American troops opened fire with howitzers on hundreds of unarmed Lakota Sioux men, women, and children near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, killing nearly 300 Sioux. As acclaimed historian Heather Cox Richardson shows in Wounded Knee , the massacre grew out of a set of political forces all too familiar to us today: fierce partisanship, heated political rhetoric, and an irresponsible, profit-driven media. Richardson tells a dramatically new story about the Wounded Knee massacre, revealing that its origins lay not in the West but in the corridors of political power back East. Politicians in Washington, Democrat and Republican alike, sought to set the stage for mass murder by exploiting an age-old political tool — fear. Assiduously researched and beautifully written, Wounded Knee will be the definitive account of an epochal American tragedy. Praise Title Page Dedication Introduction CHAPTER 1 - A New Nation, a New Economy CHAPTER 2 - A Divided Nation CHAPTER 3 - The Westward March of Civilization CHAPTER 4 - Managing the West CHAPTER 5 - A Season of Desperation CHAPTER 6 - Once Set in Motion . . . CHAPTER 7 - The Massacre CHAPTER 8 - The Aftermath Acknowledgements NOTES SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING INDEX Copyright Page Argues the fierce partisanship, heated political rhetoric, and an irresponsible, profit-driven media were responsible for the massacre of three hundred Lakota Sioux at Wounded Knee An acclaimed historian uncovers the story behind the massacre at Wounded Knee, demonstrating how party politics in Washington, D.C. made the South Dakota catastrophe inevitable