Seeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder in North America

Michael John Witgen reframes American expansion through Indigenous economic and political systems. He dismantles the myth of empty frontier lands by documenting Native governance and trade. The book argues that dispossession was structural and central to national growth. Witgen blends economic history with Indigenous studies in compelling ways. His analysis foregrounds Native agency and resilience. By centering Indigenous perspectives, he challenges entrenched narratives. The scholarship is rigorous but lucid. The book reshapes how readers understand territorial expansion. It stands as a corrective to traditional frontier mythology.