Staff Book and Media Recommendations

Demos tells a story of early America arising from the Great Awakening.  Filled with religious zeal, a group of well-meaning New Englanders found a school to educate  non-Christians, heathens, who will  presumably return to their native lands and spread the Gospel.  The students include     Hawaiians, Chinese, and most significantly, two prominent members of the Cherokee tribe, John Ridge and Elias Boudinot.  The school highly touted and supported at first, falls into disfavor when two daughters of powerful men marry Ridge and Boudinot.  These marriages force the town to confront issues of race and class that lead to the demise and eventual closure of the school. 

Ridge and Boudinot became spokesmen for the Cherokee cause, but they could not prevent what eventually became the Trail of Tears.  Demos’ style is engaging and his scholarship impeccable in telling this story of the early United States that hints at the complexities to come in this country on issues of race, class, and the idea of American Exceptionalism. ~ Ona Britton-Spears

Reviewed November 2014