The Life and Times of Mary Musgrove By Steven C. Hahn

The Life and Times of Mary Musgrove kindle app

The story of Mary Musgrove 1700 1764 a Creek Indian English woman struggling for success in colonial society is an improbable one As a literate Christian entrepreneur and wife of an Anglican clergyman Mary was one of a small number of mixed blood Indians to achieve a position of prominence among English colonists Born to a Creek mother and an English father Mary s bicultural heritage prepared her for an eventful adulthood spent in the rough and tumble world of Colonial Georgia Indian affairs Active in diplomacy trade and politics affairs typically dominated by men Mary worked as an interpreter between the Creek Indians and the colonists although some argue that she did so for her own gains altering translations to sway transactions in her favor Widowed twice in the prime of her life Mary and her successive husbands claimed vast tracts of land in Georgia illegally as British officials would have it by virtue of her Indian heritage thereby souring her relationship with the colony s governing officials and severely straining the colony s relationship with the Creek Indians Using Mary s life as a narrative thread Steven Hahn explores the connected histories of the Creek Indians and the colonies of South Carolina and Georgia He demonstrates how the fluidity of race and gender relations on the southern frontier eventually succumbed to rigid hierarchies that supported the region s emerging plantation system The Life and Times of Mary MusgroveExcellent Strips away the stereotypes of Mary Musgrove to reveal a true survivor and all her inherent complexity 9780813042213 970.00497 H1488 2012 9780813042213 .