The History of the American Indians
Particularly those Nations Adjoining to the Mississippi, East and West Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia

Unique upon publication in 1775, this history provides an invaluable insight into Native American social and political culture.

James Adair (Author)

9781108060189, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 June 2013

482 pages, 1 map
24.4 x 17 x 2.5 cm, 0.76 kg

A trader who lived and worked for four decades among Native Americans and became a keen observer of their languages, customs and politics, James Adair (fl.1735–75) studied the Catawba, Cherokee, Muscogee, Chickasaw and Choctaw, compiling extensive ethnographic information. Upon publication in 1775, this work was unique in its treatment of these peoples as well as their interaction with white traders and colonists. The book also propounds a theory, popular at the time, that the ancestors of Native Americans were the lost tribes of Israel; as such it remains a valuable source for the history of this idea. In part autobiographical, the work reflects Adair's involvement in trading, local politics and warfare with the British and French. His observations remain of great interest to scholars of American history and ethnography.

Dedication
Preface
A history of the North American Indians
Observations on the origins and descent of the Indians
Observations, and arguments, in proof of the American Indians being descended from the Jews
Accounts of the nations
General observations on the North American Indians
Appendix.

Subject Areas: History of the Americas [HBJK]