The Life of William Apess, Pequot

by Philip F. Gura

Overview

The Pequot Indian intellectual, author, and itinerant preacher William Apess (1798–1839) was one the most important voices of the nineteenth century. Here, Philip F. Gura offers the first book-length chronicle of Apess's fascinating and consequential life. After an impoverished childhood marked by abuse, Apess soldiered with American troops during the War of 1812, converted to Methodism, and rose to fame as a lecturer who lifted a powerful voice of protest against the plight of Native Americans in New England and beyond. His 1829 autobiography, A Son of the Forest, stands as the first published by a Native American writer. Placing Apess's activism on behalf of Native American people in the context of the era's rising tide of abolitionism, Gura argues that this founding figure of Native intellectual history deserves greater recognition in the pantheon of antebellum reformers. Following Apess from his early life through the development of his political radicalism to his tragic early death and enduring legacy, this much-needed biography showcases the accomplishments of an extraordinary Native American.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469642284
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	02/01/2018
Series:	H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Philip F. Gura is William S. Newman Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His many books include Truth's Ragged Edge: The Rise of the American Novel and American Transcendentalism: A History, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

What People are Saying About This

Phillip Round

Finally, we have an extensive biography of the Native American writer and polemicist, William Apess, one of Native America's most significant early intellectuals. But The Life of William Apess, Pequot is more than just a biography; it is an investigation into how the underrepresented intellectual communities of early American people of color constructed and presented ideas of themselves, looking at the development of American political and legal institutions as they grappled with race, freedom, and land tenure. This is a book of exemplary detail, a much-needed contribution to our understanding of early America and its Native societies.

Lawrence Buell

Extensively researched and absorbingly written, The Life of William Apess, Pequot delivers by far the most thorough cultural@-historical reconstruction to date of the life, career, and significance of antebellum New England's most important Native American writer-activist.

From the Publisher

Extensively researched and absorbingly written, The Life of William Apess, Pequot delivers by far the most thorough cultural-historical reconstruction to date of the life, career, and significance of antebellum New England's most important Native American writer-activist.--Lawrence Buell, Powell M. Cabot Research Professor of American Literature, Harvard University, author of New England Literary Culture and Emerson



Through painstaking research, Philip Gura's remarkable book brings to life a legendary figure in American letters. He does it by portraying William Apess as a player in the dynamic history of Indigenous New England and the nation as a whole. I love this work and I recommend it highly, not only as literary knowledge but also as cultural, social, and historical knowledge.--Simon J. Ortiz, Arizona State University, author of From Sand Creek, Out There Somewhere, and Beyond the Reach of Time and Change

Simon J. Ortiz

Philip Gura's remarkable book brings to life a legendary and mythic figure in American letters. In the 'misty time of the past,' William Apess was understood more as a persona rather than as a person of flesh, blood, bone, mind, and initiative. The result was a depiction that was more fleeting and vanishing than solid and credible--making Apess seem a matter of imagination rather than reality. Now, finally, through painstaking research, Philip F. Gura has brought Apess vividly to life. He does it by portraying Apess as a player in the dynamic history of Indigenous New England and the nation as a whole. I love this work and I recommend it highly, not only as literary knowledge but also as cultural, social, and historical knowledge.

Editorial Reviews

[An] engaging, insightful, and thoroughly detailed biography.—Publishers Weekly, starred review

This outstanding biography is essential reading for those interested in either Native American studies or American literature.—Library Journal, starred review

Well-researched and enlightening." —Booklist

A readable book that belongs in all undergraduate collections.—CHOICE

Engaging and well researched. . . . Sophisticated and accessible, especially as a work of Indian-white history.—Reviews in American History

Gura helps readers understand the intersections of forms of racial prejudice, discrimination, and oppression in early America.—Common-place: The Journal of Early American Life

An accessible, deeply researched, and learned account of the life of William Apess and his times.—H-Net Reviews

Meticulously researched and engaging. . . . Chronicles Apess's life from his impoverished childhood to his peripatetic adolescence and conversion to Methodism to his activism on behalf of Native Americans.—Register of the Kentucky Historical Society

Well written, and meticulously researched, Gura has provided here a masterfully written biography that should be the interest of scholars, and non-academics alike, to this truly fascinating individual.—Historical Journal of Massachusetts

Gura makes a compelling case for ranking Apess among well-known nineteenth-century figures who shared his commitment to what we might now call social justice. . . . Make[s] the most of limited historical evidence to bring a truly exceptional figure to life.—Journal of the Early Republic

From the Publisher

★ 01/26/2015
The 1836 delivery of the “Eulogy on King Philip”—a resounding indictment of young America’s prejudice toward Native Americans as well as a memorial that elevated the reputation of New England Wampanoag leader, King Philip, to the ranks of the early republic’s patriots—brought Apess to the attention of contemporary students of American literature. In his engaging, insightful, and thoroughly detailed biography, Gura (Truth’s Ragged Edge), a dean of early American literature, brings Apess more fully to life. Born in 1798 on the Connecticut frontier, young Apess endured hunger, went about clothed in rags, and often had no cover at night against the harsh weather. Apess had a tumultuous childhood with several adopted families and struggled with alcoholism, but he converted to Methodism and began an itinerant ministry after serving as a soldier in the War of 1812. Gura nimbly chronicles Apess’s development as a writer, (his A Son of the Forest in 1829 was the first autobiography published by a Native American author), his growth and struggles as a frontier minister, and his leadership in the Mashpee Revolt, in which he advocated the equality of Native Americans and whites. Gura’s storytelling draws us naturally into this fascinating life of a man who strove to claim a place for himself and his people in this new nation. Illus. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 03/01/2015
William Apess (1798–1839), a Pequot intellectual, political, and religious leader from Massachusetts is widely acknowledged as the founder of Native American literature. His autobiography and subsequent writings challenged accounts produced by Euro-Americans that justified the mistreatment of indigenous peoples. His voice was particularly necessary at the time as the United States was actively trying to move numerous native peoples, against their will, west of the Mississippi River. Despite Apess's import, there has been a need for a comprehensive biography of him for generations. Gura (William S. Newman Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture, Univ. of North Carolina; Truth's Ragged Edge) fills the niche in a volume that not only explores its subject's life and works, but just as importantly illuminates the immense influence that Apess's writings concerning race relations had on the later abolitionist movement. VERDICT This outstanding biography is essential reading for those interested in either Native American studies or American literature. For more of Apess's writings, see On Our Own Ground, edited by Barry O'Connell.—John R. Burch, Campbellsville Univ. Lib., KY

Library Journal