“The Political Economy of Plunder” features Michael Witgen and Tiya Miles, who discuss the development of the Michigan territory in the years that U-M initially took shape, 1817-1837. Professor Witgen will emphasize the dispossession of Anishinaabe peoples in a series of treaties that set the stage for U-M’s beginning. Professor Miles will respond, drawing upon her knowledge of the history of the slave-holding elite in Detroit as well as the activities of the underground railroad there in the antebellum years.

This LSA Bicentennial Theme Semester event is presented with support from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and the University of Michigan Bicentennial Office. Additional support provided by the Department of History and the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies.