Subject Area

History

Abstract

While scholars have begun in recent years to give more attention to the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi region (including the Indian Territory), few have attempted to provide nuanced and comprehensive explanations for the actions of native peoples who took part in the conflict. While the pre-removal era of Choctaw history has received copious attention, the thirty years between removal and the Civil War have received only sparse examination. Historians who have written about this period have typically either gone into very little detail about why the Choctaws sided with the Confederacy or they have identified only one or two isolated reasons without providing a complete explanation of the changes in Choctaw culture and society in the period and how these changes led to a Confederate alliance.

This dissertation provides a comprehensive analysis of changes in Choctaw government, religion, economics, social relationships, and treaty relations in the thirty years before the Civil War and argues that the changes actively pursued by the Choctaws in these areas integrated them into Southern civilization and made a Confederate alliance natural when the “irrepressible conflict” with the North erupted in 1861.

Degree Date

Spring 5-13-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

History

Advisor

Ariel Ron

Number of Pages

240

Format

.pdf

Available for download on Sunday, May 04, 2025

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