Catharine Maria Sedgwick: Native Tales

“Science in Catharine Maria Sedgwick’s Hope Leslie (1827)” zooms in on a novel about Puritan New England that contributed to Sedgwick’s position as a rival of James Fenimore Cooper, author of Last of the Mohicans. The article (co-written with Shelley Block) discusses Native American rights and relationships with Anglo colonists, including sexual, marital and family bonds. The article employs the lens of science, since discussions of Native Americans by Anglo authors during Sedgwick’s day often drew from the ideas of “men of science” as they voiced their opinions about intercultural relations.