Historian Benjamin Madley to Discuss his Research on Native American Genocide in California

Benjamin Madley, associate professor of History at the University of California at Los Angeles, will discuss his research on Native American genocide in the United States. Between 1846 and 1873, California’s Indian population plunged from approximately 150,000 to 30,000. This is the subject of Madley’s new book, “An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873.” Madley’s presentation will explore the rise of a state-sanctioned killing machine and the broad social, judicial, and political support for genocide. He will describe precursors to the genocide and explain how the Gold Rush stirred vigilante violence, the involvement of state and federal officials, the taxpayer dollars that supported the violence, indigenous resistance, who did the killing, and why the killings ended. Besides evaluating government officials’ culpability, Madley considers why the slaughter constituted genocide and how other possible genocides within and beyond the Americas might be investigated. The event is co-sponsored by Western’s Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity, the Department of History, and the Western Libraries. The presentation is free and open to the public; free public event parking will be available in Lot 12A – (formerly the “gravel lot,” but now paved) – on South Campus.