His essay “An Indian’s Looking-Glass for the White Man” (1833) is a fierce indictment of racial prejudice. In 1829, William Apess, a Pequot, published A Son of the Forest, the first extensive autobiography published by a Native American. In 1789, Olaudah Equiano published a narrative that became central to the antislavery cause, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, an early example of the slave narrative genre that would become wildly popular in the antebellum period. Two major authors of color emerged in the early republican period, fueling reformist fervor and inspiring writers for generations to come. The blue-backed speller was also an effort to standardize American spelling, a goal which also fueled Webster’s other key work, the American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), which forms the basis of most American dictionaries to this day. Webster’s textbook, usually referred to as the “blue-backed speller,” was used to teach five generations of Americans to read, first by learning syllables, then working up to whole words. One of the most important books to emerge in early America was Noah Webster’s The American Spelling Book (1783). Transporting books across the American expanse was difficult, time-consuming, and costly. Despite such literary nationalism, most of what Americans read in the early republic was British literature, in part because the absence of international copyright make it cheap and easy for American publishers to pirate British texts. This call for a truly distinctive American literature would be uttered repeatedly for generations, based on the belief that America’s distinctive form of government, unique mix of peoples, and geographical grandeur would naturally inspire a unique literary voice. 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.With America’s declaration of political independence came the call for literary independence, for an American literature that would be independent of (and, implicitly, superior to) British literature. 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. His 1829 autobiography, A Son of the Forest, stands as the first published by a Native American writer. 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. Gura offers the first book-length chronicle of Apess's fascinating and consequential life. The Pequot Indian intellectual, author, and itinerant preacher William Apess (1798–1839) was one the most important voices of the nineteenth century.
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