After the Trail of Tears

“McLoughlin provides considerable detail about Cherokee efforts to form a stable representative government and recounts the conflict and changing relations among Old Settlers, the Treaty Party, and the majority of Cherokee conservatives, or the national party. . . . [T]his volume is [McLoughlin’s] crowning achievement.”—American Historical Review

“An opportunity to consider the practical significance of judicial recognition of indigenous rights by providing an illustrative account of the difficulty of asserting and protecting such rights in rapidly changing (and fundamentally racist) social context. . . . [A]n impressive historical record.”—Canadian Journal of Law and Society

“Balanced and detailed. . . . In this well-written book, McLoughlin adroitly maintains the chronology while carefully relating important topics and themes that have suffused Cherokee history. After the Trail of Tears is amply documented with footnotes and illustrated with the most relevant maps.”—Law and History Review

“A strong foundation for the study of Cherokee legal history.”—Journal of Legal Education

“An expert chronicle of the final triumphs and troubles of the Cherokee Nation before its integrity was destroyed by the U.S. Congress in the 1880s — and the crowning achievement in the distinguished career of the late McLoughlin.” — Kirkus Reviews

“McLoughlin’s ethnohistory provides rich detail and a new understanding of this period of Cherokee history. . . . A new standard work for decades to come.” — Journal of Southern History

“A compelling study that should appeal to general readers as well as scholars.” — Southern Cultures

“Culminating twenty years of Cherokee scholarship, the late William G. McLoughlin skillfully details as no other historian has the revitalization of a southern Indian nation after removal. In so doing, he illustrates the important point that Cherokee history did not end with the Trail of Tears.” — North Carolina Historical Review

“McLoughlin’s analysis of Cherokee politics is nuanced, critical, and acute. His focus on the struggle for sovereignty gives the book great pertinence today.” — Mary Young, University of Rochester