MWSA Review
We’ve been taught the history of the founding of the United States by Europeans. A Nation Born – A Homeland Lost tells the lesser-known story of what happened to the Native Americans who inhabited North America, as settlements of these newcomers spread across the land. Battles for territory raged between the French and the British, and then the British and the Patriots. Alliances of Native tribes were constantly shifting, as they tried to hold onto their land, support their families, and maintain their cultures. The final battles were between the settlers and the Native Americans, as they claimed all of the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific, south of Canada and north of Mexico. The few Natives who survived were left with broken treaties and confined to isolated patches of territory as prisoners of war.
This is a well-researched book that includes maps, pictures, and sources. Points of view in the book included the French, the British, the colonists or settlers, and the Native Americans. The extensive descriptions of the various tribes, including their territory, customs, beliefs, and leaders, gives the reader a Native American perspective that is missing from most other accounts of history in this time period. The author included stories about several women warriors and leaders.
The book is easy to understand, with a lot of specific details. More sensitive readers may find the graphic details of the brutality of many of the battles against the Native Americans to be very disturbing, as I did. If so, I recommend you skip over those narratives.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in a more complete picture of the battles that defined the settlement of North America through the early 1800s.
Review by Eva Nevarez St. John (March 2025)
Author's Synopsis
To fully understand the American Revolutionary War and its aftermath, we must also examine wars involving Native Americans in that era, and how they influenced the destiny of a people and a continent
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As France and England battle for control of North America in The French and Indian War, most of the Indians who fight side with the French.
Pontiac’s Rebellion – often called the first American Revolution – is a concerted effort by Native Americans to halt European expansion and safeguard their ancestral homelands.
From Pontiac’s Rebellion to the battles of Lexington and Concord, a shifting political landscape results in most of the Native Americans who fight in the Revolutionary War siding with the British.
The Treaty of Paris and birth of the United States results in Native Americans battling for their sovereignty once more in the Northwest Indian War.
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—History
Number of Pages: 285
Word Count: 84,000