Philanthropy, Economy, Exclusion in Indian Country

“‘The Best and Cheapest Way to Get Rid of Them’: Philanthropy, Economy, and the Politics of Exclusion in Indian Country”

MCEAS Seminar Talk by Lori J. Daggar, Ursinus College and 2015–2016 Hamer Dissertation Fellow

This paper seeks to understand the processes and contingencies that marked Indian removals in the Ohio Country by placing ideas of philanthropy, philanthropists, and economy at the center of analysis. It ultimately argues that as missions and Indian removal became increasingly intertwined, particularly north of the Ohio and then deeper into the heart of North America, philanthropists as well as ideas of aid and charity remained flexible resources that both facilitated the growth of American empire and its economy, but that could also be used by Native peoples to combat and shape the same.

Everyone attending the seminar should read the paper in advance. For increased security, seminar papers will be available for downloading for a limited time. Interested attendees should email MCEAS -- mceas@ccat.sas.upenn.edu -- to request the link to the online paper.

McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

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