John Quincy Adams to Thomas L. McKenney regarding McKenney's book on native Americans - American History 1493-1945 - Adam Matthew Digital

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Field name	Value
Collection Reference Number	GLC04077
From Archive Folder	Documents Relating to 1832
Title	John Quincy Adams to Thomas L. McKenney regarding McKenney's book on native Americans
Date	2 January 1832
Author	Adams, John Quincy (1767-1848)
Recipient	McKenney, Thomas L.
Document Type	Correspondence
Content Description	Adams offers advice on McKenney's work on American Indian tribes, "History of the Indian Tribes of North America." Adams, who had read the book's proofs, suggests defining terms like prairie for the European audience. Expresses his hopes that the book had gone into detail on the Shawnee prophet.
Subjects	President Literature and Language Arts American Indian History
People	Adams, John Quincy (1767-1848) McKenney, Thomas Loraine (1785-1859)
Place written	Washington, D.C.
Theme	Arts & Literature; Native Americans; The Presidency
Sub-collection	The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1493-1859
Additional Information	McKenney served as Superintendent of Indian Trade for six years and was appointed to the Office of Indian Affairs by President Monroe. With James Hall, he wrote the "History of the Indian Tribes of North America, with Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs."
Copyright	The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module	Settlement, Commerce, Revolution and Reform: 1493-1859
Transcript	Show/hide Col.l T. L. Mc'Kenney - Philadelphia Washington 2 January 1832 Dear Sir. In returning your 4th proof Sheet I very cordially reciprocate your felicitations and good wishes upon the entrance of the new year. I have not evaded the word prairie which you freely use, but as the book is to be read in Europe, perhaps you would do well to explain it in a note - We in this country have naturalized it as we have the term repent - but it is not a good English word - the word Savanna, which had previously been adopted from the Spanish to express the same thing, has a much better sound - If you have occasion hereafter to use either of them, I would recommend The Floridian Spanish in preference to the Iroquois French - I wish you had entered a little more into detail of the facts in the history of the Shawanese prophet - There is a very good remark upon that mixture of light and shade in the human mind [struck: the] which blends into one mass the errors of self-delusion and imposture - There is much for tradition in that thought - But we want the facts - Very truly yours J.Q. Adams - [docket] Jno Q Adams

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