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The American Indian Agent, 1791-1861 Questioning the Literary and Cinematic Stereotype as well as Historical Narratives to find the real Indian Agent / ANN FAYLES

Swansea University Author: ANN FAYLES

DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.62995

Abstract

The American Indian Agent is a known figure in the national drama. Originally defined by nineteenth century political opponents, settlers, frontier business interests, the American military, Indian policy reformers and even Indians, the Indian agent ranges from inept to cupidinous; cruel to inhuman....

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Published: Swansea University 2023
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: McVeigh, Stephen
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62995
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spelling 2023-03-21T15:03:34.1789865 v2 62995 2023-03-20 The American Indian Agent, 1791-1861 Questioning the Literary and Cinematic Stereotype as well as Historical Narratives to find the real Indian Agent 64dc1487c251bd9d7604f683916e4d6e ANN FAYLES ANN FAYLES true false 2023-03-20 The American Indian Agent is a known figure in the national drama. Originally defined by nineteenth century political opponents, settlers, frontier business interests, the American military, Indian policy reformers and even Indians, the Indian agent ranges from inept to cupidinous; cruel to inhuman. Western fiction writers, screenwriters and episodic television dramatists of the twentieth century took the agent’s tarnished reputation and created a stereotype stock character for Westerns emphasising all his malevolent attributes. The historical profession has largely perpetuated the cultural and literary perception of the Indian agent, until some historians began to identify individualized exceptions to agent perfidy. As examples of benevolent agents grew, the profession revised its analysis allowing that some agents assisted Indians while most remained obdurately delinquent.Most historical research on Indian agents has focused on the period from 1861–1888, the Civil War to the end of the Apache Wars. Large swaths of history remain lightly explored as the Indian agent existed from 1791–1908. This thesis examines the Indian agent in the early years of the Republic, from 1791–1861, interacting with Indians from New York to Puget Sound, from Georgia to New Mexico and the vast Great Plains in between. Crucially this thesis places the agent in the world of the Indian agency as well as the competing worlds of politics, business, religion, settlement, and government administration of which he was also a part.The results are surprising. Although there were a few criminals and several men overwhelmed by conditions, most agents of Jeffersonian, Jacksonian, and Antebellum America were honest, sincere public servants, many coming to favor the Indians and spending their own money, and in a few cases, their blood to aid Indian development and freedom.This conclusion runs counter to both popular and historical perceptions. It seems almost everyone has adopted the old Aristotelian idea of petitio principii or “begging the question”. The bad and inept Indian agent must be bad and inept. No longer. These are the real Indian agents of 1791–1861. E-Thesis Swansea University American Indian Agent, History of the American Frontier, America 1791-1861 21 3 2023 2023-03-21 10.23889/SUthesis.62995 Copyright: The Author, Ann Fayles, 2023. COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University McVeigh, Stephen Doctoral Ph.D 2023-03-21T15:03:34.1789865 2023-03-20T17:55:47.8777823 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - History ANN FAYLES 1 62995__26912__d77b0a1f7f3d4abdb63bb854e14f531b.pdf Ann Fayles Thesis. PhD 2023 Final.pdf 2023-03-21T14:56:36.3260102 Output 2256706 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright: The Author, Ann Fayles, 2023. true eng
title The American Indian Agent, 1791-1861 Questioning the Literary and Cinematic Stereotype as well as Historical Narratives to find the real Indian Agent
spellingShingle The American Indian Agent, 1791-1861 Questioning the Literary and Cinematic Stereotype as well as Historical Narratives to find the real Indian Agent
ANN FAYLES
title_short The American Indian Agent, 1791-1861 Questioning the Literary and Cinematic Stereotype as well as Historical Narratives to find the real Indian Agent
title_full The American Indian Agent, 1791-1861 Questioning the Literary and Cinematic Stereotype as well as Historical Narratives to find the real Indian Agent
title_fullStr The American Indian Agent, 1791-1861 Questioning the Literary and Cinematic Stereotype as well as Historical Narratives to find the real Indian Agent
title_full_unstemmed The American Indian Agent, 1791-1861 Questioning the Literary and Cinematic Stereotype as well as Historical Narratives to find the real Indian Agent
title_sort The American Indian Agent, 1791-1861 Questioning the Literary and Cinematic Stereotype as well as Historical Narratives to find the real Indian Agent
author_id_str_mv 64dc1487c251bd9d7604f683916e4d6e
author_id_fullname_str_mv 64dc1487c251bd9d7604f683916e4d6e_***_ANN FAYLES
author ANN FAYLES
author2 ANN FAYLES
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institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUthesis.62995
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
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department_str School of Culture and Communication - History{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - History
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description The American Indian Agent is a known figure in the national drama. Originally defined by nineteenth century political opponents, settlers, frontier business interests, the American military, Indian policy reformers and even Indians, the Indian agent ranges from inept to cupidinous; cruel to inhuman. Western fiction writers, screenwriters and episodic television dramatists of the twentieth century took the agent’s tarnished reputation and created a stereotype stock character for Westerns emphasising all his malevolent attributes. The historical profession has largely perpetuated the cultural and literary perception of the Indian agent, until some historians began to identify individualized exceptions to agent perfidy. As examples of benevolent agents grew, the profession revised its analysis allowing that some agents assisted Indians while most remained obdurately delinquent.Most historical research on Indian agents has focused on the period from 1861–1888, the Civil War to the end of the Apache Wars. Large swaths of history remain lightly explored as the Indian agent existed from 1791–1908. This thesis examines the Indian agent in the early years of the Republic, from 1791–1861, interacting with Indians from New York to Puget Sound, from Georgia to New Mexico and the vast Great Plains in between. Crucially this thesis places the agent in the world of the Indian agency as well as the competing worlds of politics, business, religion, settlement, and government administration of which he was also a part.The results are surprising. Although there were a few criminals and several men overwhelmed by conditions, most agents of Jeffersonian, Jacksonian, and Antebellum America were honest, sincere public servants, many coming to favor the Indians and spending their own money, and in a few cases, their blood to aid Indian development and freedom.This conclusion runs counter to both popular and historical perceptions. It seems almost everyone has adopted the old Aristotelian idea of petitio principii or “begging the question”. The bad and inept Indian agent must be bad and inept. No longer. These are the real Indian agents of 1791–1861.
published_date 2023-03-21T04:23:27Z
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