The Red Atlantic: American Indigenes and the Making of the Modern World, 1000–1927 by Jace Weaver (review)

BOOK REVIEWS WINTER 2014 83 vision codified in the Louisiana Purchase, and it contributed greatly in terms of men, munitions, and foodstuffs to the country’s wars. Democratic activism flourished in the Populistic prairie states while the nation’s industrial rise rested in part on the immense growth of Chicago and the aforementioned Detroit. As compelling as this material is, however, it begs the point—does the Midwest still matter? Yes, the Northwest Ordinance established an eighteenth century template for free labor in the Great Lakes region, but how will that region aspire to greatness or, simply, a greater cultural relevancy in the twentyfirst century? Such answers are not—nor could they be— abundant in this book, though Lauck takes a stab in an instructional chapter, “Toward a Revival of Midwestern History.” His recommendations might raise eyebrows, for he argues that the nation’s colleges and universities can play a powerful role in said revival. That seems, in an academy currently and indeed long struggling to attract humanities majors, something of a dubious proposition. And how might the schools—or the states—coax their historians to offer more in the way of regional history? Lauck’s call for the application of “bureaucratic pressure” (73) raises even more eyebrows. Is the “revival” to be the child of functionaries? And what does it say about the “condition” of the Midwest if its importance must be force fed to undergraduates? This study offers a strong and altogether well-researched summary of the Middle West’s history and historiography; when tendering prescriptions it is thoughtful and pungent if less persuasive. David Brown Elizabethtown College The Red Atlantic American Indigenes and the Making of the Modern World, 1000-1927 Jace Weaver Approaching history from an Atlantic world framework is fraught with issues. Questions linger concerning the scope and periodization of Atlantic world studies, as well as the validity of the region itself. To these issues of definition, one might add that Atlantic world histories have traditionally centered on the exploits and experiences of white European cultural actors and the change left in their wake. In The Red Atlantic, Jace Weaver challenges this paradigm as he seeks to place indigenous Americans at the heart of Atlantic interactions . In his quest to shift the Atlantic world perspective, Weaver draws upon Paul Gilroy’s 1993 work, The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness, which placed Africans in the center of the discourse. Like Gilroy, Weaver sets out to trace the exchange of cultural ideas and material goods as they traversed the Atlantic, this time with an indigenous America much more mobile than scholars have usually acknowledged. In so doing, Weaver delineates these ocean-bound Indians into groups that include slaves, soldiers, sailors, entertainers and diplomats. His largely synthetic study of individual narratives demonstrates the diverse and persistent nature of a Native American presence across the Atlantic. Weaver offers a specific conceptualization of the Atlantic world. In terms of scope, he BOOK REVIEWS 84 OHIO VALLEY HISTORY designates the fall line as the limit of the Atlantic world in North America. Temporally, he eschews the near universal embrace of Columbus’s 1492 voyage as the genesis of the field. Weaver instead harkens back to early encounters in the year 1000 that resulted in Norsemen taking Beothuk and Inuit captives to Scandinavia, an inclusion that demonstrates his proclivity for charting the movement of native peoples. On the other end of the spectrum, he stretches the period beyond the end of the slave trade in the nineteenth century and extends the Atlantic world to 1927 and the transAtlantic flight of Charles Lindbergh, arguing that this event changed the way people interacted with the ocean. The long periodization allows Weaver to incorporate an array of historical actors whose stories make up his vision of the Red Atlantic. Weavercastsalargenetinhisefforttopopulate the Red Atlantic, giving rise at times to confusion. Take for example the contingent of Mohawk soldiers sent to Egypt in 1885 to aid in the defense of Khartoum against the Mahdi and his forces. In an operation carried out under the auspices of British General Garnet Wolesly, the English hoped the Mohawks could navigate the cataracts of the Nile to evacuate beleaguered troops...