Choctaws in a Revolutionary Age, 1750-1830

Download or read book Choctaws in a Revolutionary Age, 1750-1830 written by Greg O'Brien and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This evocative story of the Choctaws is told through the lives of two remarkable leaders, Taboca and Franchimastabä, during a period of revolutionary change, 1750-1830. Both men achieved recognition as warriors in the eighteenth century but then followed very different paths of leadership. Taboca was a traditional Choctaw leader, a "prophet-chief" whose authority was deeply rooted in the spiritual realm. The foundation of Franchimastabä's power was more externally driven, resting on trade with Europeans and American colonists and the acquisition of manufactured goods. Franchimastabä responded to shifting circumstances outside the Choctaw nation by pushing the source of authority in novel directions, straddling spiritual and economic power in a way unfathomable to Taboca. The careers of these leaders signal a watershed moment in Choctaw history ? the receding of a traditional mystically oriented world and the dawning of a new market-oriented one. At once engaging and informative, Choctaws in a Revolutionary Age, 1750?1830 highlights the efforts of a nation to preserve its integrity and reform its strength in an increasingly complicated, multicultural world.