The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 81, July 1977 - April, 1978 Page: 354

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Southwestern Historical Quarterly

which is new, but in the lucid way that Lawson has chronicled a com-
plex and important subject. Black Ballots is a significant addition to the
literature on both southern and American political behavior.
University of Georgia NUMAN V. BARTLEY
Red over Black: Black Slavery among the Cherokee Indians. By R.
Halliburton, Jr. (Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1977, Pp. x+ 219,
Preface, illustrations, appendices, bibliography, index. $15.95.)
As Halliburton states in his introduction, "No comprehensive and
documented treatment of slavery in the Cherokee Nation has ever ap-
peared in print ...." (p. 3). He proposes to fill this void. Though sound
in concept, Halliburton's effort, unfortunately, is extremely faulty in
execution. What he has contributed is not a study of the institution of
slavery in the Cherokee Nation but a rambling and poorly organized
synthesis of previously published work.
The book's first four chapters, based almost entirely on secondary
sources, trace the origins of slavery among the Cherokees and the ex-
pansion and development of the institution prior to 1835. The last five
chapters deal with slavery after the removal of the Cherokees and their
slaves to "Indian Territory." This section treats such subjects as the
growth of plantations, laws for the regulation of slavery, the slave trade,
and growing tensions and internal dissensions over slavery in the years
before the Civil War. Although Halliburton does use some primary
material in the later chapters, his lack of internal organization and
frequent redundancy make his narrative hard to follow. For example,
in one twelve-page chapter, Halliburton discusses slave laws, the slave
trade, and a "major black slave uprising in the Cherokee Nation" (p.
82) which was not an "uprising" but a poorly organized escape attempt.
Moreover, for reasons not clear to this reviewer, the chapter also in-
cludes a discussion of public education in the Nation and a long ac-
count of the death of Cherokee slaveowner Joseph Vann. Other chapters
are equally disorganized, and the same information is often repeated
in several chapters.
Although Halliburton decries the fact that "primary source materials
are now scarce, scanty, and scattered" (p. 3), he fails to use effectively
those which are available, and he has completely ignored the rich re-
sources at the Federal Records Center in Fort Worth which includes
extensive collections of materials related to Cherokee slaves.
Halliburton brings no new insights or interpretations to the study of

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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 81, July 1977 - April, 1978, periodical, 1977/1978; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101205/m1/394/ocr/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.

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